There is a flower more exquisite than any found on earth. The purity of its white hue, the fragrance of its perfume, the permanency of its bloom compares with nothing else. I speak figuratively of the Christian way of love. It is the fruit of the faith, the hallmark of Christian belief.
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It has been said that Christians are so heavenly minded they are of no earthly good. While this may be the case with some Christians, this ought never to be the case with the Christian faith. Continue reading
In the Book of Acts, Philip the Evangelist is led to a very prominent and prosperous Ethiopian eunuch. When Philip comes up to this eunuch’s chariot, he hears him reading a scroll of the Book of Isaiah, “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” (Acts 8:26-39) Continue reading
Hope is a powerful force in our lives. The Austrian neurologist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, said of Holocaust prisoners, “The prisoner who had lost his faith in the future – his future – was doomed. With his loss of belief in the future, he also lost his spiritual hold; he let himself decline and became subject to mental and physical decay.” Hope dramatically impacts our ability to cope in life. However, what we place our hope in determines whether that hope can hold up to the heat, when tragedy strikes. Continue reading
“It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised, and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant, wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesmen.” These are the words of Abigail Adams, wife of the second President of the United States, to her son.
The recipients of the Apostle Peter’s First Letter contended with great difficulties. They were pockets of churches in what is today modern Turkey. Many of them were planted by Jewish converts to Christianity that were exiled from Rome. They left neighbors, livelihoods, and the places of their youth, likely never to see them again. Continue reading
Imagine you were walking down Main Street and came upon a car with its keys in the ignition. You get in the car and turn the key. The owner of the car, startled, sees what you are doing and cries out, “Stop!” You respond, “God needs it.” How far do you think you would get till you heard the police car siren? Continue reading
Throughout Church history, Christians have gained a reputation of running into the flames when others have run away. Continue reading
When I was a Youth Director, my good friend and mentor was diagnosed with breast cancer. Miss Debby, as she was affectionately called, had been the Christian Education Director and director of the church’s daycare and school for decades. She never married or had any children of her own. Her life was fully dedicated to Christ and nurturing children and adults alike. Miss Debby suffered two rounds of chemo over the next year. It was hard on her. It was hard for us to watch. Continue reading
At the time of writing this article, toilet paper and hand sanitizer are nowhere to be found. Flour and sugar are quickly disappearing from shelves. There are over 179,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, resulting in over 7,000 deaths. No vaccine is yet publicly available. In Pennsylvania, testing kits are in limited supply and schools are closed. Continue reading
Poets write about it. Song-writers sing about it. Actors and actresses portray it. It seems wherever you go people are talking about love. But, though love is talked about, thought about, and sung about, how often is it defined and comprehended. Continue reading
