No, that’s not a typo. As we blast through these final days before “The Day,” I think we can learn something important from Mary, Martha’s sister. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus heads into Bethany to preach, and is invited by Martha to stay at her house. As you can read in the account (which you can […]
thoughts
Christmas Lights
We said good-bye to my father-in-law last week. He had lived a wonderful life that touched many, many others with laughter, encouragement, respect, and kindness. I will miss him very much. One of his favorite times of year was Christmas. Born in December and a joyful church-goer, he had many reasons to relish this time […]
Back in Wonder
At this time of year, I have often found myself thinking of how things were when I was a kid. My mother always made the season of Christmas magical for us, putting up decorations and our big tree early, displaying lights all across the front of our house for neighbors (and many others) to enjoy, […]
Giving or Thanks: Which Comes First?
Around this time of year, I sometimes ponder the order of our holidays. Thanksgiving comes before Christmas. I know about the historical significance of Thanksgiving being a time of remembering from whence our bountiful harvest comes – God’s great blessings. But didn’t God give us our greatest gift at Christmas? So, shouldn’t Thanksgiving follow Christmas? […]
Thanksgiving Blessings!
I pray that our Father blesses you this day with hearts filled with gratitude for all of His amazing blessings. May your gratitude overflow with love for Him and all of His amazing creation!
Thanks for the Hard Stuff
Here we are in the week between two major “thanks events” – Veterans Day and Thanksgiving Day. We have many reasons to be thankful for our veterans, and plenty to thank God for on our traditional day for it. But what about the in-betweens? I mean, the first is about the sacrifices made for us […]
A Season of Fullness
The smell is unique – gentle decay of a natural, wholesome sort rather than morbid. The skies are an honest blue, deep and clear. The crunch of acorns and leaves underfoot betrays all but the most careful movement. It involves a slow disrobing of a revelatory sort rather than sensual. It is a time of […]
Difficult Times Produce Amazing Qualities
I heard a song recently by Sanctus Real entitled Confidence. I like the song. It’s got good lyrics, an upbeat tempo, and a singable melody. There are some parts of it that give me pause, however. The refrain refers to Daniel’s faith, Moses’ hope, and David’s heart, and the singer asks that God would grant […]
The House upon the Rock (Matthew 7:24-27)
(Click here to read the passage) I had the joy of visiting the coast of Maine recently. The fall colors were in their early stages, and awe-inspiring views were plentiful. One of the more intriguing places I visited is the Nubble, a large rock island just off York Beach. I found an intriguing contrast there […]
The More You Look, the More You See
This morning, before dawn was offering its tell-tale hints along the eastern horizon, I stood on my front porch and looked at the sky. As always, I found joy in looking at the stars. This morning, there was a sliver of moon high up, and it made the stars hard to see until I stood […]