keys

Keys to Sobriety

There are fundamental factors to success in addiction recovery. Dr. Denise Fournier, professor at Nova Southeastern University, has identified six such factors. It is important to follow the formula that has always worked. That includes a commitment to each of these six factors. We need the persistence of Job: “My feet have closely followed his…

daughter

Daughter

In Mark 5 we read the story of Jesus healing the woman with the issue of blood. She risked everything by crowding her way to Jesus. Her reward? She was healed physically. But there is much more to the story. Jesus told her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you” (Mark 5:34).  That was the only…

broke

You Broke It

Have you ever been in a store that posts numerous signs that read, “Break it and you pay for it”?  These signs are often found in stores which sell a lot of glass, pottery, or other breakable objects. We tend to walk around very carefully, to make sure we don’t touch anything. No one wants…

noise

Noise

“No one would distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise” (Ezra 3:13). Noise is a problem – a growing problem. Let’s talk about noise. Twenty-nine percent of the U.S. population is exposed to excessive transportation noise, as compared to just four percent…

presence

The Divine Presence

1 Samuel 3:19 “And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him.” Is there anything better that we could ever pray for our children or grandchildren than that? That as our children grow, the Lord would be with them? Nothing matters more than the abiding presence of God. In his classic work, Experiencing the Presence…

jackson

“Stonewall” Jackson

Confederate general Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson had an unwavering confidence in the plan and protection of God. Once, during a battle, he sat down to write out a message to send to a subordinate. A Union cannonball struck a large oak tree above where he sat, showering him with bark and wood chips. He brushed off…

governor

Dumb Governor

On June 18, 2009, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford went missing. For four days, nobody knew where he was. Not his staff, his security detail, or even his wife or children. Finally, on June 22, his spokesman announced that Sanford was hiking the Appalachian Trail, a public trekking route that has little capacity for outside…

appetite

Appetite

Our appetites can enslave us. This happened to Esau. One day he came home so hungry that he promised his birthright to his younger brother in exchange for a bowl of porridge. We are warned, “Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for…