“A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” (Prov. 15:4) In the 2008 film, Doubt, Sister Aloysius is a school principal who rules by fear and mean-spirited discipline. She chooses to focus on other’s faults rather than their strengths...
“Hannah is not the primary character in the story. Nor is Samuel. Pivotal to the whole story, the central cohesive element, the linchpin, is God himself. Everything else—Hannah’s barrenness, Hannah’s prayer, Samuel’s birth—is the working out of God’s eternal agenda.”¹ In I Samuel 3:1 we read,” In...
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Matt. 5:8 Chariots of Fire is the story of two athletes competing in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams. If you’ve seen the film, you will likely remember that only one of the two actually made the great impact on the...
I know my parents and grandparents stood in the gap for me with prayer. When I was a child, it was a daily routine in the evening before bedtime to read the Bible and pray together. My grandmother lived with us and I remember my parents and my grandmother praying for me by name every night. I felt...
Mickey Mantle, one of the most famous baseball players in the history of the sport, lived a very troubled and reckless life. For all the acclaim he received for his accomplishments on the field, Mickey Mantle was also an alcoholic and womanizer off the field. He openly admitted later in life to...
By Opal Ashenbrenner “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see our good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16 KJV). Once when four-year old Brooke was spending the day with me, she painted a little plastic sun catcher. I made this for you, Granapple,”...
As water reflects the face, so a man’s heart reflects the man. –Prov. 27:19 Caleb had every reason to be discouraged. He had been snubbed by the majority, even though he believed God and knew His promise was sound. Because the majority would not submit to God’s plan, they...
During 2010, I have been doing a Bible study, The Praying Life, by Jennifer Kennedy Dean that has given me a deeper understanding of the purpose of prayer and the process of prayer. The key to prayer is not asking God for my desires but developing an intimate relationship with Him so my desires...
Grandpause: Blessedness does not lie in externals. -Thomas Watson Her name was Susan Walker. We were both in the fourth grade and I was gobsmacked by her beauty. She was my first crush and I was obsessed by thoughts of her. At least until I turned on the Mickey Mouse Club program after...
“A fool spurns his father’s discipline, But whoever heeds correction shows prudence.” ?Proverbs 15:5 Father, please encourage my grandchild’s parents to seek You for direction and guidance in their home. Allow them to convey love and discipline in the Spirit of Christ. I pray that my...
Grandpause: "Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them." Dt. 4:9 “Our strategic calling as grandparents...
As we are celebrating the birth of Jesus, let’s also think about the gift of hope God gave us when He sent Jesus to this earth to live as a human being. God loved the world so much that he sent his only son into the world to die on the cross for our sins so we could have everlasting life. When we...
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