July 26, 2018 · 6:52 am

When Circumstances Are Beyond Our Control

There’s an old Yiddish expression when translated goes like this: “Man plans. God laughs.

I don’t know if God was laughing yesterday. I know I wasn’t. But my plans for the day abruptly changed.

In yesterday’s post, I wrote about a lesson that I was going to present at the Charlestown Road church in New Albany, Indiana. This lesson was prepared. The PowerPoint completed. My sermons note sent. And, of course, my plane ticket purchased and boarding pass printed.

I awoke before 5:00 AM, quickly dressed and left for the airport. The traffic was light. The border crossing was quick. There were no long lines in security. There was plenty of time for coffee and breakfast at Tim Horton’s. Continue reading →

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July 25, 2018 · 5:09 am

Great Verses of the Bible: Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

This morning I’m crossing the border back into the USA to fly into Louisville,  and speak for the Charlestown Road Church in New Albany, Indiana, tonight.

Their summer series theme is “Victory in Christ.” My assigned topic is “Helping Those Who Have Fallen.” As I was developing the lesson this passage came to my mind in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10.

“Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.”

Continue reading →

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July 24, 2018 · 6:28 am

Pay it Forward

“Pay it Forward” is an expression that describes the concept of repaying a good deed to others instead of the original benefactor.

Lily Hardy Hammond may have originally coined the phrase when she wrote in her 1916 book, “In the Garden of Delight,” “You don’t pay love back; you pay it forward.”

While the expression has been around for a while, it was made popular in the movie, based on Catherine Ryan Hyde’s book, “Pay it Forward,” starring Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and Haley Joel Osment. Continue reading →

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July 23, 2018 · 6:11 am

Word of the Week: Restraint

Henry Ward Beecher was an American minister and social reformer known for his support of the abolition of slavery.

Beecher tells the story of a man who once came to their house and confronted his father, regarding a personal grievance with him. The young man in Beecher’s words was “ red with wrath” and boiling over with rage.” His father “listened to him with great attention and perfect quietness until he had got it all out, and then he said to him in a soft and low tone, ‘Well, I suppose you only want what is just and right?’” Continue reading →

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July 20, 2018 · 6:28 am

The Moon Proclaims God’s Glory

 

It happened 49 years ago today, on a Sunday evening, July 20, 1969. I will never forget it. Norma Jean and I returned to our little apartment on Bearss Avenue in Tampa, Florida, after preaching out of town that day.

We got home just in time. Turned on our little black and white TV and watched in amazement. At 10:56 p.m. EDT, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from earth, stepped off the lunar landing module Eagle and uttered those famous words heard by more than a billion people: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Armstrong had become the first human being to walk on the surface of the moon. Continue reading →

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July 19, 2018 · 6:15 am

Triumph Over Temptation

“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it,” wrote Oscar Wilde in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, “Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself.”

This philosophy is held by many today, whether they think about it consciously or not. We live in an age of emphasis on self-gratification instead of self-denial. But while the world says denying yourself of pleasures is bad for you, the inspired writer James says, “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him (Jas. 1:12) Continue reading →

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July 18, 2018 · 6:30 am

Great Verses of the Bible: Mark 10:14

 

This week I’m participating in the Vacation Bible School with the Wellandport Church teaching the adult class.

I’m teaching, but I think I’m the one receiving the most benefit. Not just from the adults in my class. But from the children. They are excited. They sing at the top of their lungs. And proudly show their pictures after class.

I love VBS. It reinforces the value of children. The need to teach them. And to provide spiritual direction for their lives. Continue reading →

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July 17, 2018 · 7:30 am

Truth vs Tradition

Do these three names mean anything to you? Melchior? Caspar? Balthasar?

Tradition has it that these men were the 3 kings of the Orient who came bearing gifts to baby Jesus.

You’ve heard the song, “We Three Kings”? And you have seen the manger scene with Mary, Joseph, Jesus, the animals, and the shepherds all together? Continue reading →

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July 16, 2018 · 6:16 am

Word of the Week: Power

This week begins our VBS at Wellandport. Excitement is in the air. And theme decorations are adorning the classrooms, thanks to the creativity of Sherry Stephens and her helper husband, Mike.

The keyword this week is power. The children will be studying the theme WOW: Did Jesus really do that? They will learn about Jesus’ power over needs, nature, problems, sickness and Satan. They will learn about his miracles, ministry and mission on earth. Continue reading →

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July 13, 2018 · 6:16 am

Watch Out for “Certain Men”

In my Bible reading this morning I came across this warning about “certain men.” I was reminded that over 40 years ago I worked up a sermon about the problem of “certain men.” Well, actually,” worked up” is a bit of a stretch, I “borrowed” it from Robert Jackson!

But I digress.

Three times in the New Testament Bible writers warn first century Christians about “certain men.” Continue reading →

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