Imagine if you will, Christmas day more than 2000 years ago in the town of Bethlehem. Jesus is born. Do you feel the crisp morning air? Do you smell the animals and the hay? Listen. Do you hear the newborn crying? Can you see Mary, seated on the floor of the stable, holding her tinyContinue reading “Hear the Crying”
Category Archives: Christian devotion
Wrestling Redemption
Wrestling Redemption A former student of mine was an extremely talented wrestler. As a freshman, he placed second in his state school wrestling tournament. He was very pleased and proud of himself, and, like many young athletes, it went to his head. He became arrogant. During practice his sophomore year, he was unwilling to listenContinue reading “Wrestling Redemption”
Compassion
Zechariah 7:9 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.’” Often we study the bible in passages, or stories that are sectioned off by the editors. This sectioning is helpful to the reader, and helps to identify separate incidents and unify them in the readers’ minds. Continue reading “Compassion”
Dropping the Stones
Dropping the Stones Caught in the act, they dragged her into the temple courts. Head down, hands trembling, she avoided the eyes of the angry men surrounding her. The men couldn’t wait to pass judgment on her. Their faces turned hard as the stones they longed to throw. After all, that was God’s law. ButContinue reading “Dropping the Stones”
First Kiss
First Kiss Frost has kissed the forest. Leaves and grasses have succumbed to its deadly touch. Yellow and brown leaves flutter from the trees. The stream is littered with autumn’s golden snowfall. As I wander off the soft, sandy trail, my feet crunch noisily through the leafy debris. Looking up, I see trees lifting dark,Continue reading “First Kiss”
The Stagnant Pond
The Stagnant Pond All is still. Cars scurry by on nearby 13th street, rushing off to their various destinations. Sitting here at the park, I hear the distant laughter of children playing. A basketball bounces off the cement court; the clang as it hits the backboard echoes across the grass. A Cessna drones, far overhead.Continue reading “The Stagnant Pond”
Walking the Nature Trails
The path opens to a clearing larger than a football field. Waist high brome grasses sway slightly in a gentle waltz with the faint breeze. Nearby branches merely watch, too heavily laden with yellow-green hedge apples to dance. On the far side of the field lies a painter’s palette of trees just beginning to showContinue reading “Walking the Nature Trails”
A Work of Art
Many admire the beauty of colored glass sparkling in the light. The artist skillfully uses it to create stained glass. After choosing a pattern, she breaks the glass. Next, she grinds its edges smooth and arranges the pieces. Eventually, she transforms it into stained glass, matching the image in the artist’s mind. Just as theContinue reading “A Work of Art”
Faithfulness
The Old Testament book of Jeremiah uses metaphors to compare Israel to an unfaithful wife. She was unfaithful to God by worshipping idols and forsaking Him. And “…her treacherous sister Judah [had] not turned to [God] with her whole heart, but in pretense” (3:10 NKJ). This book of Jeremiah is surely only Jewish history andContinue reading “Faithfulness”
Listening to the Stream
At first glance, the stream appears motionless, its shallow green waters merely reflecting the overarching canopy of green. But here by the bridge, rocks litter the stream’s bed, and its water comes to life. Its meandering impeded, the stream ripples, bubbles, and rushes. The currents ripple and swirl around the rocks and fall over submergedContinue reading “Listening to the Stream”
Growing Our Faith Together 