Read the Bible in 2011 ◊ Week 1: Thursday Today’s reading is in the book of Job, chapters 1 and 2. When you read Job without having experienced lengthy suffering, you may read as if you’re looking through a window into someone else’s world. But when you read it in the midst of extensive and […]
As I was reading in the book of Joshua today, I thought of my children, and that led to thinking of how grateful I am to God for all the prayers He has answered regarding them. There were so many times I scrambled to understand how to be a mother, and I felt my failures […]
“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the […]
When I was growing up we attended a church with a large music program, and I first sang in a choir as a young child. Our minister of music frequently had us sing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah during December. The adult choir was at the front of the church behind the ministers, while […]
Carol of the Bells featured a hand bell choir in Taiwan. The lyrics of Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendour were written in China by Frank Houghton, an Englishman. The words, the music and the story behind the writing of this hymn make this song one of my favorite Christmas carols. “…This hymn was […]
You 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 […]
Giving 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 […]
I’m thankful for many things—my husband, my children and for various family and friends who are part of my life. I am grateful for strangers I have met who have encouraged me. Over the past three years my family has been through difficult times, as you may have guessed from some of my writings. We’ve […]
Whether you’re helping someone who is suffering or mentoring someone who is a new Christian, you must realize you meet on level ground. Even as you help, you can be helped; if not now, then sometime in the future. There are always things to learn from others, including those who have only been Christians for […]