Pictured above: Manuel Noriega (1934-2017) *************************    (…continued) On December 20, 1989, United States troops invaded Panama to remove their outlaw leader Manuel Noriega from power. The invasion was controversial. But there was widespread agreement that Noreiga was a corrupt, murderous thug, engaging in drug trafficking throughout the Americas, ruling with fear and violence. […]
2967) “Me– A Pharisee?” (2/2) Read More »
Matthew 9:9-13: As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw
2966) “Me– A Pharisee?” (1/2) Read More »
   I once asked my grandfather why his grandfather left Germany in 1875 to come to America.  Grandpa said that the old emigrant told him that Germany was always getting into wars and drafting all the young men, and he did not want to die as a soldier in some fight that did not
2963) “A Burden on My Soul” Read More »
Adapted from an article by Scott Hubbard, “Do You See Your Soul?,” May 7, 2025 at: http://www.desiringgod.org  *********************************    Picture yourself facing one of your typical temptations. Someone catches you in a little lie, and you are embarrassed; but another bigger lie would explain it all away and save you the embarrassment. A loved
2931) Remember, You Have a Soul Read More »
   Today’s meditation is brief, but it requires a slow and prayerful reading.  It is taken from the book A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie (1949).  This book contains 62 prayers, one for every morning and evening of the month.  It is one of the resources I use every day in my own personal
2922) A Prayer for Self-Examination and Confession Read More »
   (…continued) Why do you need Jesus? Well first of all, you need Jesus because there is something wrong with you. What is it that’s wrong? I don’t know, but you do. And if you don’t think there is anything wrong with you, then there is something seriously wrong with you. If you want
2862) You Need Jesus (part two of two) Read More »
Above: Rembrandt’s Raising of the Cross (1633) Rembrandt painted himself in the center of the painting (with beret) illustrating that he, like all sinners, was responsible for Christ’s suffering and death. ———————————-     (…continued) We can begin by noting that the suffering of Jesus was not limited to the cross on Good Friday. His suffering
2849) Pulling Back the Curtain (2/2) Read More »
Above: Agnus Dei (The Lamb of God), Francisco Zubaran (1598-1664) (in the 1630’s Zubaran painted at least five versions of this) ——————– John 1:29 — The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” Revelation 5:12 — In a loud voice
2848) Pulling Back the Curtain (1/2) Read More »
By Washington D.C. attorney and writer Joshua Rogers ( http://www.joshuarogers.com ) ——————————-    It was the crack of dawn and I couldn’t stop looking over at the woman a few feet away from me on the beach. I had come to watch the sunrise and she was getting on my nerves.    The
2846) Staring at a Woman on the Beach Read More »
Above painting: The Gossips, Norman Rockwell, 1948 —————— I am more deadly than the screaming shell of a howitzer. I win without killing. I tear down homes, break hearts, and wreck lives. I travel on the wings of the wind. No innocence is strong enough to intimidate me, no purity pure enough to daunt me.Â
