Over many years of study and leading women’s Bible study groups, I have increasingly emphasized the core importance of the invisible Kingdom of God, the Church of Jesus, His Body. It is a grand concept in the unseen realm. It is a gathering of very special people whose hearts are stayed on the Nazarene, focused on the Cross,…
Category: Uncategorized
259. The Bread, the Wine, the Cross
[Passover 2024] We celebrate our Christian Passover-feast. It might sound like a contradiction in terms because the death of a person is not a reason for celebration. Nowadays, people conduct a funeral as a celebration of life. The nature of such a ceremony has changed significantly over the years, from a very somber occasion to something that one would…
258. Just be
“What could I do?’” A familiar exclamation from humanity in difficult times that echoes the fear and despondency of an upside-down world. It stands in stark contrast to the cry, what should I do, where action is implied and rather reflects a hopeful vision of the future. We need only look around us to see that…
257. Kick up some dust
It’s not always easy to explain an idiom. You quickly learn this in another culture that enjoys its own sayings. Nature and the weather, the landscape and the seasons are rich sources of those short phrases that can aptly describe a matter or situation but sound completely Greek to someone unfamiliar with the origins. (Also an idiom)…
256. Come and talk, anytime
As always, the year has started at a rapid pace. Here at the end of the first month, a routine has taken hold, and the treadmill of life is in motion. If you don’t keep up, you fall off – as simple as that. Time is ruthless. Well, maybe I shouldn’t be so negative about the passage of time. I’ll…
255. Hosanna – come and save
Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20) At the beginning of a year we cherish the expectations of new things, plans, hopes for something better, and perhaps a new course for our lives – whether it be in terms of health, fitness, Bible study, prayer,…
254. Go… ask Jesus
Forgive us for mistaking the impressive for the significant. One of the great dangers of the Christmas story is an over-familiarity with the details, which weakens its impact. We are so accustomed to the chronicle – a virgin becoming pregnant after an angel speaks to her, a man dreaming that he should proceed with the relationship,…
253. Christmas-multiplication
December has come and we are well into celebrating the four words of Advent. Four Sundays before Christmas we hear the message again and again – rightly so. We need it. We need to be washed in the water of the Word to be cleansed and ready for the Feast. We give the content to our Christmas celebrations; we make contact with others…
252. The Fountain and the Light
Older people had a way of saying something. When my grandma called me and I responded vaguely with, I’m coming now, she would say: Yes, and Christmas too! Here we are again. Christmas is indeed coming. November rushes past in a whirlwind of activities, and then December is upon us. As always, it’s our challenge to provide the true essence of…
251. Light in the tunnel…s
It is correct – the plural of tunnel. I know we often use the expression “light at the end of the tunnel” to signify hope in a situation that may seem dark now. Tunnel or tunnels – we are searching for light. A tunnel is always dark without light being brought in from outside. We read…
Pebbles of Perpetuity 