Have you ever noticed that sometimes God leads us into places that we wouldn’t necessarily choose for ourselves? Think of Moses and the nation of Israel. Deliverance from bondage in Egypt: emotional high! Trapped by the Red Sea: frightening low. The parting of the waters: jubilation! Journey into the wilderness: discouraging, unending dryness. When I […]
Well, have you taken some time to think and pray about it? What do you think God likes? Here’s my story: The morning air still had a slight chill. It was going to be a hot one so I wanted to water down the garden before the heat of the day. I would love mornings […]
I like to paddle my kayak on a a quiet evening, listening to the birds chirp and the fish splash. I like fresh fruit and I like dark chocolate. I like to hang out with friends and family. I like trips to the ocean—a place that I’d actually like to live. I like to watch […]
In the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) Jesus spoke of four types of responses people have in receiving the life of God’s word. Some have become hardened from being trampled by the world—they understand nothing. Others receive the word with excitement, but lack the depth of resolve to stand the rigors of opposition. The […]
Living above a bar was fine for the two of us, but with plans to start having kids Debi and I wanted something resembling more of a home. And so we did our best to prepare. We continued saving money for a down payment. I took a class on home buying. As we prayed for […]
“God Cannot Be Trusted!” This is undoubtedly one of the most predominant messages to saturate American culture over the past decade. You might not necessarily find a “godcannotbetrusted.com” web site, but this message is daily repeated by a vast array voices from so many different directions. The bottom line is that the slippery hiss of the serpent continues to tickle […]
Friends of ours once rented a house in rural western PA. Near the house was a rather large stone with a benchmark disk attached. Used long before GPS came into existence, a benchmark provided a defining location for surveyors and travelers. In their minds, any feelings of being lost or confused would instantly vanish at […]
We’ve all experienced the pain of broken promises. Western culture can be characterized as a promise-breaking society. Political campaigns saturate our media-driven world with sincere and profound pledges for change—pledges that will be fulfilled when that person finally gets in office. Within months many of those promises are completely forgotten. Owners, coaches and even players […]
It’s there. We all know it’s there. But nobody wants to really be honest about it. It’s a big problem. Real big. And yet Jesus thoroughly addressed the issue. It’s one of those things that we readily recognize and yet find difficult to define. We might call it a spirit of contempt. Webster’s Online Dictionary defines […]
