Matriarchs of the Messiah

Have you ever been in a Christmas play? When I was growing up, it seems that I was most often assigned the role of “narrator.” Apparently, they thought I was better at reading than...

Happy Thanksgiving!

New Fruit

Maybe you’ve noticed a lot of new varieties of apples on the market in recent years. The Honeycrisp apple, for example, was not developed until the 1990s but it can now be found in...

Friends and Faith

For many regular church attenders one of the major factors that keeps them returning to worship week after week is not just the music or the preaching, but the opportunity to reconnect with friends....

Setting Limits

Everyone knows the truth about “fun size” candy bars: it’s much more fun to receive the full size bars for Halloween! Admittedly, the smaller ones are cheaper and easier to give away. The real...

God Thoughts

Suppose we could keep inventory of the numerous random thoughts that flow through our head every day: I can’t forget to put gas in the car before I go home today. In the daylight,...

Family Resemblance

When our first child was born, one of the nurses told me that newborn babies supposedly look more like dad than mom so that dad will develop a strong bond with the child. I...

Blessed to Give

You’ve heard the saying: “It’s more blessed to give than to receive.” Where’s the blessing in giving? Given the choice, wouldn’t we rather be on the receiving end every time? We certainly know that...

The Joy of Giving

You know the old saying: “Money can’t buy happiness.” It’s true, unless you give it to others. Nothing compares with the feeling we get when we share with others, when we bring others joy,...

Stone Soup

There’s an old story about some hungry travelers who came to a village, only to find that none of the villagers would share any food with them. The travelers had a cooking pot, so...