After crossing the Jordan River and entering into the Promised Land, the Israelites soon saw the walled city of Jericho, a veritable fortress, imposing and impenetrable. The scene looked impossible and yet God told Joshua that they would take the city. His grand scheme: they’d march around the city for seven days with seven priests carrying seven rams’ horns. …
Some people follow sports passionately. Zealous football fans buy season tickets, wear jerseys, carry posters, paint their faces, buy bumper stickers, yell at the top of their lungs during the opposing team’s huddle, and maybe even appear on TV during a game. It feels great to be a fan, no matter our country or favorite sport, especially …
A book I’ve been reading states that the human body boasts eleven million sensory receptors, and ten million of those relate to sight. The author also shared an estimate that interpretation of visual signals accounts for 50% of brain activity. Reading that, my mind immediately recalled words written ages ago by the Apostle Paul: For …
We once sang a Sunday School song, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna to let it shine…” If kids were to sing that nowadays, they’d whip out their cell phones, turn on a flashlight app, and start waving them! The song actually comes from the Sermon on the Mount: “You are the light of the world. … Let …
“The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.” This and similar aphorisms were often repeated by my father as I grew up. I’m sure it was spoken in various contexts, but I suspect it was most often associated with getting somewhere faster or something being done more efficiently. It’s certainly true in the …
Have you ever made shadow puppets? It’s easy to create a shadow resembling a duck, rabbit, dove, or swan. Young children find this skill entertaining and fascinating. If they tried to cuddle that duck or rabbit, however, they’d be sorely disappointed, realizing the puppeteer used only hands and not actual animals. The Old Testament is …
Do you find any foods particularly bothersome? Spicy foods cause some people heartburn. Others can’t drink caffeine at night without experiencing insomnia. A few get headaches after ingesting sweets. These foods enter our mouths but affect other parts of our bodies. Similarly, what we allow to linger in our minds, “chewing” and “digesting” those thoughts, …
These are crazy times and it would be easy to slip into a negative mindset. That’s why I so appreciate those who bring levity to the situation. The other day I saw a spoof article featuring a man sitting at his home office desk, wearing a headset and using his computer. He was well groomed, …
The current pandemic has triggered unprecedented events, including our youngest daughter’s recent college campus closure. The school ordered students to vacate on short notice, continuing all coursework online for the rest of the semester, so we suddenly needed to get her moved back home. We and our daughter‘s older sister caravanned down on Saturday morning thinking we’d easily …
As a youngster, one of our sons closed his eyes tightly when sneaking a cookie, reasoning that if he couldn’t see us, we couldn’t see him! We understood his rationale–“hiding” what his hand was doing. Though cute, he was wrong. When we know we’re in the wrong, we hide it. We find this human reaction …
God recently revealed to me how we try to hold on to seasons, events, circumstances, moments in our lives and want to camp there. We do this with all kinds of things. We experience something that seems successful or that makes us happy, and we want to preserve it, systematize it, institutionalize it. We can, …
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in his ballad “Der Zauberlehrling”, never intended to demonstrate a biblical truth. Neither did Walt Disney in his cartoon interpretation, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. But the story portrays an amazing reality. At the cartoon’s start, Mickey Mouse tires of having to carry water for his master, so he dons the Sorcerer’s cap and magically …
