Part I - Good Gifts Like many American children, I was raised with a strong faith in Santa Claus. And this faith taught me a lesson: good behavior is rewarded with the gifts of my dreams (thanks for the Nintendo, Santa!) and poor behavior is punished by withholding...
Imagine you’re at a wedding reception. There is music, laughter, dancing, and a lot of food. You might have a cocktail hour with an appetizer course, the main course, and a dessert course. Each of these courses is part of the overall meal during the celebration. The...
We have been in the process of becoming who we are from the time we were born. Who we are today isn’t the person we were twenty years ago, or even twenty minutes ago. For better or worse, who we are, and who we are becoming, is constantly being shaped and transformed...
If you’ve ever purchased something from IKEA, chances are good you’re familiar with the term “some assembly required.” More like ALL assembly required. Yet people all over the world have embraced a little DIY if it means having a bit of trendy furniture at a fraction...
Many of Jesus’ teachings are difficult to practice. Love God. Love your neighbor. Love your enemy. These teachings and more outline what abundant living looks like here on earth for every believer in Jesus. But there’s a problem: these teachings are often...
Have you ever dreamed you were standing in front of a crowd in just your underwear? Feeling exposed and embarrassed is a familiar nightmare. But for the first humans in the Bible, this was a very real experience. After Adam and Eve sinned, eating from that fateful...
Have you ever received a compliment and then dismissed it or re-focused the conversation on something else? Have you ever received a Christmas gift and then felt bad because you didn’t have one to give in return? Yeah, I’ve been there. “To doubt the guarantee of...
Read Psalm 16:8-11 I made a quick grocery run last week. As I dashed through the store, focusing on getting the essentials on my list as quickly as possible while staying six feet away from the other masked shoppers, gigantic wrapped Easter baskets caught my...
Read Isaiah 53:8-9 Plastered in mud from head to toe, I crawled on my hands and knees through the last section of the cave called the Pancake. Eventually, I lowered myself on my stomach and army-crawled the rest of the way out. Walking out of the cave, I...
Read Psalm 22:1 I love the power of words. Even though a single word isn’t enough to tell a story, one word is powerful enough to stir our emotions. Words like forsaken and alone can evoke memories, and those memories create strong emotions. For introverts, the...
Read Genesis 22:8 In 2013 I was part of hike to raise money a non-profit organization that does amazing work. The goal was ambitious - hike 60 miles in 24 hours. I trained for months, invested in equipment, gathered people’s support, recruited friends to join...
Read Zechariah 11:12-13 I’ve never tasted Turkish delight before, but my siblings would be furious if I betrayed them for a box of candy from an evil witch. Though I’ve never made an exchange quite like Edmund in C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the...
Read Jeremiah 31:31 I don’t see a lot of movies in the theater. If I do, I typically wait until the movie has been out for a few weeks, find the earliest time available, and stretch out in the theater. The only problem with this plan is the internet, because...
Read Psalm 118:22-24 Three years ago, I found myself standing in Jerusalem near where the temple would have been at the time of Jesus. Only a portion of the retaining wall of temple remains, also known as the Western Wall or Wailing Wall. Jews pray at the wall...
Read Zechariah 9:9 Have you ever witnessed a motorcade? It’s hard to miss. First, the police vehicles arrive with flashing lights and sirens to clear the traffic, then various security vehicles, followed by the official limousine carrying the president, with all the...
Read Ruth 4:4-9 Redemption is one of most compelling themes of a storyline. We see it time and time again in books and movies. A great example of this is the figure of Darth Vader in Star Wars Episodes IV, V, and VI. Over the course of these three films we see...
Read Deuteronomy 18:15-19 When I was six, my Dad took me on my first roller coaster - The Comet at Hershey Park. I was so excited as we buckled into the car and the lap bars dropped. I remember the shudder of the train and the clickety-click sound as we went up...
Read Numbers 21: 6-9 Aww, Spring. The season of spring is one of my favorite times of the year! Everything seems a little bit brighter and a little bit happier. But unfortunately with warmer weather comes bees, wasps and all sorts of flying things. I don’t just...
Read Genesis 3:15 Today, Easter isn’t very violent. Walk into any grocery store and you’ll find lots of pastel colors, plastic eggs and baskets filled with candy to mark the season. I’ll admit, biting the heads off of chocolate covered bunnies and marshmallow chickens...
A good story has a compelling opening. Some of the best stories ever written have familiar first lines that, even if we’ve never read the book, we can quote by heart. When we open the New Testament, at first glance it seems that Matthew didn’t get the memo about...
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ~ Matthew 2:3 Everyone has had the experience of going to look for something and not be able to find it, only to have someone else point out that it was right there in front of us the whole time....