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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Love plays a central role in our culture and in our lives. The apostle John tells us that love is from God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, for God is love (1John 4:7-8). Psychologists tell us that the need to feel loved is a primary human emotional need. It is no wonder that God’s primary commandments to mankind are to love God and to love one another (Matt. 22:34-40). [...]
When my firstborn daughter was three years old, I found myself in an odd situation. It seemed like every time I asked her to do something, we ended up arguing. I said to myself, “There’s something wrong here… I’m arguing with a three-year-old!” That realization was the catalyst for my discovering the truth about temperament in the pages of Your Personality Tree by Florence Littauer. You may have encountered a variety of personality tests, some [...]
Worship leader Tommy Walker wrote a song titled, Only a God Like You* In it, he writes, My allegiance and devotion, My heart's desire and all emotion, Go to serve the Man Who died upon that tree It’s a great worship song. Do you know it? As I was singing this song on a Sunday morning, I found myself wondering, is it true of me? Is my heart’s desire and my emotion really wrapped up [...]
Child survivors of Auschwitz At the end of World War II, the Allies entered the concentration camps of Germany to find unbelievable carnage. Among the masses of emaciated bodies, the following note was found in the clothing of a dead child. It reads: O Lord, remember not only the men and woman of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all of the suffering they have inflicted upon [...]
