Easter is not a day - it is a season. This year begin your Easter preparation with Holy Week because without the crucifixion, there would have been no resurrection.  Had Christ not hung on the cross, taken on our sins, and then spent three days defeating Satan’s power, His rising again would not have been so meaningful. Starting on Sunday,...

The other day, I watched one of favorite old movies, the original 1944 version of The Canterville Ghost. It takes place in England during World War II and stars Charles Laughton, Robert Young, and a very young Margaret O’Brien.  Margaret was so endearing and spoke so beautifully as a child. In the film, the phrase “noblesse oblige” arises...

What does winter say to your heart? “I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.”  ~Andrew Wyeth Winter is when... *bare branches stand out as scary stickmen. * blustery winds whip the last of...

Jesus invites us to enjoy a deep relationship with Him. We nourish this relationship by spending time with Him, talking with Him and meditating His word. This short guide offers a simple way of spending time with Jesus either as a group or individually.   To get the most out of your study time follow three steps: prepare, read and respond. Prepare....

The Gospel according to Luke (Luke 2:1-20) About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was the governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David's hometown,...

What do you think about? What thoughts roll around in your head? Imagine if someone invented a thought thermometer. You could put it in your ear, press a button, and your thoughts would register somewhere between the boiling point and absolute zero. Would your thoughts ever have a healthy temperature of 98.6? We know negative thinking can make...

Fall is my favorite time of year. It always brings to mind the seasonal word harvest. Nature goes through its seasons, as Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3:1, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” (NKJV) Similarly, we have circumstances that bring rain, sunshine, heat, cold, storm, calm, dryness, fire, and flood....