The beginning of a New Year is a great time to review our productivity practices to be sure we are making the best use of the time. Below is the PDF to a little booklet I wrote entitled Biblical Productivity. It is the culmination of a series of posts I’ve posted over the last few months, and it contains many of the best lessons I’ve learned about honoring God with my productivity from some of the best authors I know…
Cravings and Conflict (Full Text)
Over the past 15 years three godly men have approached me and asked my permission to marry my three daughters. These men have ventured where angels feared to tread. In approaching me about my daughters—and Carolyn and I are very grateful that God gave them the necessary courage to do so—it was our joy to give them our blessing. We derive great joy from observing how they have cared for and led our daughters and our 12 grandchildren. Along the…
A Happy Ending
In his book The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes, Derek Kidner describes the conclusion of the book of Job with these carefully crafted words: “After nearly 40 chapters of tempestuous poetry, the return to the simplicity of prose and the idyllic setting in which the book had opened rounds off this masterpiece, one may feel, to perfection.” The book of Job is indeed a divinely inspired masterpiece and the conclusion is perfection. In this concluding section there is no…
The To-Do Lists Are Never Done
Only God gets his to‐do list done each day. This simple sentence informs how I begin my day, what I expect to accomplish during the day, and how I close each day. When I step out of my office and turn the light off at the end of my day, and the list of to‐dos is incomplete, I say to myself, “Well, we will try again tomorrow.” This brief statement is an acknowledgment of my limitations, and is my way…
A Gift Idea
Christmas provides a wonderful opportunity to give gifts to those I love. I enjoy doing all I can to surprise them with a particular gift. I am sure you do as well. But here’s what I’ve come to realize: too often I can put more thought into the gifts I buy them than I do the content of my conversations with them at Christmas. In fact the content of my conversation can be a gift of greater substance and of…