The darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. -1 John 2:8 There has been quite a bit in the news as of late that smacks of anti-Semitism. Sadly, it appears that anti-Jewish rhetoric is ramping up again in our nation. The faith we share is labeled...
Most people are on the world, not in it—have no conscious sympathy or relationship to anything about them—undiffused, separate, and rigidly alone like marbles of polished stone, touching but separate. -John Muir St. Augustine defined sin as "turned in toward...
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you... -Jeremiah 1:5 We live in a strange new world, filled with mind-boggling contradictions that many willingly buy as truth as long as it fits with our society’s ever-evolving lifestyle changes. Tired of your marriage? Try a new partner and...
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” -Matthew 19:14 I still remember the very first Sunday 23 years ago that my husband Jeff and I took our...
In 2003 Dan Brown’s mystery novel The Da Vinci Code became a best seller and spawned a controversial yet well-received movie by the same title three years later, with a star-studded cast led by Tom Hanks. The controversy centered on Brown’s contention that certain “lost...
Good afternoon (or morning or evening… or whenever you may be taking some time to read this), Beloved! I hope that this e-newsletter finds you all doing well. This year is rapidly coming to an end and as with so many years gone by, many of you may be looking for ways to develop a more...
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a...
For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. -John 1:16 The above passage from John’s Gospel is from the English Standard Version. I like this translation best for John 1:16. The New International Version 2011 says it this way: “Out of his fullness we have all...
This Sunday marks the second Sunday of Advent 2018. For those of you celebrating the season, I hope that you are sensing a renewed fellowship and closeness in your walk of faith. I have been spending quite a bit of time in my own devotions in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, reading it...
I have written in this column previously about a practice in my home when I was growing up that was, as far as I know, unique to my own mother. During the first week of Advent each year, she would take lipstick and write scripture verses and yuletide expressions on the mirrors of our home... and...
