I’ve been thinking about all that is going on in our world right now: the continued upheaval in the Middle East, the situation on our border… Ukraine…Russia. There is just a tremendous amount of uncertainty. Not to mention the political uncertainty in our own country… We live in a time when we as a nation […]
Back during the Covid shutdown, I read this great book by Susan Beaumont called, “How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going.” Great title! It was a great book. She talks about how there are times in history, when we find ourselves between the disintegration of the old and the emergence of something […]
I remember one Wednesday night a number of years ago now, Pastor Bob Smith was teaching a class on the parables at our church. He had us sing “Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God…” as a closing song. I had been through a particularly hard year that year. As we were singing, I looked […]
When he was asked, Jesus said that the first and the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, strength, soul, and mind. In my first year teaching high school, I’ll never forget a student named Earnest. Earnest was failing. He often skipped class, and when he did show up it was almost […]
One of my favorite movies as a kid was the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It’s an old movie, but if you remember it, it is about his quest is to find the Holy Grail, the original chalice used by Christ at the Last Supper. Along the way, Indy finds himself in these […]
Some time ago, I listened to an interview with Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen. She spoke about a twenty-four-year-old young man who had to have one of his legs amputated to stop the spread of bone cancer. He had become angry and bitter. Eventually, Dr. Ramen was able to help him come to grips with his […]
My friend Robert McCrary used to have a prayer attached to a bulletin board in his office titled “Hands.” The prayer itself speaks of transformation and grace. It moves from a preoccupation with the self to a love of others. The author is unknown, and today, we will make it our message and our prayer. […]
The year that I taught High School in Jamaica, I’ll never forget the first PTA meeting I attended. The vice-principal gave a speech where she encouraged the parents to teach their children how to use flush toilets because many of the new students had never seen one. She also encouraged the parents – even though […]
One year our choir director led our Sunday school class in a study of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. He had us do a pretty interesting exercise. He asked us to read the first three chapters and list all the things God has done for us in Christ. It really is amazing. For three chapters, […]
There is a passage in Steve Covey’s book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” that hit home for me. Covey wrote, “I value my children. I love them, I want to help them. I value my role as their father. But I don’t always see those values. I get caught up in the ‘thick […]
