heaven

3856) No Clue

“No clue” is an informal idiom that signifies a complete lack of knowledge, understanding, or information on a topic. —————————–      I’ve seen several YouTube videos of ‘person on the street’ interviews where people are asked the big questions of life.  Random people are approached, the interviewer puts out the microphone, and asks, “Why […]

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3339) Born Again

From A Sermon on Preparing to Die, by Martin Luther (1483-1546), Luther’s Works, volume 42, pages 99-100:      Since everyone must depart from this earth, we must turn our eyes to God, to whom the path of death leads and directs us.  Here we find the beginning of the narrow gate and of the straight path

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3319) Eagerly Awaiting Him?

     I begin with the account of a deathbed conversation.  I was not a part of this brief discussion, but recently heard about it from my friend Alan, who was there.  Alan was visiting his old friend Ray.  Ray had only a few days left to live.  Ray was a Christian and said he

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3228) Take Heart

     Pictured above are William and Wilhelmine (Minnie) Kruse behind the counter of their store in Humboldt, South Dakota.  Both were born in Germany; William in 1849, Minnie in 1851.  Both immigrated to America as children with their parents.  They were married in 1871.  Along with their store, they also farmed.  The 1915 census recorded

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3177) Saying Good-Bye

     John Lewis Dyer (1812-1901; pictured above) was a Methodist circuit riding preacher in the 1800’s.  These men went out to the very edge of the frontier to preach God’s word to the new settlers.  There were no church buildings for the earliest pioneers, so these preachers traveled a wide circuit to meet with

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3165) “What are You Doing Here?”

     There were two criminals crucified with Jesus.  At first, according to Matthew’s account, both men mocked and insulted Jesus, just like much of the rest of the crowd present that day.  Then later, according to Luke, one of the criminals apparently had a change of heart.  He stopped mocking, and then had a

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3151) “I’m Just Fine”

From a funeral sermon: ————–      Elsie and her husband Ray lived in many places, did many different things, and endured many challenges together.  In the early 1940’s Elsie worked for Boeing as a riveter; like “Rosie the Riveter” in the World War II posters.  She was small, so her job was to crawl

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3117) Do Dogs Go to Heaven?

From “How I Know Dogs Go to Heaven” by Joshua Rogers, posted July 30, 2013 at http://www.joshuarogers.com      I was 10 years old when I saw my neighbor run over my dog, Spot.  In a horrific flash, Spot went under the tire, thrashed around in the front yard for a few seconds and then

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3105) My Friend Rob and His Music (1/2)

Above photo:  Reverend Robert A. “Rob” Kemppainen November 28, 1951 – April 27, 2024 ——————- When my good friend Rob died, his wife Marilyn asked me to say a few words at the end of the funeral service.  In today’s meditation you can read what I said.  I am posting it now, the day after

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3064) “There’s No Place Like Home”

     Many people enjoy traveling, but everyone knows that travel has its frustrations.  Everything is unfamiliar, and you can spend a lot of your vacation time figuring things out and finding your way around.  It starts at the airport with, “How do we find the shuttle that gets us to the hotel, and why

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