Truth For The Heart
I’ve wanted to blog more often, but time constraints have been hard to overcome because of the writing and research needed for most of my posts, as well as trying to find a photo or graphic that works with my words. Sometimes after I’ve finished a series, it’s taken some time to decide what to […]
Read MoreI wrote this post for New Year’s Day 2011. I’ve revisited it and revised it yet again for clarity because it continues to be read as people search for hope. I’ve left this one up so that if it turns up in a search, the link won’t lead to a page that says error, but […]
Read MoreThere are some songs with words and music so personally significant, I still remember the first time I heard them. Mary, Did You Know? is one of those songs. I first heard it sung by a small vocal ensemble at the water’s edge of a town harbor during an outdoor Christmas celebration ten years ago. […]
Read MoreIn Philippians 2:1 Paul lays the foundation of these next three verses by describing the reality of God’s grace in the Philippians’ lives. Because of this reality, he tells the Philippians to “make full (the measure of) my joy.” 2 make full (the measure of) my joy by being of the same mind, having the […]
Read MoreIn the second chapter of his letter to the Philippians, Paul turns to writing to them about considering each other—serving each other—ministering to each other. He lays the groundwork—the foundation—the irrefutable bedrock of ministry as he makes this appeal to them. Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of […]
Read MoreYou may have wondered why, if Joy to the World is my favorite Christmas carol, I didn’t wait and post it on Christmas Day. I have several reasons. Joy is a major theme of Philippians, and I want to keep this theme in mind—because the topic of Philippians 1:29 is one that is difficult for us […]
Read MoreDuring December I will be posting some of my thoughts on ministry drawn for the most part from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. God has poured out on His children the surpassing riches of His grace through the gift of His Son, Christ Jesus, and in our service to one another, He enables us to […]
Read MoreGiving thanks frequently receives short shrift when we talk about it, because we tend to discuss it either superficially when we are at ease in our circumstances, or else in denial of the pain of difficulties. We give moralizing lectures about it or sometimes present the idea of giving thanks to God as a sort […]
Read MoreIn 1970 (incidentally, the year I became a Christian), Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young released the song, Teach Your Children. The tune was memorable, and the lyrics were of war protest and lament. My thoughts and values are certainly different, but Graham Nash’s chorus of teach your children well echoes the note of warning and […]
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Kindling for Candles 