If you click on this link and submit a current photograph, you can see what you will look like in the future. It’s called “age progression software” and was developed by forensic experts to help find people who had been missing for years. Another tool you can use to get a peek into the future is to read “Generations: The History of America’s Future” by William Strauss and Neil Howe. While their methodology of dividing populations into generations and then subdividing each generation into four basic types — Civic, Idealists, Adaptive and Reactives — has been controversial, it has also been helpful as a way to understand the generational changes…

Dear Shawn, I liked your question last week but it was so early in the morning. (Why do young men have Bible study before dawn?) Between the breakfast tacos and coffee my mind was not yet focused. But, I’ve been thinking about what you asked, “How do we keep from being conformed to the patterns of this world?” It’s the right question – with many good answers. I have found two disciplines – and they do not come naturally – that have helped. I call them “antidotes to conformity.” First, Paul taught the personal discipline of seeing ourselves clearly. He calls it “sober judgment,” and it is our responsibility to…

There is something in all of us that desires a king – whether it be the Israelites longing for a king to fight their battles or it be our looking forward to the “rightful king” C.S. Lewis describes in “Mere Christianity.” We see that being played out now in our turning the election of a President into the quest for a King who will fight our particular partisan battles for us. Sadly, it is those who have been brought up on the assumption that America is the new Israel who are being, as St. Paul said, “blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and…

In 1982, Mother Teresa was invited to Beirut in the middle of the worst part of the war between Israel and Lebanon – the Siege of Beirut. Her immediate visit was to a hospital for retarded and handicapped children where at least 10 had been killed by repeated mortar attacks. Reporters and veteran aid workers were skeptical and at first, many thought it was either a vain gesture or misguided idealism on her part. However, Mother Teresa and her nuns entered the Dar al-Ajaza al-Islamia Mental Hospital and carried out 37 of the most deformed and retarded children: “I have never been in a war before, but I have seen…

In 1982, Mother Teresa was invited to Beirut in the middle of the worst part of the war between Israel and Lebanon – the Siege of Beirut. Her immediate visit was to a hospital for retarded and handicapped children where at least 10 had been killed by repeated mortar attacks. Reporters and veteran aid workers were skeptical and at first, many thought it was either a vain gesture or misguided idealism on her part. However, Mother Teresa and her nuns entered the Dar al-Ajaza al-Islamia Mental Hospital and carried out 37 of the most deformed and retarded children: “I have never been in a war before, but I have seen…

As some of you know, I enjoy taking pictures – and then finding something to say. Here are twelve from this past year that I hope will provoke some thoughts.

“I want to declare a war,” I said half-seriously, “on all the organizations, ministries and financial planners encouraging people not to trust their children.”

My father had a life removed from us we knew little about until we were grown. It was only a few years before he died that I understood why. We talked about it on a series of trips we took as father and son when he was losing his health, and we knew it was just a matter of time before he could not travel at all. It was on our first of these trips that he told me about New York City and the Waldorf Astoria. Dad grew up in the poorest parts of Nashville, Tennessee. He was always a misfit there. While others resigned themselves to a life…

My friend Randy Samelson at Counsel & Capital is funding a prize for the best annual report designed for Randy and other “left-brain” donors. I am calling it the Mr. Spock Prize, and I thought some friends might be interested in applying for the prize as well as my response to Randy’s generous initiative. Dear Randy, Thank you for sending me your proposal to sponsor a $50,000 prize for the nonprofit or church that produces the best annual report for “left-brain donors.” As you probably know, while printed annual reports represent a significant expense for nonprofits (and there are even prizes for print design and graphics), they remain unread by…

People allowed to believe they deserve protection from consequences are far more damaged than merely spoiled. They are destined for a life of dependence on others to rescue them and, ultimately, despair.