The Song of God’s Glory

The Song of God’s GloryRomans 11:33-36June 9, 2024 On more than one road trip, Raye Jeanne and I have lamented the countryside we would miss while driving before dawn or after dusk. The night sky was going to obscure the waving grasslands, or the rolling hills, the mountain peaks, or the waves on the seaside. […]

God’s Love for MIssions

God’s Love for MissionsSelected ScripturesJune 2, 2024 John Paton was a missionary to the Hebrides (19th C.). Late in life he recounted the 40-mile walk he took when in his early 20s to go from his home to the train station where he would find transportation to go to seminary to prepare him for the […]

One Thing…

One Thing…Psalm 27May 26, 2024 I have read that in Deadwood, SD there is a sign in a museum that had been left by a beleaguered prospector in the area: “I lost my gun. I lost my horse. I am out of food. The Indians are after me. But I’ve got all the gold I […]

Singing the Shepherd Song

Singing the Shepherd SongPsalm 23May 12, 2024 Where do you go or what do you do when you are uncomfortable — when you are discouraged, sad, hurting, uncertain about the future (or even today)? You could go to the internet for some suggestions: Comforting Smells — Scents from lavender to rose, cinnamon to vanilla, delivered […]

The Godly Life in an Ungodly World

The Godly Life in an Ungodly WorldPsalm 15May 5, 2024 Gracie Allen, an actress from a couple of generations ago and the wife of comedian George Allen once received an alligator as a gag gift. What do you do with a gift alligator? Who knows? So she put in the bathtub and left for […]

God’s Glory in the Pinnacle of His Creation

God’s Glory in the Pinnacle of His CreationPsalm 8April 28, 2024 How has your week been? Do you ever have weeks or days when you stop reading the news alerts on your phone and email because it just is too distressing for your spiritual heart? I have some good news for you: Worldwide, there […]

Examples of Steadfastness, Part 2

Examples of Steadfastness, Part 2Selected ScripturesMarch 17, 2024 Many of you have exercise routines. You enjoy getting out in the morning and running for 30-60 minutes, or heading to the gym after work to lift some weights and put in some cardio work. I’m guessing that none of us has a workout routine like Candice […]

Examples of Steadfastness

Examples of SteadfastnessSelected ScripturesMarch 10, 2024 Slowly read Psalm 16. Did you hear what the psalmist said of his relationship with God? “I take refuge in You.” “I have no good besides You.” “The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup.” “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; indeed, my […]

A Prayer for Steadfastness

A Prayer for SteadfastnessColossians 1:9-12March 3, 2024 Patrick Lawler had a persistent toothache. For about a week his tooth had been bothering him. It was bad enough that even his eyesight became blurry. He tried painkillers. They didn’t work. He tried icepacks to reduce the swelling. Nope. He even tried the cure-all for all mouth-related […]

Be Steadfast in the Gospel

Be Steadfast in the Gospel1 Timothy 3:14-16February 25, 2024 After his death, a documentary entitled Won’t You Be My Neighbor? chronicled the life of seemingly everyone’s neighbor, Mr. Rogers. In the film, Rogers’ wife, Joanne reveals a question he asked her shortly before his death: “Am I a sheep?” As he approached his last moments […]

Be Steadfast in Your Suffering

Be Steadfast in Your SufferingRomans 5:3-5February 18, 2024 Christian university professor Mark Talbot tells his story of suffering in When the Stars Disappear: When I was seventeen, I fell about 50 feet off a Tarzan-like rope swing, breaking my back and becoming partially paralyzed from the waist down. I spent six months in hospitals. Initially, […]

Be Steadfast in Fighting Sin

Be Steadfast in Fighting SinRomans 6:12-14February 4, 2024 On a very limited number of occasions — once, maybe twice — I have felt like I had reached the limits of my physical ability. My arms and legs trembling with weariness, I was near the end of my body’s strength. On a few of occasions I’ve […]

Be Steadfast

Be Steadfast — Ministry Focus for 20241 Corinthians 15:58January 28, 2024 In the late 1980s, Henry Dempsey was flying for a commuter airline. On one flight with an empty 15-passenger airplane, he and the copilot heard a rattling noise toward the back of the plane. The copilot took control of the plane when Dempsey […]

Four truths to remember in trials

To live in this world is to suffer. As Job noted, “For man is born for trouble, As sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). You know that. You know the suffering of broken cars, broken bodies, and broken relationships. And you feel the burden of that brokenness; sometimes it is heavy, other times lighter, but it […]

You need perseverance

Near the end of his life, John Calvin suffered from tuberculosis. In his weakened condition his doctors urged him to rest and adopt a slower pace in his work. He refused, saying, “Bear with me, that God will find me watching and busy at His work until my last sigh.” So the doctors and his […]