And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward. Matthew 10:42 Tuesday, 1 PM: I just drove the Bali mission team to Dulles airport for the first leg of their 21 hour flight to Indonesia. Their first flight is 14 hours to Seoul, South Korea. They have a couple of hour layover and then a seven hour flight…
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36 In the 1994 critically acclaimed movie The Shawshank Redemption, the life of a young successful banker Andy Dufresne is forever altered when he is wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to life imprisonment at Shawshank Prison. Over the course of the years he develops long term friendships with other lifers, including Brooks Hatlin, the prison librarian. Brooks has been in the prison for so…
I will sing of your steadfast love, O LORD, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 89:1 A couple of weeks ago I was sneaking around the house, the way parents sometimes do, to check up on what my kids were doing. Josh is downstairs watching ESPN sports center, check. Amanda is in her room reading a book, check. Katelyn is at the kitchen table with the laptop playing some kind of matching game…
Colossians 1:12-13 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the son he loves in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Over the last several years I’ve kind of gotten into reading James Mitchener novels. Mitchener was the Pulitzer prize winning novelist who wrote Tales of the South…
Philippians 4:11-13 …for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much…
Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; and revive me in your ways. (NIV & NASB) It seems like I have an extraordinary capacity to waste time. It doesn’t happen all the time and it might be a stretch to say that it happens often, but it does happen and with disturbing regularity. I’ll have a to-do list as long as my right arm or I’ll be exhausted at home after a long day of work and… I…
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow… Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15 Two weeks ago I wrote about “planning paralysis,” a condition that often affects Christians when they must make important decisions about the future….
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 I know that for many in our church family this verse and the entire passage in which it is found is an all-time favorite. How comforting and freeing it is to know that we rest in the loving hands of God and that his intentions towards us are good….
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7 With father’s day approaching, I was reflecting on the importance of dads to our families and recalled this story from 10 years ago. When Amanda was three her favorite way of greeting Steve when he came home from work was to yell, “Catch me Daddy!” and then fling herself from the top of six steps into his arms. Since he…
We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. Hebrews 6:12 Yesterday and today have to be two of the hottest days on record for this time of year. It’s like a sauna out there. As soon as you set foot outside the door the heat and humidity hit you like a sledge hammer. The weather bug station at Cedar Point Elementary School is reading 96.3 degrees…