April 17, 2019“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” – Romans 8:32These past few weeks I have been meeting with and caring for an unusually high number of people who...
April 10, 2019 “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it....
April 3, 2019“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” – Isaiah 53:6It is a good and healthy practice to personalize the Cross. I need to remember that every single...
March 27, 2019 “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord,...
March 20, 2019 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Mark 10:45 Americans are expert consumers. We are masters at finding the thing that will most perfectly meet our need or...
March 13, 2019 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” –...
March 6, 2019 “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” – Genesis 2:15 We probably think of paradise as a place of endless relaxation where we are free from work. However, this is not the...
February 27, 2019 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.” – Psalm 136:1 Anyone who has small children knows that thankfulness is not their strong suit. In fact, if my provision for them was dependant on their gratitude toward me, they probably would have...
February 20, 2019 “Jesus said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the...
February 13, 2019 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16 Hypocrite! It is one of the most hurtful and demeaning words that can be spoken to a follower of Christ. We can endure such...
February 6, 2019 “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” – 1 Corinthians 2:2 Theology is intimidating. When we set out to plumb the depths of all we can know about God, there is no end to that endeavor. When...
January 30, 2019 “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith...
January 23, 2019 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 One of the most unfortunate developments...
January 16, 2019 “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joabout with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around...
January 9, 2019 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” – 1 John 5:14-15 It has been...
January 2, 2019 “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household,...
December 26, 2018 “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” – Lamentations 3:21-23 Each time the year draws to a close I...
December 19, 2018 “But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.’” – Luke 2:10 “Merry Christmas!” – Words that we have heard so often that they have lost their significance. Many of us are...
December 12, 2018 “And Mary said ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy...
December 5, 2018 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” – Matthew 7:7-8 Around...
November 28, 2018 “Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked; for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.” – Proverbs 37:16-17 We often read passages like Proverbs 37 and come to the conclusion that poverty is righteous...
November 21, 2018 “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.” – Psalm 9:1 Thanksgiving is right around the corner. And, obviously, most of us take time during this season to stop and give thanks for the good things...
November 14, 2018 “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9 This passage may seem a...
October 31, 2018 “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” – Acts 4:13 My bachelor’s degree is in Music. My specialty was jazz. As I headed...
October 17, 2018 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” – 1 John 3:16 I consider myself to be a loving person. I’m not just talking about the...
October 10, 2018 “For, ‘All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you. Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy,...
October 3, 2018 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared...
September 26, 2018 “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” – John 16:13 I don’t know how...
September 19, 2018 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Matthew 6:33-34 Today was supposed to be...
September 12, 2018 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it,...
