Have you ever had the experience of expecting things to turn out one way, but when it comes to it, it turns out to be very different from what you expected? Maybe it was a person. Someone you didn’t really know very well, or someone you had never actually met, but you knew about them. Somehow you had it all worked out in your mind exactly what they were like. But then, when you finally [...]
There is an old-fashioned word we don’t hear very often in everyday speech. But it is a word that I like. I like it because it describes something I can hold onto, something I can depend on. That word is steadfast. According to Noah Webster, the word steadfast describes something or someone that is “Constant; firm; resolute; not fickle or wavering.” (Webster, 1828) Having something like that in my life helps me. It helps me [...]
The Bible tells us that in the beginning, in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked with God. Can you imagine it? You wake up in the morning. Have some fresh fruit. Inhale the crisp, clean, fresh morning air. You watch the animals grazing nearby, and then you hear a footstep and the sound of His voice! It’s the Lord God, your Creator! So, you run to Him and walk with Him and talk [...]
In 1972, a young, untrained pastor struggled to lead a small, multiracial church in a drug-ridden neighborhood of Brooklyn. There was no money for a pastor’s salary, no money for much-needed repairs, no money to even pay the mortgage. One Sunday night, Pastor Jim Cymbala began to preach. Feeling called to minister to the people of Brooklyn, but not knowing what to do in a seemingly hopeless situation, he choked up and tears filled his [...]
For those of you who follow, you will have noticed it has been a while since I have posted. Although the timing of my online absence coincided with the social upheaval due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not the pandemic that precipitated my withdrawal from active blogging. Rather it has been what I can only describe as a spiritual lull. Some of you may have experienced what I mean. Or perhaps [...]
