Today is the end. Tomorrow is the beginning. Today the book closes on 2015, and tomorrow 2016 opens its first chapter. Life seems to be made up of beginnings and endings, doesn’t it? School begins and ends. Vacations begin and end. Seasons begin and end. Our children’s time at home begins and ends (and how…
The other day I stopped by my mother’s house to check on some things, and she asked me go through some stored photo albums (do people use those anymore?) and pull out a couple of albums of old Christmas photos. I didn’t have a lot of time to go through them like I will later…
Now it’s Joseph’s turn. You know the story. It’s there in Matthew 1:18-25. Mary, trusting in the God of the impossible, accepts her role as the mother of the Messiah. Suddenly, Joseph’s world is turned upside down. His happy betrothal to Mary takes a shocking and disconcerting turn: she’s expecting, and he doesn’t quite know…
When you think of the Christmas season, what words come to mind? “Joy”? “Peace”? “Good will”? How about “fear”? As you read the story of Christ’s birth in Scripture, you can see it. You actually see fear. That’s why you also see the words “Fear not” throughout the story. Think about it. For example, when…
Thanksgiving Day is on top of us, and that means one thing for me: time to go to Psalm 100 and do some more digging. Each year at this time, I enjoy meditating on this wonderful and well-known Psalm of praise and thanksgiving. I always ask the Lord to give me something fresh, a new…
It seems to happen every year about this time. I look at the calendar and see Thanksgiving right around the corner, and I’m struck at how fast it seemed to arrive this year. It feels as if I just wrote the “Pastor’s Heart” about the new year’s empty pages waiting to be written. I know…
No one likes to be cheated. Short-changed. Duped. Bamboozled. When someone hoodwinks us like that, we tend to get angry. We want what is right and fair, what is our just due. Yet, I read a statement this week that made me sit up and take notice that this happens to many believers who never…
It was one of those statements. The kind that makes you sit back in your chair and think. One that is profound in its simplicity. One of those “I know that, but am I living it?” statements. And it is most assuredly true. It was written by the godly 19th century Scottish preacher, Robert Murray…
Death. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul speaks of it as an enemy, in fact, the last enemy to be destroyed. He also refers to its sting. I have felt that sting, encountered that enemy more times than I care to count, both personally and as a pastor. I’m sure you could say the same thing. …
“I feel like it’s just me and God.” That’s a statement I’ve heard on several occasions. Have you ever felt like that? I think at some point it happens to all of us, usually in moments of trial, change, depression, or loneliness. This past Wednesday night we began a study in Psalm 73, and I…