“Do not be afraid, little flock,” Jesus told His followers, “For your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). I love this verse, don’t you? It reminds me of a similar verse in the Old Testament. There God tells His people, “Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, little Israel, do [...]
How predictable is your faith walk? Here’s why I ask. A well-known adage goes like this: High predictability = Low Impact; Low predictability = High impact. I think most of us would agree with this; generally speaking, we remember best events that came as a complete surprise or appeared in some new way. This is [...]
Sometimes I get overwhelmed by it all. Advertising is everywhere—We listen to advertisements as we pump our gas, watch YouTube videos (unless we’ve paid for Premium), or wait for a movie to start. It’s a dim memory, but I remember going to movies when all I had to sit through were previews of upcoming shows [...]
Vacation season has begun. Many will be heading out to various destinations—cell phones and sunscreen in hand—excited to see and experience new things. Some of us will travel great distances and enter a totally different culture for a few days or weeks; others will take their vacations closer to home. Whether we revisit familiar places [...]
Jesus, our Lord, who died and rose again, is now sitting on His throne of glory—the highest place in heaven. Angels, elders, and living creatures encircle His throne, shouting “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise” (Rev. 5:12). Yet, we [...]
Sometimes we think our culture is particularly wicked and beyond God’s reach. We begin to imagine life without the influence of the Gospel and wonder: What will guide and inspire the generations that come after us if it vanishes from sight? But a cursory look at history will reassure us that "when the enemy comes [...]
Growing up I had an awesome older brother. He was five years older than me. To be sure, he wasn’t very pleased to share his home with a sibling at first. Rumor has it that he tried to trade me to my grandma for a cat when I was born. But as we grew up, [...]
It’s a rather complicated process, the way we perceive shapes and colors around us and make sense of our world. But God’s design for sight is perfect … as long as all the elements are working as they should. Light enters our eyes through the cornea, the clear outer layer, which bends it as it [...]
In 1946 (the year I was born) a movie was produced that would become a holiday favorite. The enduring popularity of It’s a Wonderful Life is not just its actors and script. The movie makes us ponder some of the great mysteries of being human. It asks such important questions as: How do we assess [...]
When you were a kid, how did you celebrate Thanksgiving? In my elementary school (back in the 50s) we always rehearsed the story of how the Pilgrims and Indians came together to share a meal of wild turkey and locally grown crops on the first Thanksgiving Day. My teachers emphasized that the Pilgrims had barely [...]
