When Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday, our country was in the middle of the Civil War. Loved ones were being lost daily on the battlefields in America and our country was being torn apart and full of uncertainty. It seemed there was little to be thankful for. Yet Lincoln saw the need to seek God and be thankful for His mercy and provision during the hard times, and ask for our country’s healing and prosperity in the future. It was a declaration of hope and trust in God that despite the turmoil in the present, God Continue Reading
November 14, 2013 By
A Faith Test
I remember back to my grammar school days. (Yes, I can actually remember back that far.) Of course we studied math, science, English, and the other grade school subjects. We worked our way through homework assignments and hours of classroom instruction, reading the textbooks and absorbing information. Then at long last, there would come a day of reckoning. Test Day. That was the day we were put through our paces, our teachers eager to see how much knowledge we had retained. Our test results would help them determine if we were ready to go to Continue Reading
May 8, 2013 By
Beachball Therapy- Not!
Have you ever tried to hold a beach ball underwater? It takes a lot of energy and focus. You may be trying to hide it from someone else in the pool, trying to make nice and act like you don’t have it. But invariably, something will happen – you get distracted, you loosen your grip, someone calls your name, and whoosh! That beach ball ascends to the surface with astounding speed, and once it starts, it’s almost impossible to stop. The force with which it reveals itself can be surprising and shocking. That’s the way the world tries to Continue Reading
July 13, 2012 By
Tearing Down the Walls, Weeping to the Hymns, and Singing in the Rain
This week some walls came-a-tumblin’ down. Inside the sanctuary of my church, we began a three day tear down—after 30 years of non-stop use, our church home is being remodeled, reworked, and being called The Restoration Project. A few hundred of us showed up with tools, axes, gloves and elbow grease, and the demolition began. Crowbars creaked planks apart, axes were wielded with aplomb, and lighting fixtures came down; the people of my church earnestly tackled the demolition just as earnestly as they have tackled missions trips and singing with Continue Reading
July 6, 2012 By
Perseverance – My Saturday Morning Devotion from Exodus 2012
I have always thought the end of a conference was one of the hardest times to navigate: we’ve been in a cocoon-like world, a back-to-the-womb time. We expressed, received and gave. Then the inevitable happened: we came down from the mountain to face a huge paradigm shift and a series of ups and downs. (Mine included delayed flights, stuffy airplanes, and chocolate binges). But reality tends to check us at the door of home sweet home. The things we sought to understand in the insulated safety of that mountain now present themselves squarely Continue Reading
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