Recommended Reading:  The Book of Ruth When the idea for this article came to my mind, I thought about the Peanuts cartoon and the character that I pictured in my mind that always had a dark cloud over his head; but, I couldn’t remember his name, so I did an online search.  Well…turns out that … Continue reading The Joe Btfsplk Syndrome →

You have likely heard the old saying “Do as I say, not as I do.”  I did a bit of research on the source of that old saying and this is what I found:  “Model yourself after my instructions, not my actions. The phrase implies that the speaker is imperfect and makes mistakes, so one … Continue reading Do As I Say, Not As I Do →

I believe that depending on your predominant personality type - extrovert vs introvert - you may or may not enjoy standing out from the crowd.  I also believe that there are extremes with both of those types as well; i.e. an extrovert that enjoys standing out SO much that they feel slighted if they are … Continue reading Be Radical – Stand Out From The Crowd →

(Recommended Reading - John 20:1-31) “But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, ‘We saw the Master.’  But he said, ‘Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in … Continue reading Doubt and Innocence →

Today I want to use part of the parable Jesus spoke in Mark 4:30-32 when He told about the mustard seed.  Verse 31b-32 says:  “...a mustard seed, which, when planted, is the smallest of all the seeds in the field; but after it has been planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all the … Continue reading One Kind Word →

For those of us that have always lived in America, we have pretty much taken our freedoms for granted.  But those freedoms have been eroding for a very long time, little by little.  Some of our politicians are very clever, changing things a bit at a time so that they are not noticed until it … Continue reading FREEDOM →

The past 3 days the titles of my devotionals have been:  “Just Believe”, “Just Ignore Them” and “Just Get up”.  They all were based on Mark 5:21-43.  Then, ironically, the sermon at my church this weekend was based on Luke 8:40-56, which is the exact same story being related by another disciple of Jesus. The … Continue reading Just A Touch →

(Recommended Reading:  2 Samuel 13 - 19:18 - Quotes from NLT) I share with you today, on Father’s Day, a reprint of the article I published for this occasion last year. In my Mother’s Day article I said:  “We do not read the impactful kind of stories in the Bible about Mothers like we do … Continue reading A Father’s Love →

First I want to establish the definition of a pretender.  According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of the word that is relevant for this article is this:  “one who makes a false or hypocritical show”.  Some of the synonyms for the word are:  faker, fraud, imposter and phony.    How many people sit in church … Continue reading Pretenders →

(Recommended Reading:  John 8) I enjoy reading Bible passages that seem to show the humanity of Jesus.  He was 100% God but He was also 100% human.  The human side of Jesus experienced everything that all humans experience.  I cannot imagine how frustrating it must have been for Him at times when as God, He … Continue reading Harsh Realities →