It seems to come so naturally for most children who have their basic needs met – a joyful enthusiastic attitude toward life. Smiles a mile wide at the mere prospect of an ice cream cone, screams of delight at the sight of a friend coming over to “play”, a secure and confident trust that leads …
Most of us don’t like to be around braggarts. Their subtle and often not so subtle references to their achievements, their status, their latest and greatest purchase, the size of their portfolio, their brilliance (and that of their extremely gifted children) can cause us to inwardly cringe, look for the closest exit, or excuse ourselves …
As we have been thinking through the first chapter of the Gospel according to Luke, a statement in Mary’s Magnificat struck me as quite puzzling when I first began to ponder it: “My soul magnifies (literally- “enlarges”) the Lord!” How in the world can we enlarge God – the Creator and Sustainer of all things …
Here lie I, Martin Elginbrode Have mercy o’ my soul, Lord God, As I would do were I Lord God, And Ye were Martin Elginbrode. -Epitaph in a Scottish graveyard One of my mentors shared a true story that I have never been able to forget. A single young man was employed by a company …
As we are about to embark on our journey into a new year, it is important not so much to evaluate where we have been but where we are today and where we sense God calling us to invest our live tomorrow (Phil. 3:13-14). As a church we want to be about “TURNING ORDINARY PEOPLE …
As I have been studying through the book of Hebrews, one verse has really been rattling around in my mind… “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need.” Frankly, I don’t know many believers who approach Jesus in this …
It is all around us these days. It’s in the atmosphere we breathe. It’s spawned in us by the media, by internet blogs, by declining house values, by declining stock values, by jobs lost, and innumerable stories of hard times, even our President seems daily to remind us of how bad things are…and, worst of …
I’ve always been intrigued by investing…trying to develop an ideal portfolio that minimizes risk and maximizes return is fascinating to me. There is no end to the number of financial pundits out there who, for a not-so-small fee, will manage your money promising sky high returns while assuring you that there is virtually no downside …
Pain is paradoxical…it can sink us into the depths, yet simultaneously raise us to new spiritual heights; it can cause us to become self-absorbed, yet also develop in us a great compassion for others who suffer; it can cause us to cry out for any and every kind of temporal relief, yet simultaneously loosen our …
When was the last time you attended a family reunion? That interesting time of celebrating the “union” that exists among members of a family. There is brother Bob who tends to drink a bit too much and then share his opinions about others a bit too loudly. There is crazy aunt Matilda who is convinced …
