“God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow,‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’ So that everyone he has made may know his work, he stops all people from their labor.” Job 37:5-7 Manassas: 9:15 AM Here at the church, we follow Prince William County Government, so I was quite excited when I saw at www.pwcgov.org the glorious words… PWC Government Closed Wednesday 3/21WEDNESDAY,…
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4 We have all seen the pictures and it breaks our hearts…malnourished children, thin & listless with hungry eyes & reaching hands. Maybe they are from the Syrian war-zone or victims of famine in North Africa. I recently saw images of starving children in North Korea, ignored by an autocratic regime hell-bent on achieving nuclear capabilities….
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19 Isaiah 43:19 is my favorite New Year’s verse. I think of it every year and ponder what it might mean for me in the new year. It was written to Israel during a particularly bleak time in the nation’s history. Because of their disobedience, the northern Kingdom had been…
Every Christmas, it seems I get at least one extraordinary, thoughtful, and completely unexpected gift that totally astounds me and even brings tears to my eyes. Usually it’s not the most expensive gift or even something that I’ve asked for or been wanting…but something small that takes me by surprise in all that it represents. A couple of years ago, I made a casual reference in a sermon to my affection for Reeses Pieces. Many months later at Christmas time,…
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:2 November is National Adoption Month, and coincidentally, it’s also the month of our daughter Katelyn’s birthday. So this time of year, Steve and I often reflect on the amazing journey that brought Katelyn to our home. Back in 2005, God used a traumatic experience ministering in a Jamaican orphanage to break our hearts for the needs of the orphans. The adoption process was long and…
“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” (2 Corinthians 9:6) Last March, on our annual GLCC ministry trip, several members of our team were in a small Jamaican hardware store to pick up some project supplies for the next day. While they were shopping, I wandered into the little garden section and saw a packet of callaloo seeds. Now, callaloo is kind of like a Caribbean tropical spinach…a broad deep…
Parenting Yesterday Pam and I moved our oldest daughter, Amanda into her third-floor dorm room at UVA to begin her first year in the nursing program. Three floors of stairs, no elevator, no air conditioning, just me, a pile of boxes and suitcases, and my own thoughts. If you’ve ever dropped a child off at university, you know the mixture of emotions as you trudge up and down the stairs. Where did the years go? Wasn’t it just yesterday she…
An amazing story has unfolded on our church Facebook prayer chain today. But I know many of you haven’t seen it. God has been so faithful and the answers to prayer have been SO incredible and God’s people have been SO generous, that I must share this with the whole church and all of my Facebook friends… For several years, I’ve been praying about having our GLCC Missionary Eric Simpson join us for our annual ministry trip to Jamaica. Both…
“Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29 God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day! An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which apparently, contradictory terms appear side by side. “Jumbo shrimp”, “controlled chaos”, or an “open secret” are some obvious ones. We often joke in oxymoron’s to make…
“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds…” James 1:2 “I have so much to be thankful for! The Lord is so good…so faithful…so good.” His voice trailed off in contemplation and prayer. Alva lives in Jamaica. He is 82 years old and blind. He lives in a shack about a half…