god

Wisdom Without the Megaphone

Scripture Focus: “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.” — James 3:13 If someone asked us to identify the wisest person in a room, I wonder what we would look for. The person who knows the most?…
When War Reaches the Gates

Judges 5 is Deborah and Barak’s song of victory following the events of Judges 4, but understanding the song requires knowing what brought Israel to this point. After the death of Ehud, “the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD” (Judges 4:1). God allowed them to fall under the oppression…
Check the Label

Scripture Focus: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” — James 3:17 I read labels. Not every label, mind you. There are only so many minutes in a human life, and I don’t…
The Seeds They Wouldn’t Eat

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” — Hebrews 11:1 By the winter of 1941, hunger had settled over Leningrad with a severity that is difficult for those of us who have never experienced famine to imagine. The German army had encircled the city in September, cutting…
Cold Case

Scripture Focus: “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” — Galatians 5:9 There are certain discoveries in life that require a little courage, and somewhere on that list has to be the mystery container hiding in the back of the refrigerator. You know the one. It has somehow worked its way behind the pickles and…
A Change of Raiment

Scripture Focus: “Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.” — Zechariah 3:4 Most of us have things hanging in the closets of our past that we would never choose to wear again. Some memories are easier to live with than others. We can…
What My Father Left Behind

“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” — Exodus 20:12 Tomorrow would have been my dad’s eighty-sixth birthday. He has been gone a few years now, and birthdays have a way of making absence feel different. They bring back memories,…
Where Hope Kept Breathing

We remember where we werewhen morning changed its meaning,when blue September skiesbecame the backdrop of our grief,and ordinary Tuesday planswere scattered with the dust. We remember towers falling,sirens cutting through the streets,names called into unanswered phones,photographs held in trembling hands,and families waiting for footstepsthat would never cross the threshold again. We remember those who climbedwhile…
Many Hands, One Garden

I was having a conversation with a young friend recently about raising children. And when I say young, I mean young. I am pushing seventy, and she hasn’t quite managed to leave her teenage years behind yet. She is a sweet young woman who has come through some difficult things in her short life. What…
The Weight of Love

Scripture Focus: “Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” — 1 Corinthians 13:7 We usually think of love in terms of what it gives. Time. Affection. Encouragement. Help when it is needed. Maybe the last piece of pie, although I still think that particular sacrifice deserves extra credit. But Paul…