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THE BLESSING OF SEALING
One Christmas four wealthy brothers bought extravagant gifts for their elderly mother. One brother bought her a big house. Another installed a movie theater in that house. A third brother bought her a new Mercedes. But the fourth brother knew that their mother loved to read the Bible but couldn’t due to her poor eyesight. So, he found out about a parrot that had memorized the entire Bible and could recite every passage when instructed. That parrot, which took 12…
Background Check
Ancestry.com is the largest for-profit genealogical company in the world. It boasts access to approximately 40 billion historical records from 80 different countries of origin, has over 3 million paying subscribers, and more than 23 million people in their DNA network. User-generated content tallies to more than 131 million family trees, and subscribers have added more than 800 million photographs, scanned documents, and written stories. Needless to say, what used to be an elementary school project has now become big…
You’re Not Thinking Fourth-Generationally
In the film “Back To The Future Part III,” Doc and Marty have traveled back in time to “The Wild West” and the year 1885. They plan a return home to the present in 1985 (one hundred years later) by hitching a ride on a freight train. There is only one problem. The train track runs out, and, at the speed they will be going, Marty thinks they will crash into the ravine below. However, as Doc explains, Marty is…
The Crowds
This weekend, pop superstar Taylor Swift is in town. I imagine that some of you went to the tour, and this first line immediately grabbed your attention. There are others who saw the first four words and decided you would no longer read this. I can’t help but be in awe of society as I watch hundreds of thousands of people flood into a city for three days in a row to scream the words of songs together. The crowds…
Divine Detours
When you are traveling in unfamiliar territory, and you come across a detour, it feels like a tremendous setback. It interrupts your momentum, your schedule, and, if you’re like me, your blood pressure. Detours are frustrating, stressful, and burdensome, but detours are often necessary. For example, detours are utilized when dangerous conditions are present. You may be forced to detour because a bridge is washed away or debris is obstructing the roadway. Detours are used when improvements are underway. You…
Take Hold Of Life
Near the conclusion of Indiana Jones’ third cinematic adventure, the titular character tries to maintain his grip on one of Elsa’s hands to keep her from falling to her doom in the abyss below. Rather than grab ahold of Indiana with her other hand, she reaches for the treasure which dangles perilously on a ledge just below her. “Your other hand – honey I can’t hold you!” Indiana shouts in desperation. Stubbornly, she continues to stretch for the holy grail,…
Jesus Is The Truth
Does truth matter to you? That almost seems like a foolish question because the answer is most likely a resounding YES! When someone lies to us, we are often filled with anger. We feel betrayed, like someone did not feel that my relationship with them was worth sharing what actually happened. When a child lies about a situation that they were in or about something their sibling did, the child deserves punishment. When an adult lies about something in the…
A GENTLE ATTITUDE
In aeronautic terminology, “attitude” refers to the angle of an aircraft in regard to a reference point such as the horizon. It encompasses the yaw (i.e., the left-to-right movement of an aircraft in relation to its vertical axis), pitch (i.e., the up or down tilt of the aircraft’s nose in relation to its side-to-side axis), and roll (i.e., the rotation of the wings around its front-to-back axis) of the aircraft. In simplistic terms, a plane’s attitude refers to its overall…
David’s Mighty Men
“David’s Mighty Men” are real-life superheroes, and their true stories – the kind of stuff typically relegated to mere legend – can be found in both II Samuel 23 and I Chronicles 11-12. For example, Jashobeam killed hundreds of men with a spear at one time. When everyone else ran away, Eleazar struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword. Benaiah took down a lion in the snow, and he killed an Egyptian giant…
Are You Being Persecuted?
In 2 Timothy 3:12, Paul declared that “all who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted.” He didn’t say, “all who desire to live a godly life can be persecuted” or “all who desire to live a godly life may be persecuted.” He said, “all who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted.” That’s definitive, not speculative. That’s stated as a guarantee, not as a possibility. And, even though the type and degree of persecution can…
Forgetting & Remembering
Two chapters in the first book of the Bible (Genesis 40-41) present an enlightening quartet of lessons on remembrance and forgetfulness. First, after interpreting the chief cupbearer’s dream favorably, an imprisoned Joseph asks him, “Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house” (Gen. 40:14). In a tragic note, the 40th chapter ends with these words: “Yet the chief cupbearer did…
Declining The Invitation
In Luke 14:16-24, an invitation to a super-awesome banquet has gone out to many. This likely represents the “calling” of God – the Lord inviting others to share in His kingdom (fellowship with Him, eternal glory, an eternal inheritance, eternal life) while, at the same time, summoning them to partake in His holiness and to obey Him even when it is difficult. In the parable, three different people make excuses for spurning the invitation. The first two refer to business…