Zechariah 4:10 “Who dares despise the day of small things….” From the trenches of war, upon receiving a supply of smokeables, CS Lewis wrote: “such little attentions are infinitely cheering when one is dull, lonely and disappointed.” In an environment with few pleasures Lewis appreciated the smallest act of kindness. Little Continue Reading…
Matthew 16:23 “Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” From the war on terror to the war on poverty…good intentions can run amuck when we look at life Continue Reading…
Matthew 14:28-29 “‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’ ‘Come,’ he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.” “What keeps pushing you to grow closer to the Lord?” questioned my student as Continue Reading…
Matthew 15:27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Wow! This mother was desperate. The disciples urged him to send her away. Her cries annoyed them. Her audacity probably did too. But she kept pursuing Jesus even when he seemed Continue Reading…
Luke 17:10 “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” Not a suggestion. Not an option. Not even an inch of wiggle room. Jesus makes it pretty clear that one of the duties Continue Reading…
Esther 4:14 “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place….” I wish my confidence in God stood as strong as Mordecai’s. The book of Esther illustrates the power of his unflinching trust in God. An edict had been given Continue Reading…
1 Timothy 1:19 “holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.” A clear conscience. It’s a terrible thing to lose. Once we start ignoring that inner voice when it dictates a direction other than what we Continue Reading…
Ezekiel 33:10 “…Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?”‘ In 1976 Francis Schaeffer published his classic work, How Then Should We Live? Twenty-eight years later Charles Colson wrote what he considered to be his most important book, Continue Reading…
Joshua 4:7 “These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” It was Memorial Day weekend. I was conducting a Public Speaking workshop for the Boston YWAM staff. For their final assignment, I asked students to prepare a speech that described a “memorial” in their lives. Their Continue Reading…
Galatians 5:6 “… The only thing that matters is faith expressing itself through love.” Two things. Just two things. Some of us have a penchant for making life complicated. We parse every word, speculate on every motive. We assess ourselves, our spouses, our friends. Our finances, our failures, our futures. I Continue Reading…