Matthew 16: 21-28 Saint Peter and Satan were having an argument one day about baseball. With a beguiling leer, Satan proposed a game to be played on neutral grounds between a select team from the heavenly host and his own hand-picked Hades boys. “very well,” the gatekeeper of the Celestial City agreed. “But you realize,…
Tag: The Message
Out of Compassion
Matthew 9: 35 – 10: 8 “The laborers are few,” the text says. The laborers are few. The interviewer said to the farmer who’d just won the lottery, “Congratulations on winning the eighty-million-dollar prize.” The farmer responded, “Thank you.” The interviewer asked, “Do you have any special plans for spending the money?” The farmer said,…
For What Is Right
Luke 16: 1-13 During World War II, a program was organized to train volunteers in the skills of emergency first aid. There was a fear that if a city in our nation should be bombed there would not be adequate medical care available for the people who would be wounded. There was one woman in…
A Story in Itself
I remember walking home from kindergarten holding my father’s hand. Our family church was where I attended kindergarten in the suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland. After we crossed Harford Road in front of the church and headed home, I asked my father what he thought it was like to be a preacher. He was silent for…
Only One Appropriate Reaction
Luke 15: 1-3, 11b-24 An old Chinese proverb goes like this: If you wish to be happy for one hour, get intoxicated. If you wish to be happy for three days, get married. If you wish to be happy for eight days, kill your pig and eat it. If you wish to be happy forever,…
‘Til I’m Old and Gray
O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come.Your power and your righteousness, O God, reach the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is…
Thank You for the Miracles
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. – Mark 1: 24, KJV Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. – Mark 11: 24, NIV That’s…
Again, Assessing Our Place
At the start of Sunday morning worship in my brother-in-law Fagan’s ministry, he said to everyone the Holy Spirit told him to turn all the service over to me. He told me I could do anything I wanted. There were nine of us there. Whatever I chose to do would not have been an apple…
Write
I haven’t written anything on this blog since November. I grew to believe that my postings were more outlets of frustrations than anything beneficial. I stopped, not knowing I’d ever write anything again, but here I am following inspiration and writing from heart . . . again. Friday morning, I read my devotional readings from…
Psalm 102 in The Message 