Sing it with me: “All I Want is You, Jesus. All I want is You.” How many times I remember the band Isaiah Six leading us in worship with this song at B.A.S.I.C. College Ministry conferences. They were powerful mountaintop experiences in the presence of God! LIARS! LIARS! LIARS! Every one of us! At those […]
Have you ever asked, “Why?” I often wonder why God does some of the things He does. Some people mistakenly think that God is the source of natural disasters and every type of human tragedy. News flash: God doesn’t have a cruel streak! At the same time, however, our Heavenly Father does have this tendency to […]
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 […]
Disappointment. Discouragement. Frustration. All are words that often characterize our responses to difficult, if not impossible, circumstances. As I look back over my life I see so many difficulties and impossibilities. Why, I ask, is it that life always seems to be so hard? Why are there always so many challenges and so many limitations? […]
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 […]
When we were kids my cousin Michael and I used to love those mid-winter, Saturday afternoon TV flicks. Some were westerns. Some were monster movies. All involved action, pitting the forces of good and evil against each other. The world was a safer place because good always won out in the end. Seriously, that’s what’s […]
Summer is almost upon us and the time is here for the amusement parks to open and the carnivals to begin popping up in the north. Walking through the midway at a county fair or local carnival is a totally unique experience. Oh the smell of greasy hot sausage simmering on a dirty, fly infested grill! […]
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 […]
