when God speaks
I’m no gardener. The surest way to kill your flowers or vegetable plants is to ask me to care for them. So I marvel at those who are gifted at working with all things green and growing. Some gardeners have a practice (whether it is superstition or has merit, I can’t say) of talking to their plants. They’ll lean over…
personality or precept?
Twitter. Facebook. Podcasts. In mere seconds, we can receive biblical truths from around the globe. We can worship with our favorite worship bands and gain insight into life’s toughest problems from the latest speakers and writers. Never has the Word been so accessible at any given moment. While this level of information offers ever-expanding opportunities for spiritual growth, our hope…
lost and found
Everyone has had the dreaded experience of losing something. Cell phones, keys, wallets, and money are all prime examples. The existence of Lost & Found departments in shopping malls tells me that people losing things is a common experience. Things are lost. Things are found. We’re mighty glad and relieved when lost things are returned to us!
Why would you…
He will reply
Recently, I stumbled upon the Twitter page of a Korean actress that I like. So, I decided to drop her a note to tell her how much her recent drama had inspired me.
Since then, I’ve waited with bated breath to see if she will reply to my message. I know it’s unlikely, because such a popular star receives hundreds…
dishing out grace
Mega-successful TV chef Rachael Ray is hardly one of the elite. “She cannot cook like I cook,” commented her rival Martha Stewart. “She cannot craft like I craft.” Yet Rachael has won viewers’ hearts—not least of all because of her charitable approach to her critics.
Author and chef Anthony Bourdain felt this charity personally. “We know she can’t cook,” he…
you choose Q: "who are john the apostle and john the elder?"
Q: I have been reading Barclay's Daily Bible Study Series references to the New Testament; specifically, the book of John. There is mention of two Johns, John the Apostle and John the Elder, one having remembered what Jesus said because this John was there, but one other John The Elder, a person 100 years old, who actually wrote the book…
navigator in focus
I like this picture. It was taken in our backyard last fall. It’s a beautiful landscape, a pond surrounded by trees in the late hues of autumn. It’s a scene I fell in love with the first time we saw this house. But it’s not a picture of that landscape. No one would mistake it for such. In the picture,…
work through me, Jesus
Galatians 1:1-2: This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead. All the brothers and sisters here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia.
As a child of God and…
i am hunger
In a previous article, I wrote about four severely malnourished siblings that I have been daily feeding. The children—Joshua, Mirika, Ashaba, Katseme— look drastically different now that they’ve been receiving nutritious food on a regular basis. Their stomachs are no longer bloated and their skin is no longer covered with sores. And their hair is no longer falling out in…
you choose Q: "why does God allow the wicked to do so well?"
Q: Why does God allow the wicked to do so well, while good people suffer? —Mike
A: An ancient writer asked the same question: “Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease; they increase in riches. Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued and…
persevering through disappointment
Something hurt me recently . . .
My initial reaction was to experience disappointment, deep disappointment, dejection, rejection—you get the picture, and I asked God to protect my heart and to not let it discourage me.
And He did. I fell asleep with that prayer on my lips and I woke up much lighter of heart and genuinely carefree. I felt…
can you keep a secret?
Matthew 6:1-4: Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others.…
believe in miracles?
During the 1980 Winter Olympic Games, Al Michaels covered the hockey venue for ABC Sports. The network could have used other broadcasters, but Michaels got the nod because he was the only announcer on staff who had experience calling a hockey game. Michaels had called one game 8 years earlier.
His assignment allowed Michaels to announce the February 22, 1980,…
you choose Q: "how do I deal with a manipulative person?"
Q: How can I practically deal with a person who continually manipulates the situation? I know God is directing my path but it is very frustrating to be receiving continuous verbal assaults from him whenever I try to work with him about the welfare of my son. I am just about out of options now. Help me! —Josephine
A: It’s hard…
don't faint
2 Samuel 11:1-5: In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof…
