Scripture: Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8 NLT). Legend has it that when the Greeks were unable to capture the city of Troy after a ten-year siege, they resorted to a clever deception. Their army pretended […]
Read More →INDEPENDENCE DAY Scripture: What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people He has chosen as His inheritance (Psalm 33:12 NLT). Why do we celebrate the day on which America was birthed? The Honorable Judge Michael Warren writes, “The importance of the Declaration of Independence can hardly be overstated. It established for […]
Read More →Scripture: And having chosen us, he called us to come to him: (Romans 8:30 NLT). Last Sunday, our praise team led us in the powerful song, “I Am Who You Say I Am.” Words on the overhead stood out as if in flashing neon: “I AM CHOSEN..” Chosen! What a beautiful thought! Painful moments […]
Read More →Scripture: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father”—John 14:9 NKJV). My Grandfather Mayfield came to live with us in his 90’s—a quiet old man who tried to be as little trouble as possible. He loved to read, and spent his days studying our 20-volume set of The Book of Knowledge. One morning, Mama […]
Read More →Nothing can rob a home of happiness more than unresolved anger and constant quarrels. Over and over, the Bible warns against this. The Book of Proverbs is filled with admonitions against strife, as are the New Testament letters of Paul, Peter, and James. But once quarrels start, they are difficult to stop. My parents were […]
Read More →Of all my volunteer activities, I have found literacy tutoring one of the most rewarding. For several years, I met one-on-one with foreign-born students to help them learn to read, write, and speak English. Among these were a very fine Korean gentleman and two delightful Vietnamese ladies. The man wanted to personally welcome customers to his cafe. The ladies were hair […]
Read More →Scripture: “[So that} when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us” (2 Corinthians 1:4 TLB). When I worked at Shriners Institute in Galveston, I saw the awful deformity a wound can cause when it healed. As an example, if […]
Read More →Scripture: “Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many” (Hebrews 12:15 NLT). As a kid growing up in the Oklahoma Panhandle, I became very familiar with the dry, thorny tumbleweeds that blocked fences, roads, and empty buildings. The “Russian thistle,” a green, thirsty bush, absorbs many liters of […]
Read More →Being still at Christmas seems an oxymoron. But since I determined to celebrate this festival as a God-ordained time of refreshment, I notice a new quiet in my spirit. My thoughts no longer are rampant with undone chores. I no longer feel the need to fill silent moments with talk of mundane things. I can […]
Read More →Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27 KJV). The Christmas season has arrived, and it’s time to put aside my customary work and enter into the celebration with my whole heart. I must […]
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