If you have any history whatsoever of growing up in church, you may have sung a hymn that I also sang in church as a child, whose original lyrics have fallen out of favor. In fact, they are so politically incorrect that some hymnbooks have changed them. The hymn to which I am referring is …
I’m afraid this painting isn’t going to give you the instant point that I am trying to make, but I love it so much that I really want to use it. It’s a Vermeer, and it’s called “Woman Holding a Balance”. Which is the point I’m going for, but you’ll really have to look hard …
This morning, I read Acts 7, where Stephen becomes the first follower of Jesus who is killed for his beliefs. And I think I “got it” in a way I haven’t gotten it before. Now, the action really starts in chapter 6. In verse 8 of that chapter, Stephen is described as a man full …
OK, I know I have been AWOL for a while now. And I’m sorry about that. I have been trying to solve some health issues that have been plaguing me, and I think my doctor and I are on the right track. It seems I have some hypothyroid issues going on. So, for several weeks …
Have you ever realized, after the fact, that you had been given a test, and you failed it? I have. I failed one on Sunday. With all my posting on the psalms, with all my love of God’s Word, I expect more of myself than what I am about to reveal in the following incident. …
Are you old enough to remember that old commercial? Picture a bunch of young fresh faced hippies on a mountain top, singing a catchy little ditty. Begin swaying. Pop open a frosty bottle of Coke, and sing along. OK, everybody back from your Coke break? I hope you paid special attention to that phrase, “perfect …
My friend Lisa Bevill is struggling with a monster that is attempting to suck the joy and peace from her life, by striking out at her health. This monster is known as Lyme Disease, and she is not the only friend I have who is suffering from it. But I also have other friends who …
Today’s post really piggybacks onto Monday’s post, “Never Give In”, so not to discourage you from reading this one if you HAVEN’T read that one, but I think what I want to say today will be more meaningful to you if you have read and meditated on the first half of Psalm 132. Just sayin’. …
“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” Oh, I love that famous quote, by Winston Churchill, describing our family’s vacations…. OK, I’m sort of kidding, but I was pondering …
Have you ever done a little act of kindness, and then hoped that God would use your little effort somehow? I want to tell you a story today about how a kindness done for someone else had a ripple effect that had an impact on me personally in a very real way. I love this …
I am just worn out with the turmoil. Because lately, the inside of my brain has been feeling a lot like this: I am worn out with arguments. Worn out by the incessant, never ending torrent of words that flood from the fingertips and/or mouths of a few. Whether it’s a religious/doctrinal issue, or a …
Today’s Psalm, Psalm 130, is a beauty, and I don’t want anyone who is interested to miss out on this treasure. I think maybe this is my favorite one so far. In case you’re just now “tuning in”, I’ve been reading Beth Moore’s study on the Psalms of Ascent, Stepping Up, and taking the opportunity …
This might seem a strange title for a post on Psalm 129, and I admit, arriving at this title was a bit of a tortuous journey for me, but bear with me, hear my tale, and all will eventually be made (fairly) plain. Certain psalms are called imprecatory psalms. Imprecatory psalms are those psalms that …
If you are wondering why a little wrinkled brown thing clutching a microphone is pictured atop this blog post, you, my dear child, are obviously not of a certain age. Or else you are of a certain age, but have led a very sheltered life. That’s a California Raisin, and he’s singing that he “Heard …
How would you like to move in to the cabin pictured here? What? No takers???? Once, many years ago, I had the pleasure of visiting a cabin that was originally built in the 1800’s. (NOT the one pictured here.) The owner of that cabin had lovingly restored it, detail by painstaking detail. He had also …