Fasting is a lost art in pursuit of the spiritual disciplines and one that seems quite distant from everyday life in modern Western culture. However, when we look to Scripture, there is an expectation that believers would fast as a part of the Christian life (Matt. 6:16; 9:15). So before you dismiss this practice as only for Tibetan monks…let’s explore a few of the “whys and hows” of fasting so that we might enrich our spiritual development and the lives of those whom we walk alongside.

Counseling is a loaded term. Depending on your experiences, the term can feel cold and clinical, like something that reminds you of a bad visit to the dentist. Perhaps you’re familiar with this statement: “Certainly, counseling can be good for some people. But I would never have any use for it.”

I'm actually not an expert on dying inasmuch as I'm still mostly alive. Moreover, the number of people interested in the musings of a 37-year-old on death could fit in a thimble. In one of my first hospital visits as a pastor, I was pulled aside by a family member and asked if there were any older pastors available. So, understand that I'm writing today not as someone well-versed in death or even (hopefully) close to having to wrestle with my own mortality.

When Charles Eliot, then President of Harvard University, was deciding how we would dedicate the Emerson Building of Philosophy at Harvard, he needed a suitable inscription to put over the main entrance. One of the other professors suggested a quote from the Greek philosopher Protagoras, “Man is the measure of all things.”

The title of the article is meant to be provocative. It seems true, but it feels wrong to admit it. Should not zeal for truth always lead to holy outcomes? After all, it's truth, a significant part of the Christian faith's foundation. But the sinfulness of sin affects even the highest of Christian virtues.

To a certain extent, everyone cares about what others think of them. Even if you say you don’t care — you care. In fact, there is a special category for those who completely don’t care about others. They're called sociopaths. I hope you are not one of them. The Bible reveals that we have been designed by God as relational beings that do not flourish well in isolation (Gen. 1:26-27; Eccl. 4:9-12; Eph. 2:14-21).