A Thrill of Hope OPINION — It’s one of those old Hallmark commercials — the kind that were two minutes plus and shown only during Hallmark Hall of Fame presentations. I’ve long since forgotten what the presentation was, but I haven’t forgotten the...

Learning to listen to God Our distraction bubble consists of the totality of things that are competing for our attention. It is sights, sounds and screens to be sure, but it is more than environmental noise. It consists of our inner voice—you know,...

Standing Firm OPINION — Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends. (Philippians 4:1)Firmness is a good thing. We don’t want it everywhere, but in many...

A great place to be OPINION — Scott Macaulay lives in Melrose, Massachusetts, where he runs Macaulay’s House of Vacuum Cleaners. But that’s not what he’s known for—Scott is known for Thanksgiving.It started in 1985, when Scott was 24. His parents...

Hazardous to your health? OPINION — In late August, the Surgeon General declared that parenting could be hazardous to your health. You read that right. Parenting is now in the same category as smoking, alcohol, and other forms of drug...

From groaning to glory - part three OPINION — In the past two weeks, we’ve looked at Romans 8:18-25 and seen how humanity and the earth (Paul speaks of it as “creation”) are intertwined by virtue of their origin, their sharing of the redemptive...

From groaning to glory, part two OPINION — Last week we saw that Paul told the disciples at Rome they were headed for glory through the resurrection of their bodies. While many people immediately see the grandeur in this, others are not quite so...

What is God saying to us?OPINION — We’re doing a study of Luke’s gospel on Wednesday nights. Our goal is to interact with the text in such a way that it results in us gaining a clear sense of how God is using it to speak to us today. Of course,...

From groaning to glory, part one OPINION — Romans 8:18-25 is one of the lesser-known passages in Paul’s letter to the disciples at Rome. But lesser-known doesn’t mean lesser value and we’ll see he had some profound things to say in this passage....

Embracing Your Interruptions OPINION — A young man and woman were in love and wanted to get married. The young man asked her father for his blessing. The man told him, “Before I can give you my blessing, you have to pass the test.” The young man...

Gloriously More OPINION — When Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine were engaged in 1796, he gave her a ring composed of two tear shaped stones — a diamond and a blue sapphire set in opposite directions on a slim gold band. Each stone weighs slightly...

It seemed good to me OPINION — When Luke was writing the introduction to his gospel, he noted two groups of people:1) “those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word” (1:2), and2) “many” who were compiling “a narrative of...

Meditating on God's Word OPINION — One of my favorite borrowed sayings goes something like this: “Our goal isn’t to get through the Bible as much as it is for the Bible to get through us.” I like that because I know from personal experience how...

After Dinner Conversation OPINION — In Luke 22:24-32, Jesus had an after-dinner conversation with His disciples that continues to speak to His followers today. In that conversation:Jesus taught about true greatness. As He instituted the Lord’s...

Are your feet touching bottom OPINION — Our grandsons (7, 9, and 11) were watching a water polo match during the Olympics. The players were jostling for position, splashing up a storm, all while trying to either throw a ball into the net or prevent...

First things first OPINION — I went to play disc golf at the Tumble Tree course at our sportsplex. Due to the heat and humidity, I was out there early — about 6:45 in the morning. I applied sunscreen, put an extra shirt in my cart, got my rosin...

The Challenging Beatitudes OPINION — The Beatitudes are not spiritual fast food. As with most of the Scripture, they are not well suited to our drive-through, microwave mentality. Rather, they should be thought of as a holiday feast to be lingered...

I have a job for you OPINION — Isaiah’s ministry ended somewhere around the time of Hezekiah’s death in 687 BC. Sixty years later, Jeremiah was called to his ministry in the 13th year of Josiah’s reign (Jeremiah 627 BC/1:2). It would span the final...

Staying humble and hungry OPINION — Most of us have heard of the John Godfrey Saxe poem, The Blind Men and the Elephant. It is based on a traditional Indian parable and tells of six blind men from Indostan who came across an elephant. As each...

Rce OPINION — The psalmist supplies us with several reasons for praising God in Psalm 103. At the start of his list is “forget not all of His benefits” (v. 2). In v. 3-8 he enumerates some of those. Applicationally speaking, this is a part of the...