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Gram’s heart was broken. When another adult daughter died, she wailed: “What did I do so bad to deserve this?” It was a body-blow pain. Explaining your pain We’ve all  hurt. How we explain pain determines much about how well we handle it. We can speak truth to ourselves. Or we can tell ourselves lies.…

“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” Yogi Berra If you don’t care where you’re going, “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.” Cheshire Cat, Alice in Wonderland On the other hand, if you want to be intentional about how you live, and you care where you’re going,…

The end of the year is a good time to slow down and take stock. As the sun sets on 2014, how do you think you did? STOP! I can hear many of you, just like me, shift into critical mode. We can be our own worst enemies. But if you believe in Jesus Christ,…

When young children were asked what they wanted to get for Christmas, they gave many answers with great energy. Then, when they were given a choice of a big chocolate or a small chocolate, most took the big candy, leaving the small one for their companion. When, instead, they were asked what presents they wanted…

Great Joy Jesus Christ is born! Hallelujah!! Good news of great joy for all the people. (Luke 2:10) The spiritual blessings are overwhelming. Immanuel, meaning “God with us” was born to save us from our sins. He was born for us a Savior. (Isaiah 7:14) This is God’s solution to our problem: our sins separate…

Wicked reveals things that happened before the events described in The Wizard of Oz. The Hobbit is about events before the Lord of the Rings. Both are described as prequels. The prequel to Christmas is John 1:1-3 and Philippians 2:5-8. Jesus Christ is God and has been God from the beginning and has been with God from the beginning. Everything came into…

Did turkeys take longer to cook in those days? They must have. I woke to the aroma of roasting turkey and the three families and assorted guests didn’t come until 4. It was forever. My mother–then a widow with a 9-year old son–began the tradition in 1943 by asking three families to join them. By…

I can’t keep going. I can’t. You’ve probably been there too. And we have lots of company: Job, Elijah, and Jeremiah, for example. On Mount Carmel, the Lord dramatically showed He is God and Baal was not. Elijah then slew the prophets of Baal. This was an awesome demonstration of God’s power and confirmation that…

I sometimes wish God would give me the syllabus. I think it would be comforting to know what grade I’m in, what my classes are this term, when exams are scheduled. Ok. So that isn’t going to happen. How about if God gave me specific goals and objectives for the year? Ok. So that isn’t…