Isaiah 6:1 “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and lifted up.” Isaiah did what we all do. We search for God. We have in each of us a God-shaped emptiness that only God can fill. John Piper said, “In the end the heart longs not for any of God’s…
In a concentration camp, a guard announced that a shovel was missing. Screaming at the men, he kept insisting someone had stolen it. He shouldered his rifle, ready to kill one prisoner at a time until a confession was made. As the story continues, a Scottish soldier broke ranks, stood stiffly at attention, and said,…
The disciples said to Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). One way to pray is played out in most 12-Step meetings. We recite the Serenity Prayer. But we usually only recite the short version. There is more: God, grant me the serenity To accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the…
The first traffic ticket was issued on this date in . . . 1899. You read that right. Taxi driver Jacob German was speeding down Lexington Street in New York City in his Electrobat (fully electric vehicle) at an astounding 12 miles per hour in an eight mph zone. The bicycle officer who pulled him…
There are fundamental factors to success in addiction recovery. Dr. Denise Fournier, professor at Nova Southeastern University, has identified six such factors. It is important to follow the formula that has always worked. That includes a commitment to each of these six factors. We need the persistence of Job: “My feet have closely followed his…
In Mark 5 we read the story of Jesus healing the woman with the issue of blood. She risked everything by crowding her way to Jesus. Her reward? She was healed physically. But there is much more to the story. Jesus told her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you” (Mark 5:34). That was the only…
Have you ever been in a store that posts numerous signs that read, “Break it and you pay for it”? These signs are often found in stores which sell a lot of glass, pottery, or other breakable objects. We tend to walk around very carefully, to make sure we don’t touch anything. No one wants…
“No one would distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise” (Ezra 3:13). Noise is a problem – a growing problem. Let’s talk about noise. Twenty-nine percent of the U.S. population is exposed to excessive transportation noise, as compared to just four percent…
God – the hound of heaven – is coming for you. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). At the Last Supper, Jesus reminded his disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that…
In July 2018, Angela Hernandez was driving down Highway 1, headed to Southern California in her SUV, when a small animal crossed the road. Hernandez swerved to miss it, and in doing so, shot her SUV off the road and off a cliff, tumbling 200 feet to a desolate, rocky beach. She had a brain…