Heart of a Friend

Highlights: How NOT to Read the Bible (Episode 50) The road to atheism is littered with Bibles that have been read cover to cover. To most Christians, the Bible is like a software license. Nobody actually reads it. They just scroll to the bottom and click “I agree.” Never Read a Bible Verse By lifting verses out of context, they can easily be misunderstood. The story-line of the Bible must be understood so that we can see where the verse/passage/book fits into the larger over-arching ...

What’s On My Bookshelf? A Review: Plagues Upon the Earth, by Kyle Harper The Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse | Part 2 Highlights We still have much to learn from the experience of those who lived and died before us. It is urgent that we do so. The long history of disease counsels us to expect the unexpected. The worst threat may be the one we cannot see coming. Bubonic Plague (Black Death) Three stages in history - The Justinian Plague (500’s A.D.), The Black D...

What’s On My Bookshelf | Eight Ways to Make This Your Best Year Ever 4000 Weeks, by Oliver Burkeman We’ve been granted the mental capacities to make almost infinitely ambitious plans yet practically no time at all to put them into action...Stop trying so hard...It’s ok to give up on what’s impossible in the first place. One: Accept the limitations of a life-span that’s way too short. The key to begin resolving this problem is to work with the facts of our finitud...

Highlights Ears: The Soft Power of Listening - Part 7 (Episode 44) Miracle Grow for Relationships Marriage The decision to get married is weighted heavily toward what we see...is this person physically attractive to me? But the decision to stay married is weighted more toward what we hear...do I have satisfying communication with my spouse? Thirty-six Questions that Lead to Love, (NYT January 9, 2015) Communication Exercise - Ask: What’s the biggest thing impacting you and ...

Ears: The Soft Power of Listening - Part 5 (Episode 42) Help! I’m Hurting! Highlights Be kind to everyone you meet because everyone you meet is fighting a battle. When it comes to helping the hurting...this is almost always true of our words. Less is more. Job’s comforters did everything right for the first seven days, and so do we when we do the same three things they did. First, show up. (90% of success is just showing up.) Second, empathize. To the extent we can, ...

Highlights: Ears | Seven Habits of Highly Effective Listeners (1-3) A checklist for listening well First, keep the focus on the other person A support response does this by asking questions and reflecting/paraphrasing what the other person is saying. While listening...One of the most helpful things we should be listening for is an open door to ask another question. The insight you are seeking is often not behind that first, second or third door but many layers deep int...

Highlights: Ep.38 | Ears | Part 1 | Five Reasons This May Be Our Most Important Life Skill Definition: Listening well is more than just hearing with our ears. It’s hearing with our hearts. One: Listening well creates a unique and almost sacred bond between people. Those who listen longer than most people ever listen will hear things that most people never hear. (Carey Nieuwhoff) Two: Listening well brings real healing to others. We hurt in isolation; we heal in community. Be kind to eve...

Highlights: Ep. 37 | Mere Christianity | Part 16 | The Road Less Traveled The secret to the abundant life is not our responsibility but our response to God’s ability. (E.Stanley Jones) First: The Imitation of Christ - “Let’s Pretend.” Very often the only way to get a quality in reality is to start behaving as if you had it already. That is why children's games are so important. They are always pretending to be grown-ups – playing soldiers, playing shop. But all the time they are hardening the...