My mother gave a special gift to me at a very young age, one of the best gifts any mother can give her child.  And it all started with a wreck. When Mom was pregnant with me she had a car accident up in some winding hills in Southern California.  She lost control of her 1958 Pontiac Super Chief on a curve–it went off the road and narrowly missed rolling into...

There’s strength in numbers, especially when it comes to prayer. If “the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results” (James 5:16b, NLT), imagine what can happen when several “come boldly to the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16). This is especially true for the parents of prodigals.  The power of a praying parent is...

Talk about a bad day.  It starts in Acts 6:11 when Stephen was “set up.”  Those who had it out for him had false witnesses stir up an angry mob.  By the time you get to Acts 7:54 they’re standing around him, menacingly gnashing their teeth–a particularly nasty way of showing anger.  Imagine a mob standing around you doing that….  But while the...

Someone wise once said that “faith is the footfall that finds the rock beneath.” Whenever you take a step there is that moment just before your foot hits solid ground where you’re trusting all will be well. You’re not there yet—you haven’t landed—but you have faith that you will. When your child is a prodigal you know what it’s like to live in that...

It’s a beautiful lesson in prayer from the mouth of an angel. But it happens so quickly you could easily miss it. Here’s the story… One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week. As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. While the incense was being...

One of the most challenging things about parenting a prodigal is the battle of do’s and don’ts. You desperately want your child to know God and walk in His way. We long for our children to embrace the love which has saved our own souls, to have a relationship with Jesus and to follow him with their lives. When they walk in the other direction,...

One of our kids’ favorite movies growing up was “Muppet Treasure Island.”  There was a character in it that always made them laugh because no matter how the plot unfolded, you could be sure he’d miss something that really mattered, always a few steps behind.   He was appropriately named “Clueless Morgan.” I can relate.  Sometimes God is doing...