We all remember the story of Abraham and Sarah waiting so many years for the male child that God had promised them. This was the only child who could fulfil the promises God had made to them on multiple occasions. (That promise to Abraham and Sarah was made to you and me too. The promise was not only for their progeny as the sands of the seashore but for a Deliverer. That Deliverer is as important to me thousands of...
Read MoreThe last few years have been difficult since we were made aware of some new type of flu found in a place called Wuhan on the other side of the world. “Normal” has become a fading dream as the results of that medical discovery have changed our personal world and our greater world. I remember the first time I heard on the news of this new virus: “It will affect mainly older people and those with comorbidities” the young newscaster...
Read MoreMy sister-in-law, Kenda, passed away almost 22 years ago now. It doesn’t seem like it could possibly be that long since we have been together. It would have been about this time of year that I would have done her income tax for her after her husband died. And she would have been flummoxed because she was so uncomfortable having people do things for her, in her mind it was to be the other way around. I woke up this morning...
Read MoreI have been reading/studying/meditating my way through the Psalms in 2022. I am reading the Bible and through 4-5 commentaries and am at different points in each of them. This week, I came to Psalm 23 in one of the commentaries. I had already read it in the Scriptures and, like you, can pretty much quote it by heart. When I read it in the Word, my mind fell back on what I already knew, “The Lord is my Shepherd,...
Read MoreEvery December 31, the next day is anticipated as “the year” when a fresh start is given to each one of us. A new chance to get our weight under control, a new hope for better family relationships, a better job, or more security for our future. Some resolve to begin daily devotions for a closer walk with the Lord. Some hope for a fresh start for their marriage, while others hope for someone to marry. Someone on Facebook said...
Read MoreDo you ever get the idea that some people are going to be with us forever, that other folk will die, but not them? I think that Wilbur Wagenschutz was one of those people for me. When I see his obit on my desk, it jolts me, it doesn’t seem real. Wilbur had been a long-time friend of my wife’s family, and when I came into her family, I became a friend of Wilbur’s as well. He had known my brother...
Read MoreChristmas, the time of year, brings many emotions as our thoughts of the holiday are formed by our past experiences. My parents were fully involved in Christmas. My father sold Christmas trees from his salesroom, formerly known, as recently as a few weeks before, as the family's two-car garage. My mother made wreaths and other items in her workshop, which also doubled later that day as the dining room table. The look and smell of Christmas was evident throughout the...
Read MoreThere are certain writers whose writings I am drawn to: Philip Yancey, Elisabeth Elliot and Joni Eareckson Tada seem always to speak to my inner me. As I write these words, I have hundreds of books within my reach but the ones that I reread are written by those authors. They share a common message; the author has gone through difficult times. They have wrestled with the pain caused by those trials. They have wrestled with the promises of God—and...
Read MoreI write about grief often; it is what seems to be in the ink of my pen as it touches paper. I begin to write with some other theme in mind…and before too long I am writing about grief, and heartache, and loss. But in writing about the trials of life, I must also write about the faithfulness of God who always keeps His promises to care for His children. Just as I believe that this life may be full of...
Read MoreA while back I felt compelled to study the Sermon on the Mount again. I thought I should start in chapter 4 of Matthew to get a run up to the sermon, to have some context. I was immediately struck by the words “Jesus was led up…to be tempted by the devil.” Who thinks it is a good idea to tempt God? Just exactly what does one tempt God with? The One who has spoken all things into existence and holds...
Read MoreI, like many young children, used to scour the house for unwrapped Christmas presents, longing to know what I was going to receive for Christmas that year. Sometimes I would find something that I knew was to be mine in only a few more days. There was something about the search, and the finding, which made the threat of being caught worth it. My folks always purchased nice gifts for me and there was great pleasure in finding them and,...
Read MoreMy verse, my only verse, in the depths of my black years was Deuteronomy 33:27 “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” I know that is not the whole verse, but I always tell people, half jokingly, that I wasn’t strong enough to handle a whole verse, a half of a verse was my limit. My prayer to the Lord at that time was that even if I could not feel those arms that He would...
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