I received word last week of a second skin cancer surgery in my near future. I’m still recovering from the last surgery in May. The new cancer location is near the first, so there is a possibility that the cancer is spreading. Not good news. I spent an entire day feeling sorry for myself. All…
Recently, I prayed with a former student whose wife delivered their planned and expected child very early in her pregnancy. The baby did not live and they were grieving the loss, trying to understand, yet accepting it as God’s plan. Then I turned on the TV and heard arguments that a woman’s body is her…
Every day, during my prayer time, I pray for my family, my colleagues, a few friends, folks on my prayer list for that day, those who have requested special prayer, but there is one group that is often missing from my prayer list – my enemies. Frankly, I’d rather not pray for them. It would…
Some days I uphold people. It’s part of my calling. However, on other days, I need to be upheld. Let’s start with calling to servanthood. In Isaiah 41:9, God says He has called people from the “ends of the earth” to be His “servants” – that is, to do ministry on His behalf. I first…
Waiting to board my next flight, I was observing the passengers deplaning from another flight. One man, much older than me, came down the ramp and entered the terminal with the words, “How do I get out of this place!” I suspect many of us have had a similar experience, although it may not have…
I’ve often wondered what prompted the disciples of Jesus to ask Him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1). Many things happened between their call to follow Him and their request to be taught prayer. According to Luke, just one chapter prior to their request, Jesus described the harvest as “great” and the laborers as…
The African impala can jump to a height of over ten feet and cover a distance of greater than thirty feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a three-foot wall. Why? The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will land. If they…
I’ve come to expect the phrase at every doctor and dental visit of these “golden years” and there have been far too many of the visits to suit me. Somehow the diagnosis always includes the term, “age-related.” I’ve learned to live with the term. I know there are things I will never do again –…
I know a few people who weep on Sunday: preachers whose sermons could have used a few more hours of preparation before delivery; homebound folks who would love to be in a worship service but cannot; workers who, by no choice of their own, must be on the job during times of Sunday worship. But…
I read recently an estimate of how many people are reading books on prayer these days and I wondered how many of these readers were actually praying. With amazon.com listing 48,000 books on Christian prayer for sale, there is no shortage of reading material, and new books are being published daily. Certainly writing and reading…