The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.—John 10:10 (NIV)
Two weeks after we moved into our current house, we came home to find someone had been inside while we had been at church. The door was still locked. No windows were broken. No valuables, some (more…)
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called (more…)
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things (more…)
But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”—Jude 1:9
Years ago, while I was in the thick of a trial that didn’t seem to go away, a friend gave what she felt was helpful advice. “Rebuke the devil!” (more…)
I sat on a bench next to our lake as I prayed this morning and admired the beautiful day, the kind that helps me endure our brutal summers. Water lilies flapped lightly against the water in the cool breeze; ospreys glided overhead. And then I found myself fixing on one ominous pinkish-gray cloud that alternately coalesced and fragmented against the otherwise serene (more…)