I've been reading a new book recently with this interesting title: "The Christian Atheist: Believing In God But Living As If He Doesn't Exist." As the author points out, the title of the book probably describes the majority of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus. We believe in the existence of God. We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus walked this earth, died on the cross, and rose from the dead. We believe the Bible is the Word of God. But here's the question we need to ask ourselves - would our lives be any different if we didn't believe those things? If I didn't believe in God, would I conduct myself at work any differently? Would I treat my spouse any differently? Would my goals be different? Would I watch different TV shows, or take different vacations, or spend my money differently? Or, if I'm honest, would my life be pretty much the same whether I believed in God or not?

As you think about all the things you've prayed for in your life, what do you think you've prayed about more than any other topic? My guess would be that you've prayed more often about health issues than any other particular concern. When people ask us if there is anything they can pray about for us, much of the time the concern we share is a health concern, either for ourselves or someone in our family or someone in our circle of friends. Our bodies matter to us. Our health affects everything else in our lives. I could have had the best day of my life, but none of that matters if I have a sore throat or plugged sinuses or pain in my chest or nausea or any number of other things that can and do go wrong with our bodies. ...

As you think about all the things you've prayed for in your life, what do you think you've prayed about more than any other topic? My guess would be that you've prayed more often about health issues than any other particular concern. When people ask us if there is anything they can pray about for us, much of the time the concern we share is a health concern, either for ourselves or someone in our family or someone in our circle of friends. Our bodies matter to us. Our health affects everything else in our lives. I could have had the best day of my life, but none of that matters if I have a sore throat or plugged sinuses or pain in my chest or nausea or any number of other things that can and do go wrong with our bodies. ...

Usually when we think about someone being a leader, we think of someone like a manager or a coach or an executive whose job it is to lead the people who work under that leader. But leadership experts tell us that there's much more to leadership than that, that a true leader is able to lead not only those who are under him but those who are his peers. And, the experts tell us, it goes further than that. A real leader is a 360 degree leader, a person who can lead not only his subordinates and his peers but even his superiors. ...

Usually when we think about someone being a leader, we think of someone like a manager or a coach or an executive whose job it is to lead the people who work under that leader. But leadership experts tell us that there's much more to leadership than that, that a true leader is able to lead not only those who are under him but those who are his peers. And, the experts tell us, it goes further than that. A real leader is a 360 degree leader, a person who can lead not only his subordinates and his peers but even his superiors. ...

I was sad because we lost the game, but that wasn't the saddest part of the moment. What was even harder to take than the loss was the fact that it was my last high school basketball game. I realized I would still play many more games in my life just for fun, but I knew that once I took off my high school uniform it would never be the same. So I just sat there in our locker room for the longest time, almost afraid to peel off my sweaty jersey with the name of our school and the number I had worn for three years. And when I finally did take off my uniform and headed for the showers, it felt like someone I loved had died. My basketball career was over. The final buzzer that day was the final buzzer on a very special part of my life. ...

I was sad because we lost the game, but that wasn't the saddest part of the moment. What was even harder to take than the loss was the fact that it was my last high school basketball game. I realized I would still play many more games in my life just for fun, but I knew that once I took off my high school uniform it would never be the same. So I just sat there in our locker room for the longest time, almost afraid to peel off my sweaty jersey with the name of our school and the number I had worn for three years. And when I finally did take off my uniform and headed for the showers, it felt like someone I loved had died. My basketball career was over. The final buzzer that day was the final buzzer on a very special part of my life. ...

Do you ever have one of those nights where your mind just won't shut off? I seem to have more of those nights lately. I've always been a light sleeper; it takes only the slightest noise to wake me up. Most of the time, fortunately, once my mind has identified the noise to my satisfaction, I am able to go right back to sleep. But in the last few months I've had more and more nights where once I've been awakened my mind has started racing. Problems that were minor during the day seem much bigger to me at night. Things that didn't concern me at all during the day for some reason seem to be significant issues at night. ...

Do you ever have one of those nights where your mind just won't shut off? I seem to have more of those nights lately. I've always been a light sleeper; it takes only the slightest noise to wake me up. Most of the time, fortunately, once my mind has identified the noise to my satisfaction, I am able to go right back to sleep. But in the last few months I've had more and more nights where once I've been awakened my mind has started racing. Problems that were minor during the day seem much bigger to me at night. Things that didn't concern me at all during the day for some reason seem to be significant issues at night. ...

One of the best inventions of recent times is the navigation system. Because of the navigation system, I no longer have to spend my precious time trying to fold a map. I always enjoyed using maps. I could always get where I wanted to go using maps. I just couldn't fold them. Now I don't have to, because now we have a navigation system that will figure out how to get somewhere and will tell us where to go. ...