As we pray for the hurting people in the Caribbean Islands and watch as millions leave worldly possessions behind in Florida, I note that the word Irma of #HurricaneIrma means “world.” How negligible materials seem when faced with the loss of life itself. The biblical Job is the epitome of loss. A wealthy man, He lost not only the products of his life’s work, but his children and his wife. Why is not the question, although God is big enough…
Since my name is Irma, I have gotten many teasing comments about #HurricaneIrma from friends and family to which I jokingly respond, “Just get out of my path.” I can assure you, though, that Jesus is the Master of the Storm. Irma, the German Goddess of War, may toss you to and fro, send massive waves of trouble through your life, and tear apart every semblance of normality, but, as Jesus came walking on the Sea of Galilee to help…
“Joshua! Get the ball from the goalie,” Gino Zalunardo yelled from the sidelines as the opposing team advanced. His son, the team captain, paused, bent forward and grabbed his knees. Something was obviously wrong, but the game continued. He was fourteen and full of life, loved hunting and fishing and dreamed of being a youth pastor. The after-the-game meal at Taco Bell found Joshua with his lip sagging, warning of a potentially serious problem. The CAT scan that the emergency…
Winds blow across the Irish Sea adding a chill to the fall air in the English town of Blackpool. On England’s northwest coast, the natural beauty of its setting –the clear horizon, the beach quality and shoreline features – has few rivals, yet behind the beauty of the seaside resort lies one of England’s unhealthiest towns, one with its lowest life-expectancy rate and one where drug addiction, all night drinking, payday lenders and depression fill the day-to-day lives of many…
Yes, mountains really do get taller because those tectonic plates keep colliding and pushing the ground upward. Do plants grow at the top of the one you’re going around? Is your path leading to the promised land? Though God spoke from the mountain, the direction He is pointing you may be through the valley toward a place where grapes grow large, and milk and honey flow. You may need to ask him to help you move a few Canaanites, but…
“I could see my brother smiling,” Sam Hogsed said speaking of his younger brother, Scott, whose death in a vehicle accident at age fourteen had changed Sam’s life as well as the lives of many others both inside and outside the family. “We gotta go work.” Scott, a year and a half Sam’s junior, had said. We gotta hoe Granny Cook’s tobacco.” “Ah, don’t worry about that. We’re having a good time right now. We’ll do that later,” Sam had…
The blanket of God’s love enfolds you and keeps you warm. It is the covering that reflects who you truly are. Like the core of an apple, His breath lives in you, produces the fruit, and covers you. Your inner self, the “real” you, the one that is “hid with Christ in God” is the one you feel tugging at your heart, drawing you to seek the things that are true to your authentic self. Inner conflict comes from craving…
Those agile people who can bend over and look backward through their legs impress me. Fortunately it is rarely necessary to see that way. Some say that since we don’t have eyes in the backs of our heads, God didn’t intend for us to look that way; however, experience is a great teacher. Building upon the teachings of the past, God is always moving forward in our lives. As a matter of fact, Jesus says no one “having put his…
Narcissus, according to mythology, fell in love with his reflection in a pool not realizing it was just an image. Becoming self-absorbed and vain does not improve us or make us happy for that stance is based upon falsehood. In the extreme it can lead to a socially disabling personality disorder. By contrast, merely looking into the face of Jesus through a “glass darkly” changes us so that our focus and concern is toward others. The veil that was torn…
The soothing aroma of heartfelt devotion pleases God. A sincere request to God that He create in you a “clean heart” means that you desire to be free throughout – mind, will, affections. You are praying for pure thoughts and desires. Such longing unifies one’s spirit with God’s Spirit and is, therefore, precious in God’s eyes so much so, for example, that He promised Noah He would never destroy the earth again by flood. Guilt, on the other hand, burdens…