Devotionals
Putting on the Grace Face
Supposedly it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile. While the saying has been around for quite some time, the numbers used to prove the conclusion vary with each story. In spite of the discrepancies, the basic premise is certainly true: it’s more relaxing and pleasant to...
Shaken Faith
Life events may temporarily shake my faith, but they can’t destroy it.
Like most people’s, my life’s been a journey of mountains and valley experiences. I’ve enjoyed numerous good things along with pleasurable occasions, but the good has been...
Living with Integrity
He was only a young man when bands of foreign invaders pummeled through the walls of his city, destroyed his homeland, and carted him and thousands of others to a foreign land. Suddenly, he was introduced to food he’d never tasted. None of the foods he was accustomed to eating were...
Talk Really Isn't Cheap
What I say may very well cost me and others a great deal.
“Talk is cheap” is an idiom that expresses ones doubt over a particular course of action. Husband to wife: “One day I’m going to buy you a brand new dish washer.” Three years later...
Devil on the Run
Nothing is more encouraging than when the devil is on the run.
Resistance is indispensable when lifting weights and using exercise equipment to build muscles. If too little weight is placed on the bar, muscles aren’t challenged to heft it. Current muscle mass may be...
God Can Handle Complaints
God gives us permission to tell him exactly how we feel.
“God, I just don’t understand. We give our tithes and offerings, we attend church regularly, we use our gifts in your church, we share your love with others. We do all the good things a Christian should...
God's Desperate Love
God loves us too much to leave us where we are.
Recently, I watched as an emotionally disturbed mother drove her van full of children into the ocean in an attempt to end her life and theirs. Fortunately, rescuers converged upon the scene and successfully salvaged...
When Pigs are More Important
Sometimes it’s the little things that make us uncomfortable with God’s presence.
A few times in my life, I’ve owned a handful of pigs. Hog are unusual animals. They can be funny, mean, and dangerous all in a matter of moments. I have an uncle who made a...
When the Earth Moves
The house trembled, and a cold fear slithered across my body.
With the exception of a few years, I’m a life-long South Carolinian, but I’ve never felt what I did on Valentine’s Day, 2014. As my wife and I enjoyed a leisurely evening in our...
God's Attention Getter
What grabs my attention may very well have God’s hand behind it.
I was fresh out of college, pastoring my first church, and aching to make an impression on someone…anyone. So I filled my plate with busyness. All good things. I scampered from one task to the...