One of the most powerful commandments in the Old Testament is the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. The Lord commanded the children of Israel to love God with all their being. They were to tell it to their children in the morning, at night, and as they went about their day.
Continue reading “Tell It To Your Children”Lessons from Abraham: SACRIFICE OF THE SON
Remember that God gave Abraham a promised son in his old age. Abraham was one hundred years old when Isaac was born. Abraham’s wife Sarah was ninety years old and passed child-bearing age even by ancient standards.
God had told Abraham that the covenant and promises given to him would flow to future generations through Isaac. All this sounds great until God commands Abraham to offer Issac as a burnt offering.
In our walk with God, at times things will not make any sense. Here is a contradiction, a son of promise is to be offered as a burnt offering. How could Isaac be a link to blessed future generations and a slaughtered son at the same time?
Continue reading “Lessons from Abraham: SACRIFICE OF THE SON”Focusing on Your Priorities in the New Year
We have flipped our calendars not only to a new month but to a new year. I have never been a big New Year’s resolution person. I do like to take the New Year as a time of evaluation. I like to see what I can do better. Some things I just need to drop. Then there are some things I need to start.
Continue reading “Focusing on Your Priorities in the New Year”The Division of the Resurrection
In my early childhood days, my mother usually bought me an Easter outfit. It wasn’t a suit. It was a pair of pants and usually a matching pastel colored shirt. She warned me to keep it nice because I would be wearing the same outfit on Decoration Day at our community cemetery. To those of you not from the Deep South, decoration day is a certain Sunday designated by the community to decorate the graves of departed family members. It often included a dinner on the ground, an all-day singing, and a community reunion rolled into one event.
Continue reading “The Division of the Resurrection”Eternal Destiny Cloaked in an Unplanned Pregnancy
The village girl who had no worldly aspirations was chosen to be the earthly mother of a Heavenly Son. Her dream was to marry a common craftsman and fill his quiver with arrows called children. She saw not much more in her future than drawing water at a village well and baking flat bread. The faithful tasks of a wife and mother for the care of her family was her hope. She dreamed of moments of joy and fulfillment scattered among the mundane. This was her only view over the horizon.
Continue reading “Eternal Destiny Cloaked in an Unplanned Pregnancy”Anatomy of a Grateful Heart
A grateful heart begins with seeing eyes to perceive God’s bounty. We see the blessings given to us as gifts beyond our efforts and intelligence.
A grateful heart hears with an ear of mercy to those who cry. We are moved with compassion just as our Savior was moved to heal and deliver.
Continue reading “Anatomy of a Grateful Heart”A Southern Delight: Nanner Sammijes
Yep, nanner sammij, you heard it right! To those of you in the northern latitudes, I am not speaking in tongues. Nanner sammij is the correct term, pronunciation, and spelling (perhaps) for banana sandwich.
My years in elementary school were in the sixties. Only the spoiled kids had metal Roy Roger lunch boxes. Most of the kids who brought their lunch to school carried it in a brown paper bag. This made for a combination of memory-making aromas.

Nanner sammijes was the frontrunner of the aroma generators. The fruity nanner smell, the aroma of bread, and the microbial growth in the mayonnaise had a multiplied effect. Then all of that Petre dish combination was filtered through a brown bag. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. It was a unique smell that put wrinkles on my gray matter. When I think of the lunchroom at Duck Springs Elementary School, this peculiar, yet fragrant smell returns.
Continue reading “A Southern Delight: Nanner Sammijes”Old Boots and Ole Friends
Old boots are much like ole friends. They started out a little stiff and perhaps a little awkward. In the beginning, they were not a perfect fit. However, the more time I spent with them, the more we molded as one.
Continue reading “Old Boots and Ole Friends”Finding Joy in Surrender: Embracing God’s Plan for Fulfillment
We exist for God’s purpose not our own. Sure, we existed in the mind of God before He said, “Let there be light.” What a crazy thought but true. Yet, God does not exist so we can live happy, contented, and fulfilled lives. We exist for His pleasure and the fulfillment of His plan in and through us.
Continue reading “Finding Joy in Surrender: Embracing God’s Plan for Fulfillment”History-Long Hatred of Children: A Ploy of Satan
Children are the most vulnerable humans on the planet. They are very dependent upon adults for provision, shelter, protection, and education. Through the course of world history, children have been neglected and worse of all targeted for exploitation or even destruction. Why?
In our present age, we see children used as slave labor, sex slaves, so-called collateral damage in endless wars, starved by abject poverty, and easy fields for organ harvesting in less humane societies.
Then in our more so-called civilized cultures, we see children harmed in sex abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, objects of child pornography, sexual mutilation, destructive drug therapy, warped by dysfunctional families, and killed by abortion.
Continue reading “History-Long Hatred of Children: A Ploy of Satan”
