No Comparisons

No Comparisons

Everyone wants to be the best at something, or at least we want to be SEEN as the best at something. Truth be known, most of us want to be at the top of the heap in just about everything. To help substantiate that effort, we tend to compare ourselves to others. But we...
Perseverance

Perseverance

Years ago, Newt Gingrich (former Speaker of the House) gave an interesting definition for perseverance. He said that perseverance “is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.” I think he is on to something. Our Bible speaks of...
Encouragement

Encouragement

Here at Stoneybrooke, it’s the first week of school. You have been stockpiling supplies for weeks. Now its time to pack those lunches, find the backpacks, arrange the shelf with shoes and hide a few snacks in the car. But it’s also a great time to think through some...
He Still Moves Mountains

He Still Moves Mountains

This summer, I once again got to go visit one of my favorite places on earth, Alaska! And I sailed into my favorite spot, Glacier Bay. That national park has some 3.3 million acres of pristine beauty in the form of rivers, valleys, glaciers and unbelievable mountains....
Personal Ebenezer Stones

Personal Ebenezer Stones

In Joshua 4:20, the scriptures tell us that Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. As a great leader, Joshua was creating a powerful memory for the children of Israel. He says, “In the future, when your descendants ask their...
He Feels the Bottom

He Feels the Bottom

There are so many wonderful moments in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. (By the by, this is a great book for summer reading!) but a particularly instructive one is memorialized in a famous engraved picture. The artist captures the moment as Pilgrim is being swallowed...