John 8:12, 31-59; 9:1-7

In Mark Twain’s story, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom and Becky Thatcher join some classmates for a game of hide and seek in a cave. But when Tom and Becky wander off the marked path, they get lost. They stumble around in that dark dungeon for several days and slowly lose hope as their flickering candle finally goes out, leaving […]

John 6:22-59
Ephesians 2:4-9

Every time I read John 6, which features Jesus first offering bread to satisfy hunger and then offering the bread of life to satisfy spiritual hunger, I think of Bruce Springsteen’s song, Hungry Heart:

Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack
I went out for […]

Psalm 121
Hebrews 12:1-3

A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew. She would occasionally walk around to see each child’s artwork. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.
The girl replied, “I’m drawing God.”
The teacher paused and said, “But no one knows what God looks like.”
Without missing a […]

Psalm 126
Mark 4:21-34

There was a church hymn that was written in 1874 and was still popular in the 1980’s when I first began attending church. The song was written by Knowles Shaw who was inspired by the last couple of verses in Psalm 126 (5-6).

Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy.
They weep as they go to plant their […]

Matthew 5:13-16
II Corinthians 4:1-6

The prophet Isaiah uses light as a metaphor in describing Israel’s mission to the world.

Isaiah 42:6 says, “I the LORD have called unto you in righteousness, and have taken hold of your hand, and submitted you as the people’s covenant, as a light unto the nations.”

Isaiah 49:6 has it, “I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to […]

Ephesians 4:1-16
Speaking of church, Johnny’s mother looked out the window and noticed him “playing church” with their cat. The cat was sitting quietly and he was preaching to it. She smiled and went about her work. A while later she heard loud meowing and hissing and ran back to the window to see Johnny baptizing the cat in a tub of water.

Matthew 5:21-26, 43-48; Romans 12:9-21
CBS Affiliate KDKA Channel 3, in Pittsburgh, reports of an unusual Christmas disturbance that took place this past December 16 in Connellsville, PA. Their lead for the story was, “Motorist Tried to Run over Ex as He Put up Lights.” Local resident Alan McCutcheon was busy putting up outside Christmas lights when his ex-girlfriend, Mary Jo Smith, came […]

Luke 7:36-50; Galatians 5:22-25

It’s that time of the year again . . . tax-time. There was a fellow who one year decided to cheat on his income taxes. The problem was that he later started to feel so guilty that he couldn’t sleep. After thinking about it for a while, he sent an anonymous check for $100 to the IRS along with a […]

Luke 8:22-25
Isaiah 26:1-4

A couple weeks ago, Gail and attended one of my grandsons, Matthew’s, Boy Scout banquets. His Scout troop enjoys putting on little skits. One of them this day was about Jack, who was walking along a steep cliff one day when he accidentally got too close to the edge and fell over. On the way down, he grabbed a spindly […]

Philippians 4:4-6
How many of you are familiar with the name Ann Landers? Beginning in 1955 and continuing under various authors to this day, the Ann Landers daily newspaper column receives thousands of letters every month requesting advice on various topics. When PaulineLederer retired in 2002, she was asked what her most common question was, and answered that most people worry too much. “They’re […]

John 14:1-11, 27; Romans 5:1

All of us know that even with all the hope and promise of a wonderful New Year that a little rain is going to fall in all of our lives in the year 2017. And it is probably true that for some it won’t be just a little rain; some of us are going to have to endure storms. […]