Have you ever been stuck in your circumstances? In one set of circumstances we are distressed, while in another set, we are ecstatic. Sometimes the best way to get beyond current circumstances, be they positive or negative, is to look beyond in joyful praise. In her frustration Hannah prayed for a son and when God…
Sometimes it’s best to be alone. Advice comes from everyone from popular authors to television talk-show hosts. Well-meaning friends propose insights. Educated professionals offer counsel. But the bottom line has to come from you and that can come much easier in the stillness of solitude than in the noise of company. In his famous sermon,…
He spent part of Christmas in heaven. At the conclusion of my Interim Pastorate in an East Texas town, Frank said to me, “Bro. Dan, I didn’t think I was gonna like havin’ a Seminary Professor for an Interim Pastor, but you know what? You just like us.” To this day, several Interim Pastorates later,…
The last hours of a year are always a mixture of looking back and looking forward. What Ralph Waldo Emerson said about a past and future day, could well be applied to a completed and coming year: “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities…
As good as the “Good News” (or “glad tidings”) of the manger was, it was never meant to stop in Bethlehem or with the immediate recipients. In addition to the good news of Jesus’ birth, the second key phrase of the manger addressed the good news “to all people” (Luke 2:10). Repeatedly this idea appears…
As much as I love singing Christmas carols, I confess to not paying much attention to the meaning of the words at times. I saw a cartoon the other day that brought that truth home to me. There was a picture of the manger, baby Jesus and the wise men. In the picture were the…
The skeptic asked me, “Why do Christians talk so much about God?” Good question. Everyone talks about what is important to them, what’s in their heart. Maybe it’s about kids or grandkids, or the weather, or ball scores, or the latest movie or song, or a new found friend. So the path is from the…
She kept saying, “There’s greatness in this class.” Looking around my sixth grade classroom, I concluded she must be talking about me. I have no idea if anyone in that class accomplished greatness, but my sixth grade teacher motivated me to seek excellence in all my endeavors. So, when my first book was published I…
I once had a friend who responded to almost everything said to him with a one word reply – “Understood!” It was his way of assuring the talker that he had listened and processed what was said. I sometimes wondered if he really understood or if he was just in the habit of giving that…
As word spread of my radiation treatments, the responses began to flood in – via E-mails, Facebook entries, Twitter posts, Cards, Telephone calls, Personal visits – everything from a simple, “Praying for you” to much more creative, imaginative expressions of support. One particular response caught my attention. “We’re praying you through,” a friend wrote. It…