I’m sure that most of you know what follows, but in the event you have never heard or may have forgotten how our Methodist Book of Worship describes the season of Lent, let me highlight it for you. Lent is a season of forty days, not counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday, (this year…
It’s winter, the fields are brown and barren and the crop is in the bin. Those of us who live in farm communities know it didn’t get there by accident. We know that farmers, perhaps more than any other profession, practice a special kind of faith. After the crop is planted, they do as much…
Later in his career, the British actor, A.E. Matthews, found himself dealing with occasional forgetfulness. In a play in which he was cast, Matthews was in a scene in which he walked across a room, answered the phone and engaged in conversation, the content of which was crucial to the plot. When he picked up…
On July 30th, 2013, with great anticipation I entitled my initial article “Now That We Have Begun.” On October 24, 2016, it is with a sense of bitter-sweetness that I write my last article. Bitter at having to leave you, but pleased and thankful for the ministry we have had together. We indeed have had…
While there are a number of other topics I really want to share with you, I inevitably am drawn to the multitude of things taking place around us as far as the eye technologically can see. The negative so greatly outpaces the good that it is just overwhelming! The Sixth Commandment, e.g., not only has…
We are extraordinary beings. We are a mélange (It’s OK to use your dictionary) of walking, talking, living, breathing contradictions. God has told us over and over never to worry. That’s right—we sin when we do worry. Yet it is God Himself who has gifted us with an astounding capacity to worry! Even the great…
For over a month now, this title song has been our opening song of praise. You may observe that the song’s title both is a statement as well as a question: How great our God is. And, how great is our God? Either way, the title alone is quite profound because it puts us in…
We find some instructions in the small Book of Jude that help us as believers under-stand what our role is to be with non-Christians. Many of you may be faced with at least one of these three, and you are wondering what God’s expectations are of you. Let’s take a look at verses 22-23 for…
A daughter told her mother about how things were becoming so hard for her (or was it her son?). She said she did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that just soon as one issue was solved, a…
Happy are those who take delight in the words of the LORD and who deeply reflect on those words all the time. Like trees growing near an ample source of water, they show beneficial results (fruit) and do not quit (wither). These kind of happy people are successful in everything they do (an adaptation of…