I have a friend who will often reply to the question, “How are you?” with this response: “Wide open.” I know what he means, and I’m sure you do too. Life today throws a schedule at us that often requires full throttle to get through. For the most part, the activities that crowd our schedules…
It just keeps coming up this week. I can’t get away from it, so I decided to write about it. No, I’m not talking about the extensive media coverage of the new president’s first two weeks in office, although it has been interesting. And it’s not the Super Bowl coverage either, even though the Falcons…
A few days ago I was reading an article in our local newspaper written by one of my wife’s coworkers who attended last Friday’s presidential inauguration. In the article he made a comment that jumped out at me and made me think. He said that as he listened to the national anthem being sung at…
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that today is Inauguration Day for the 45th President of the United States. Why not take a moment and give thanks to the Lord for our nation, where we still have free elections and a peaceful transfer of power? I’m afraid that sometimes we take that…
2017. 2017. 2017. Have you remembered to make that change these last couple of weeks when you’ve written the year on something? Keeping things current is important! If your watch runs slow, you’ll be late. If your bills are left unpaid, you may receive unpleasant phone calls. If you don’t keep up with your vehicle’s…
It’s 2017, and I guess I ought to be wishing everyone a Happy New Year since this is the first “Pastor’s Heart” of the year. I do hope you have a blessed and fruitful year; however, the tone of today’s note is a little more somber than I thought it might be. This is due…
In looking over different quotes about the New Year for our bulletin this week, a verse from Psalm 65 was mentioned. It caught my eye and reminded me of a study I’d done a few years ago, so I looked it up and went over it again. Psalm 65 is a song of praise and…
Has this ever happened to you? Someone says something, and you don’t give it much thought. Then, it keeps coming back to your mind; and the more it does, the more it sinks in. That’s what happened to me. I was sharing some thoughts about a Sunday message dealing with the topic of change and…
Change is a constant. It can be for good or for worse, but it is always there. There’s something about the Christmas season that sometimes turns this time of year into a spotlight that glaringly focuses our attention on the changes we’ve been through over recent months or even years. Some older members of our…
No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Just a because. As Paul closed his first letter to the Thessalonians, he gave a list of what I call rapid-fire exhortations to the church. The one found in 5:18 is today’s topic, and it’s perhaps the hardest one in the list (along with the one in verse…