The day after Christmas, I enthusiastically challenged my nine-year-old grandson to a game of bowling. The standup video kind. We were having a blast—he was winning—until something caused me to lose my footing, and I went down. I apparently tried to break my fall with my arm, but instead I…
Joshua 6:17 tells us the story of Rahab, a prostitute living in Jericho. She was an outcast by society, but one good decision transformed her reproach into heroism. We don’t know much about her past. We don’t have any record of why she chose prostitution. But we do know that…
“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of…
The story is old but ever new by the vibrant colors of it: blood red with courage, true blue with faithfulness, and white hot with passion. It begins in Nazareth where the believers were considered sub-par, a bit too influenced by the many caravans who passed there. Those of Jerusalem’s…
God created a wonderful world for us, but sometimes during our fast-paced, overworked lives, we struggle to look beyond the frustration and exhaustion of daily living. During this time of year, we add scurrying about, trying to get ready for the holidays. We must not overlook the true meaning behind…
A valuable lesson I have learned—and continue to learn—is to trust God. When my life goes in an unplanned direction, my first instinct is to fix it by myself. How can I make things better? What did I do to get into this situation? How do I change it? While…
She was a desperate woman—a widow and a mother—hopelessly in debt. (Read her story in 2 Kings 4:1-7.) The Enemy had subtracted almost everything of value from her life. He had “minused” away her husband, her resources, and her ability to sustain herself until all that she, and her two sons,…
The Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia welcomed me to a ladies’ retreat where I had been the main speaker the year before. The pastor’s wife was a dear friend, and the ladies of her church were quite precious to me as well. Only this year, I was not their special…
“To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79). We were laughing as we left church that Sunday afternoon—playing with our toddler cousin, vying for the attention of the small child, making lunch…