Page 1 of 2 1 2  Crash-Proofing Your LifeBy Lee SherryHow’s your life? Do you feel like you’re doing well in life, like you know where you’re going? Do you feel like you have good instructions for how to live? These days we rush around a lot, not leaving much time for planning, for contemplating, frankly, for God.  Extreme MakeoverBy Lee SherryShortly after I came to faith, my Sunday school teacher said he was reading a little booklet entitled, My Heart—Christ’s Home. It is a beautiful allegory of how Jesus knocks at the door of our heart; when we open the door, He comes in to make a home. I experienced mystery when I invited Jesus into my heart. I could not define the mystery until later when my formal spiritual formation began, but initially there was a definite awareness of the beginning stages of transformation as Jesus took up residence within me. The booklet was helpful, because my male mind naturally compartmentalizes, and it was easy for me to envision my heart like a house filled with different rooms. As I begin this new year, I am once again asking myself, “Am I making a place in my heart for Jesus?”
 Choosing & Being ChosenBy Lee SherryHave you ever asked yourself the question, “Would anyone choose me?” One of the most important Advent messages we can embrace this Christmas season is that God loves us—that we are chosen as His Beloved. Last week I was jarred when I read John 15:16 - “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you." I remember the evening I came to faith. I thought I chose God. Now all these years later I read, “Lee, you did not chose Me, but I chose you.”
 Images & SymbolsBy Lee SherryWhen I look at a photograph of my wife an image in my mind and heart is evoked. I feel the emotion of love in my heart and my mind is filled with an ocean of memories. I remember laughs we have shared over the years, but I also remember tears as we have navigated through difficult times. I feel joy for the laughter, but sadness for how my brokenness has caused her pain. A photograph is an example of an icon or form of symbol that fortifies reality for me. It is a form of symbol that connects me to something much larger than my own small self...
 Further Upward and Further InwardBy Lee SherryLife is a journey and sometimes a battle. Frequently, it seems life is both simultaneously. As I write this, I am still moving in my own personal journey of knowing God more intimately. Just as you do in your life, I struggle against the hectic daily demands of our post-modern contemporary society to make space for Him in contemplative prayer. There is always the challenge, perhaps temptation would be a better word, to coast back to knowing about God, rather than maturing in our relationship with Him.
 Sexual InsightBy Stephen CervantesOne Saturday morning my buddy and myself were leading a men’s training series. We were speaking to a group of men. The topic was male sexuality. We had been going around to churches and speaking to men’s groups. Our mission was to challenge men to step up their lives in the area of personal sexual thought discipline.
Knowing God and Knowing About GodBy Lee SherryWe no longer must wear the many faces of the false self we have accumulated from walking in a broken fallen world bent in opposition against knowing God. It is possible to know about God without really knowing God.
 Men Need Good MenBy Stephen CervantesI would like to share some observations about men. First, have you noticed how some men have a healthy variety of adult males in their life? That is to say, some men have good male buddies. They spend time together. They periodically eat meals together. They may enjoy a guys-night-out occasionally. Those men talk, play and work together. As Christians, they may study their Bibles together. Even if they don’t read scriptures together, they still strive to spur each other on to good works...
Contemplative PrayerBy Lee SherryIncreasing our conscious contact with God through contemplative prayer
When I was invited to write this column, I was a little bit intimidated about where to begin. Saints have written volumes about contemplative prayer. My wife can certainly tell you that I am no saint. But St. Augustine’s words, “My soul is restless until it rests in You O God,” penetrate to the deep passion of my heart. Prayer is a movement of response to our Creator who loves us and pursues us...
 Take a Vacation from Your Problems...By Jonathan DaughertyLife is full of problems. It is, after all, a fact of life that we all encounter resistance along our journey of living. Cars break down, pink slips show up unannounced, friends and relatives die unexpectedly, kids rebel, and spouses don't always agree. These are the problems of life. If we spend every moment of every day consumed in exerting emotional, physical, and mental energy on solving these problems, we will be exhausted at best, accelerating death at worst. Problems, though they are a fact of life, are not the focus of life.
 Safety in NumbersBy Jonathan DaughertyI have a tendency to drift away from people. If I'm not careful, I will gradually isolate myself from friends and family. I don't necessarily intend to disconnect, it just seems to be my natural inclination. And it almost always leads to trouble.
 What Good Are The Lame?By Jonathan DaughertyI've struggled with shame most of my life. I believed such lies as, "I must be perfect" or "I am undesirable." These lies spun in my mind so often and so strongly that I lived them out in my everyday life and relationships.
A Mother's StoryBy Kay Daugherty“ Mother, I’m a sex addict.” Painful to admit, horrific to hear. I listened as my son explained to me what sexual addiction was, never having heard the term before. I was shocked and confused, but grateful that he was being honest and that there finally was a name for the phantom that had turned my beloved son into someone I didn’t know anymore. But I had no idea of the long road that lay ahead, from that first confession to eventual healing and freedom for my son.
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