“The pantry light is out,” I proclaimed as I searched for something to snack on. When we bought our house, it was in the frame stage and far enough along that the builder would not allow any modifications to what the city had already approved. Since our previous house sold faster than we had anticipated,…
The following is based on a quote from Marcus Tullius Cicero. Each statement from this quote is compared to the biblical equivalents. “Six mistakes mankind keeps making century after century.” “Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.” Proverbs 22:16, ESV “Do not rob the…
Doctors do it. Detectives do it. Aliens allegedly do it. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines the verb form of a “probe” as follows: “to search into and explore very thoroughly:subject to a penetrating investigation.” Probing is a long-accepted military practice. In combat operations, a commander will probe the enemy’s defenses to find a weak point…
“Are you okay?” asked a gentleman who grabbed my arm. “Are you hurt?” asked another. “Only my pride,” I responded as another gentleman told me, “That was a good recovery!” “Jump school training, tuck and roll,” I replied. As everyone drifted off, I told myself I’m not wearing this sweatshirt for the rest of my…
“I never thought about this before,” I said to Lynne as we were discussing a book someone had recommended to us. “Thriving in Babylon” by pastor Larry Osborne presents a unique portrait of Daniel the Prophet. I have always loved the book of Daniel, but like most students of Scripture, I tended to look more…
We think we want to be rich – or famous – or powerful. We want to succeed. We want to achieve. We want more of this or less of that. These desires of ours are explicit; they define our goals and order our priorities. We salivate over them. But, deep down, they don’t reflect what…
“Time to get our flu shot,” Lynne said as we drove past our local pharmacy. We blow hot and cold on getting the flu shots. They develop flu vaccines using the most likely flu variants expected the following year. Sometimes they work; sometimes they don’t. They also develop other vaccines to prevent contracting other serious…
“At 10,000 feet above sea level, when I pray, I’m practically whispering in God’s ear,” I texted a friend the other morning. “Hahaaaa! That’s really cool,” was his response. As often happens, when I am trying to be clever, I often hear God whisper back to me, “Is that what you really believe?” As a…
“It must be that time of year again,” I muttered as I muted the TV during the political ad. “Whatever happened to, ‘If you can’t say something good, don’t say anything at all’ maxim,” I asked Lynne. She shrugged her shoulders as we waited for the diatribe to cease. Political vitriol has been around as…
The following is about the philosophy of the Stoics but it is easy to see the direct application to Christianity, the Holy Bible, and the Christian Fathers. There are admonitions in scripture to this same effect. “My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words.” (Proverbs 4:20) The Stoics were all about…