Acrid bitterness inevitably seeps into the lives of people who harbor grudges and suppress anger, and bitterness is always a poison. It keeps your pain alive instead of letting you deal with it and get beyond it. Bitterness sentences you to relive the hurt over and over. –Lee Strobel, journalist and author Then Moses led Israel […]
“Jets were invented by people too inexperienced to know what couldn’t be done.” So reads a line in an old Invention and Technology magazine.[1] One of the main points of the article was that most engineers were preoccupied with piston-driven turbo chargers and had given up on the idea of producing a workable jet engine. It […]
It was the weightiest moment in all of history. Jesus—God in the flesh—knelt and cried out to the heavenly Father with unimaginable agony. Christ’s anguish was so deep, and the stress of the moment so intense, that His pores began to seep blood. If ever there was a time when Jesus needed a friend to […]
A very real problem for all of us is that we tend to profess a depth of faith in God that we do not actually possess. Faith is easy on the mountaintop. The battlefield trenches of life are an entirely different matter. A football team may spend a lot of time practicing in preparation for […]
Like many of you, on New Year’s Eve I watched a ball slide down a pole to commemorate the end of the old and the beginning of the new. Or perhaps you participated in a ceremony that was somewhat more creative. In Atlanta it was a peach instead of a disco ball. But Pennsylvania towns […]
In thinking of bitterness I would venture to guess that most people consider it an issue of being hurt or wronged. And while this is certainly true, there is an interwoven thread that so often colors the dynamics of our interpersonal relationships – CONTROL. Almost from the very beginning of time as we know it, […]
“Imagine there’s no heaven . . . It’s easy if you try . . . No hell below us . . .” Such are the opening words of the opening track of John Lennon’s Imagine album that was released in 1971. Lennon’s desire was to help the human race recognize its oneness apart from the […]
In addition to the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, western Pennsylvania is home to many Amish families. The Amish are a sect of Christianity that promotes simple living and plain dress. Due to their emphasis on separation from worldliness, they aren’t permitted to drive automobiles or utilize many modern conveniences. While it’s not uncommon to see […]
When I was a kid we had an oak tree growing in our front yard. Over the course of the 17 years we lived in that house the tree went from a small sapling to a mighty giant, dropping acorns everywhere. To think that it all began with a single acorn—a simple seed! As big […]
Bitter Root. Sounds somewhat natural, doesn’t it? Actually, this Montana state flower was at times prized as a delicacy by some Native American tribes. But not everything natural is good. You can be sure I won’t be buying Poison Ivy Skin Cream any time soon! The Bible also speaks of a bitter root—one that has […]
