The Miracle We All Need
Recently members of a distressed family confided in me, "We need a miracle—fast!" We all know what it's like to be upset by disturbing circumstances or broken relationships. In our anxiety, we want God to intervene without delay.
Time To Praise
It was the worst of times. In the first half of the 17th century, Germany was in the midst of wars and famine and pestilence. In the city of Eilenburg lived a pastor by the name of Martin Rinkart.
A Child's World
In the middle of an otherwise normal day, I was asked to help care for a group of toddlers. I sat on the floor, surrounded by an assortment of toys and six busy 1- and 2-year-olds. As I entered into their innocent, happy lives, I enjoyed the break from the deadlines, meetings, and decisions that occupy my adult world. How precious children are!
Baffled?
Read it three times." That was the advice William Faulkner gave when readers of his novel The Sound And The Fury complained that they couldn't understand it.
God's Lavish Display
Last year I visited Niagara Falls for the first time and was awed by the sight and sound and overpowering sense of it all. Every minute, about 200,000 tons of water plunge into the Niagara River gorge in a thunderous ovation to the lavish, generous nature of God.
Hurting God
When we hurt another person, we hurt God. If I wrong you, I am also offending Him. If I steal from you, I am robbing Him. If I lie to you, I am lying to the One who is truth. If I take your life, I destroy what is precious to God. This truth is often forgotten in the lax moral environment of our culture.
Hills And Streets
Psalm 121 was a favorite of my father. Scottish people called it "The Traveler's Psalm." Whenever a family member, a guest, or a friend was leaving on a journey, this psalm was read—or more often sung—at family prayers. When my father left the "old country" as a teenager to sail alone to the United States, he was bidden farewell with this psalm.
Looking For Comfort
I often quote Psalm 27 to encourage people who are going through a difficult time. The psalmist was living in very unpleasant circumstances, yet he expected to "see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" (v.13). But I now have many friends who are ill or bedridden with no prospect of getting better. How can they find comfort in these words?
About That Sandwich
The absent-minded professor strode into his freshman zoology class with a paper bag in his hand and a twinkle in his eye. His broad grin projected the delight he felt in knowing he was about to initiate his rather squeamish students in the methods of animal dissection. In his typical professorial style he proudly announced, "I have brought a frog, fresh from the pond, that we might together study its outer appearance and later dissect it." With that he opened the bag and carefully unwrapped the contents. To his complete puzzlement, there was a ham-on-rye sandwich. "That's strange," he said. "I distinctly remember eating my lunch."
