By:
On:
In: Abuse, Bible and Theology, God's Character, God's love, Idols, Poetry, Prayer and Devotions, Suffering

In my mid-teens, I wrote the following poem: The Box I locked my heart in a tin box And threw away the key. I ran from all like the fox, But someday it will return to me.   Though I lost my tin box in my flight, It returned to me to my surprise. But alas, where is the key? Without it, there is no hope for me.   So I must ask: Who has my key? Would you please return it to me? Guess who had the key? When I look through the poetry I wrote in my teens, the ones not dedicated toRead More →

By:
On:
In: Bible and Theology, Fear and Anxiety, God's love, God's promises, Prayer and Devotions

An evil, gnarled hand clawed at the throat of the woman in white. She sat up in bed and declared to the darkness boldly, “Spirit of Fear, how dare you trouble a child of God, be gone!” Only her own pounding heart and racing pulse responded, every fiber of her body still on alert for the danger that wasn’t there. What was wrong with her? Why wouldn’t Fear stop tormenting her and leave? She caught the gnarled hand and dragged the creature before the throne of God. The light was blinding, coming in out of the dark. “Lord, please deliver me of this spirit ofRead More →

By:
On:
In: God's love, Prayer and Devotions

While preparing to write “Enough” last week, I did a word study at biblegateway.com For the uninitiated, I mean I looked up Bible verses containing the word “enough.” Something struck me about the use of the word “enough” in the Bible. Things were enough. “It” was enough. People had enough, but nowhere was “enough” applied to a person, either positively or negatively. So why do some of us apply “enough” to ourselves? I also looked up “enough” at: m-w.com The short definition of the adjective, the part of speech that modifies nouns, is “equal to what is needed.” The long definition is, “occurring in suchRead More →

By:
On:
In: Children, Family and Friends, Grace

Yesterday marked the first day of the Christmas season. If you’re confused by this, the Christmas season that ended yesterday is technically known as Advent. The traditional Christmas season only begins on December 25 and runs until January 6. Most protestants have gotten away from this due to anti-catholic sentiment. My point, though, is to deliver good news to anyone upset they didn’t get their gifts in the mail soon enough (or by the right delivery method) for their gifts to get there by December 25. Your presents can arrive at the recipients’ mailing addresses as late as January 6 and still get there inRead More →

By:
On:
In: Bible and Theology, Forgiveness, Prayer and Devotions, Sin and Holiness

“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18) Love is a physical feeling or emotional sentiment to much of the world, and an empty action or, worse, words about action to too many in the church. Feeling and sentiment alone do no one any good. Words and promises alone do no one any good, but likewise neither does loving actions and a smile on the face while bitterness and anger linger in the heart. One of the chief reasons we struggle to consistently love is because we’ve relegated love to mere behavior. If weRead More →