For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-19, IsaiahContinue Reading

So do not fear, for I am with you;    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.I will strengthen you and help you;    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10 NIV) Fearby Kahlil Gibran It is said that before entering the seaa river trembles with fear. She looks back at theContinue Reading

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.    Worship the Lord with gladness;    come before him with joyful songs.Know that the Lord is God.    It is he who made us, and we are his;    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving    and his courts with praise;    give thanks to him and praise his name.For the Lord is good and his loveContinue Reading

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14 NIV) Almost two years ago, we were driving into town on a blacktop road when we saw a raccoon lying dead inContinue Reading

I have always been mindful of your unfailing love    and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness. (Psalm 26:3 NIV) What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.  (Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV) Last weekend I heard several testimonials of how God had moved toContinue Reading

Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 2 NASB) The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. (James 5:16 NLT) I aim to write a variety of posts onContinue Reading

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  (Romans 12:15 NIV) Yesterday a friend asked me to pray for her son-in-law’s cousin and her husband who lost an eight-month old baby, evidently to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. I don’t even know the parents and other family members wouldContinue Reading

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since whatContinue Reading

But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is theContinue Reading

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32 NIV) One of the stories we’re studying in the American short stories class I’m teaching is Langston Hughes’ “Thank You, M’am,” which was written and published in 1958. Hughes was the first AfricanContinue Reading