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

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

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! 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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