Saving to Serve

The Thanksgiving holiday in the USA is behind us (except for its crass commercialization, unfortunately). One thing I found myself being thankful for this year was being able to share with others the bounty God has showered upon me. I haven't always taken that opportunity as I should have. When my wife and I were younger and had several children living at home, our income was less and day-to-day expenses greater, and we were carrying too much debt. So, I I felt anxious about every dollar and was too reluctant to part with even a few to help...

Thank You, Jesus

As I write this, we are just two days away from celebrating Thanksgiving Day where I live. I am very much looking forward to what is considered a traditional Thanksgiving. I am especially looking forward to my favorite part of that holiday and that is spending the day with family. Someone once said that you pick your friends but you are stuck with your family. If that is true, I am indeed blessed because I am "stuck" with a wonderful family. As the day approaches, I find myself reflecting on the only miracle of Jesus that is recorded in all four gospels. That miracle is the feeding of...

Don't Get Burned

I've long thought that one of the most striking passages in the New Testament is Hebrews 12:29: "For our God is a consuming fire."  Such compelling images this brings to mind!  What does it mean?  Does the passage refer to the "fire" of a zealous servant of God, or the fire of His judgment?  Some of both, perhaps, but examination of the context suggests that it's probably more of the latter. Let's see the passage in context: Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve...

A Fall Reminder

We recently had a time change and had to set our clocks back one hour. Speaking for myself, I am not a big fan of time changes. It always takes me a while to get accustomed to the new time. I am not fond of the one in the Autumn because it gets dark earlier. I particularly dislike this most recent time change for another reason. One evening shortly after the time change, I was ascending the steps that lead from the doors of the office building where I work up to the parking lot. I had just passed the midway point in my ascent when the outdoor light suddenly went out. I immediately found...