In Bruce Larson’s commentary on the book of Luke, he shares this story.  Apparently, there was a conference at a church in Omaha, Nebraska.  It wasn’t the kind of church where folks shouted an occasional “amen” or raised their hands...

When the Beatles came to America in 1964, I was one of those screaming teenage girls greeting their arrival. I wasn’t at the airport, but you should have heard me as they sang on the Ed Sullivan show. (Those of you under the age of 50 can just look...

The Bible makes a big deal about covenants and vows. When our promises are tested, God wants us to take the high road and show grace. He wants us to lean into His promises, making certain we do not give Satan a foothold and take serious our...

I have been doing some serious thinking about humility this week. I am learning that arrogance is an attitude that holds us back from learning and growing from our mistakes. Since humility is often seen as a weakness in our culture, we need more...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...

In the early pages of the book of Joshua, we meet a prostitute named Rahab. She is the one who hid the two spies that Joshua sent to check out the fortifications around the city of Jericho. While the two Israelites hid on her roof, Rahab sent the...

Have you had a good laugh lately? I am talking about a real, tummy juggling crack up.  Hope so, because it is good for you! Dictionaries tell us that laughter is an audible expression, or appearance of merriment or happiness or an inward...