Archive for January, 2011

Yuck!

Monday, January 31, 2011

My collie, Tasha, suffered from severe allergies, which meant following a disciplined course of diet and medication for most of her life. The medicine was not pleasant. I could almost see her go "Yuck!" every time she swallowed it. There … Read more

Walk It Out

Sunday, January 30, 2011

I was recently with some sports fans who were watching American football. During one of the plays, a player went down with many other players on top of him in a heap. As everyone got back up, the poor guy … Read more

A Crown Of Loving-Kindness

Saturday, January 29, 2011

The Lord's loving-kindness and tender mercy are so awesome. In the early days of my renewed Christian journey, so often after not being selected to serve the Lord in a certain church task, I'd discover that my Lord's loving-kindness had … Read more

Praying And Fasting

Friday, January 28, 2011

Praying and fasting! This truth is Scriptural. It is taught in our churches. Books have been written about it. According to our verse for today, it is the only way to break some strongholds of the type that I wrote … Read more

Angry With God

Thursday, January 27, 2011

No doubt there have been times when we, or people we have known, have observed events that have made us angry at God. It could be abuse, torture, the loss of a loved one through a horrific death, or the … Read more

The Love Of God

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

A story is told about a father and his son who were minding their sheep in the highlands of Scotland one spring night. The young son tugged at his father's pant leg and asked, "Daddy, how big is God's love?" … Read more

Faith Teachers

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

I think that my favourite type of Christians are the Sunday School teachers in every church who give of their time, talents, energy, and enthusiasm in wonderful ways that spiritually enrich young lives and help them grow in faith. It's … Read more

The Wisdom Of Silence

Monday, January 24, 2011

I once knew a man who was fond of saying, "I would rather keep quiet and let people think I'm smart than open my mouth and show them how stupid I am." Barney Fife of The Andy Griffith Show never … Read more

Are We Ready to Follow?

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Jesus calls us! By Thy mercies, Saviour, may we hear Thy call, Give our hearts to Thine obedience, Serve and love Thee best of all. Cecil F. Alexander I have been living in a retirement community for the past eighteen … Read more

Questions

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Have you ever noticed that throughout the gospels, Jesus often answers questions with a question? One of my favourite Bible studies, entitled "Our Hebrew Lord" by Dwight Pryor, provides several examples of Jesus in this particular situation. In this study, … Read more

Willie

Friday, January 21, 2011

I once had a horse named Willie, though not for very long! In fact, Willie lived at our place for only a few days. Why? Because he kept breaking out of the corral and running home. Home, unfortunately, was only … Read more

The Advocate

Thursday, January 20, 2011

The wife of my eldest "cousin brother" recently passed away a few weeks after a severe stroke. The whole family was devastated by this loss and felt like lost sheep. We had referred to her as the comforter, advocate, and … Read more

Belief, Faith, And Trust

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

I have always felt that the terms "belief" and "faith" were vague. I remember as a child kneeling by my bedside confessing some sin that I had committed, perhaps a lie, and asking God to forgive me. Somehow, I had … Read more

Bumps In The Road

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

My morning coffee is usually for me an unhurried time, to start my day. There are times, though, when time does not permit a dilly-dallying with my coffee. This particular morning, I was on my second cup when it was … Read more

A Jolly Good Clear Out

Monday, January 17, 2011

Because we want to "rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly," which definitely hinders our running "the race that lies before us", our family regularly discusses "kicking … Read more

Release From Strongholds

Sunday, January 16, 2011

According to Answers.com , the biblical definition of a stronghold is as follows: The Greek word for stronghold, taken literally, means a fortress. It is used in the Bible also as a metaphor to represent things that are based … Read more

Be Not Afraid! (Part 3)

Saturday, January 15, 2011

As a part of growing in faith, my healing, and God's calling, I believed I should go to London Bible College (LBC), something which I did not want to do because I did not consider myself, as a dyslexic, suitable … Read more

Be Not Afraid! (Part 2)

Friday, January 14, 2011

After my time of high-stress business, I went self-employed to gain a better work/life balance. This left me with time to help being a youth worker. We regularly had a large group at my local Church of England congregation. The … Read more

Be Not Afraid! (Part 1)

Thursday, January 13, 2011

As a young man in my twenties, I was a salesman selling foodstuffs with a million-pound-plus turnover. To accomplish this, I drove forty thousand miles per year and bought a house in Banbury, in the centre of England, so I … Read more

Just As God Had Said

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

About six years ago, when I was nineteen, I was in a serious car accident, and survived by a matter of centimetres. I broke a vertebra in my back, and was forced to lose a semester at college. I later … Read more

Above The Mountains

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

I've never seen the Grand Canyon, but it is on my "bucket list". From what I've heard from other people, it is a remarkable and awe-inspiring place. Photographs do not do it justice and even documentaries on television do not … Read more

Word Diets

Monday, January 10, 2011

At fifty years of age, I am on my first true diet. Weight was never a problem, but as age accumulated, so did the pounds. A diet is not necessarily about what we cannot eat, but rather about being selective … Read more

The Smiling Shark

Sunday, January 9, 2011

This devotional offers twofold evidence for trusting in God. Firstly, while lunching with a dear friend one day, we exchanged our experiences in putting our faith in God helping us locate lost articles. When we "give it to God", admitting … Read more

The Hem Of His Garment

Saturday, January 8, 2011

It has been the subject of beautiful songs, inspirational art and fascinating sermons. But it was not until I heard this story in its original Jewish context that my eyes were opened to a richer, more powerful understanding of Jesus' … Read more

Look Out!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Simon was a rascal, a great big handsome brute of a dog who loved to get the best of you. He was gentle with children, wily with adults. My pride often took a fall while walking him, as I never … Read more

The Wise Men Came

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Through the many years of directing Christmas pageants, I have been intrigued by the wise men or magi. Reflecting on the purpose of the magi's visit, one wonders what their divine place in this magnificent birth story was. People assume … Read more

The Master's Touch

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Over the course of my life, I have always coveted the limited time in which I have pursued oil painting. As a busy pastor, I rarely seem to find the time. For a birthday, my son, Jeff, encouraged me to … Read more

Habituation

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

When we moved into our new home more than a year ago, it had been completely renovated, but there were many things on our list of improvements that we wanted to make. We built storage racks in the garage, installed … Read more

Appreciation

Monday, January 3, 2011

We own a small holiday trailer that we keep in our driveway during the spring and summer months. That way, it is handy to hook onto and use whenever we choose to do so. Once fall comes, though, we don't … Read more

Reunited

Sunday, January 2, 2011

One of the things that I have to do at work is to reunite the USB flash memory storage sticks with their owners, who are usually tired and forgetful students. Sometimes there is no identification on the sticks anywhere to … Read more

Ringing Out The Old, Ringing In The New

Saturday, January 1, 2011

As we clean up after the Christmas season and begin to put away our decorations and manger scenes for another year, I notice how bare our home is looking. In fact, it even seems that we have more room. Fear … Read more

 



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