A friend, who is a budding preacher and active associate minister, wrote me for advice about what to do when you lose your sense of discipline and devotion. Let me respond with a devotional thought from 2 Kings 6:1-7. The “sons of the prophets” – a group of young preachers – studied under the Prophet Elisha. So many lads joined this upstart seminary that they ran out of space. With Elisha’s permission, and encouraging presence, they began chopping down wood to build a new dorm. Focus on one young prophet who has borrowed an axe to help with the building...

One morning, as I was walking in the Catskill Mountains in New York, I witnessed an unforgettable sight. I was resting, sitting on a rock by an algae-covered pool. Lazily, while mosquitoes engaged in a never-ending dance close to the surface, I watched the dragon flies dance close to the reeds. A frog sunned himself on a partially submerged rock out in the center of the pool. Suddenly, I was wide awake. Something was happening to the frog. Before my eyes, it collapsed... not falling over, but deflating like a balloon with a slow leak. It finally lay in a...