Encouragement (Page 3)

Encouragement (Page 3)

A Love Explosion Called YOU!

We all strive for purity as believers, right? We want to be like our Lord and our Lord is pure in every way. In Him, John tells us, “is no darkness at all.” That, he says, “is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you!” To walk with Jesus is to “walk in the light.” That place – the sphere of light – is where we must be if we want to have fellowship with him.…

Sarah’s Dandelion

Sometimes the smallest act of kindness (which is, of course, one of the fruits of the Spirit working in us), can have a profound and lasting impact upon others. In Serving, the Biggest Honor in Life, Milt Culver retells a story written by pediatrician David Cerqueira. David’s wife was a Sunday school teacher at Church and she’d prepared a lesson on being useful. He…

What Have You Been Preaching Lately?

Yesterday’s blog considered the leper that Jesus healed with a word and with a touch. As I mentioned, touching lepers was just not done. It was unhealthy, risky, socially unacceptable. But Jesus chose that path to bring healing to this outcast. I think it says something about Jesus’ idea of preaching. One morning, very early, Jesus rose and went to a desolate place to…

Thanksgiving Eye Trouble

‘No, seriously, weren’t there ten?’ The story’s pretty well known. Jesus is traveling and preaching and healing. And in Luke 17:11-19 we find this thought-provoking incident. On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus,…

Finding Life on the Other Side of the Cross

It sounds like a paradox. It’s one of the most difficult verses in the New Testament to wrap our minds around. It’s disarmingly simple, yet deeper than the deepest ocean. “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25). Jesus is not speaking of martyrdom, per se, but of an active following. The full…

Wasted Talents

So, Jesus tells a story. It’s a story about a “man” [hint: the “man” is Jesus Himself] who’s going away for a time, but is coming back. He calls His servants and entrusts to them a certain amount of money that he expects them to invest on his behalf while he’s away. To one he gives five “talents,” to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability to manage…

How Now, Purple Cow?

The familiar phrase, “How now, brown cow” has been used to teach how vowels are rounded out in elocution (the study of formal speaking) since at least 1926. I like cows. Brown cows are OK, but the black-and-white ones are my favorites. We have a farm near our house that reminds Mary and I every now and then that cows DEFINITELY live there – especially when the wind blows…

The Bench

There’s a real danger in moving through life too fast. When we do, we miss people that God wants us to see. We miss the blessings He’s given us to enjoy this very day. And, sadly, by the time we realize what we’ve missed, it’s often too late. Someone sent me a meme a while back that showed a picture of a bench. And it asked the question: ‘If you could spend 30 minutes on…