Painting above: The Red Vineyards, 1888, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), (believed to be the only painting he ever sold). ————————– (…continued) The story of Alan Tucker in yesterday’s meditation is not a true story, though it is based on what many people have experienced after winning the lottery. There are several […]
1629) What’s the Deal? (b) Read More »
Matthew 20:1-15: (Jesus said), “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in
1628) What’s the Deal? (a) Read More »
(…continued) “We know that moral character gets formed through hardship, through overcoming obstacles, through enduring despite difficulties. Courage, for example, would be impossible in a world without pain. The apostle Paul testified to this refining quality of suffering when he wrote that ‘suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.’ “Let’s
1620) Is God Good? (b) Read More »
By best-selling author Lee Strobel with Boston College philosophy professor and author Peter Kreeft ———————– “Is God really ‘all-good’ as Christians believe?” Peter Kreeft was asked by Lee Strobel. “Good is a notoriously tricky word,” Peter Kreeft began, “because even in human affairs there’s such a wide range of meaning. But the
1619) Is God Good? (a) Read More »
From The Clergy of America: Anecdotes, 1869, pages 169-170 A sermon illustration from a New England minister in the 1700’s. ————————– A clergyman sitting in his study, saw some boys in his garden stealing melons. He quietly arose, and walking into his garden, called out to them, “Boys, boys.” They immediately
“What do you mean it is going to take forty-five seconds to cook in the micro-wave? I want it now!” –Homer Simpson (above) —————- (…continued) ‘Instant gratification’ is what we might want, but seldom does it do us any good. Oftentimes, as it says in Romans five, it is suffering that produces strength
1010) Instant Gratification (2/2) Read More »
A young woman in Los Angeles wrote her mother in North Dakota the following letter: Dear Mom, I know you haven’t heard from me for a while, and I have not been very good about returning your calls. I am sorry about that. I just got sick of you and dad
1009) Instant Gratification (1/2) Read More »
The New Testament book of James has been a source of controversy ever since it was written almost 20 centuries ago. Martin Luther, for example, did not like it at all. When he published his first German translation of the Bible, James was not in its usual place right after the book of
865) The Problem of James (a) Read More »
As we begin another year, Philip Yancey reminds us: Grace hasn’t vanished. Posted January 15, 2015, at: www.christianitytoday.com After listening to several dark reviews of 2014; recapped news of the beheadings in Iraq, the Ebola epidemic, racial strife, airplanes crashed or missing, ongoing violence in Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and several African countries– it’s
648) How About Some Good News? Read More »
(continued…) “If you don’t straighten out, Jimmy, God will deal with you,” Grandma Klobuchar would always say. Many years later, after grandma was long dead and ‘Little Jimmy’ had become ‘Famous Jim Klobuchar,’ he still had a lot of straightening out to do. In one area of his life, he was a successful
273) Pursued by Grace (part two) Read More »
