What can we learn from Solomon, a man who analyzed every season of life? The comments are mine, as I ponder over my own seasons. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). My birth was prearranged, and the end of my life is on God’s calendar. God gives me a lifespan to help others, but there is a time to…
This year, our family has been hit with two heavenly departures. Without God’s Word, how does one answer the big questions about death? Scripture describes a believer’s transition of physical life to spirit life this way: Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being…
You have heard it said: “A Christian is either “going into a storm, going through one, or coming out of one,” describing the inescapable nature of trials in a believer’s life. But some of us may be inclined to say, “My whole life is one big storm—felt at various magnitudes.” In the back of our…
Dear Christian: Do regrets still trouble your conscience?— I should’ve been kinder. I should’ve said something. I should’ve rejected the temptation. I should’ve decided not to. I should’ve decided to. I should’ve protected her/him. I should’ve rescued him/her. I should’ve worked harder. I should’ve run from it. I should’ve stopped it. I should’ve seen it…
Can’t find your bootstraps with which to pull yourself UP? Do the unthinkable. Surrender control. Accept the way God chooses to clean up the mess — whether that mess is emotional, financial, intense sorrow, a tattered relationship, a broken heart, a ruined reputation… Do you feel like you can’t go on? Surrender. And tell Jesus…
Isa. 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.———- The cloud of witnesses — those whose spirits (eternal selves) have gone to be with Jesus — reminds you through the Word…
Around the emerald lake in Alaska’s Portage Valley, glaciers cling to mountains like globs of sourdough. And when the permafrost beneath a vertical ice field shudders or melts, the timeworn dough unsticks… The glacier slides, unbound, braiding ruts and jagged ridges in the mountain’s face. Gravel, roots, and silt fill every muddy wrinkle. We marvel…
Our English word “destination” is derived from the Latin word “destinare” and infers choosing to lockdown a goal. Choosing a destination establishes your intention to end up at a particular finish line. For Christians, our destination is heaven… ______________________________________________________________________________ Pastor William Welzein landed at Tel Aviv, Israel, determined to be the first person to swim…
Your life is brimming with captivating characters: Some are rescuers; others are mentors and heroes. A few may be treacherous spiritual adversaries and unwitting betrayers. None have minor roles in your life, because each protagonist and antagonist holds a purpose that touches the epilogue of your destiny. So, have you told your story? An untold…
“My application of “Truth” is complex, malleable, flexible. I’m a borrower. I acquire knowledge from academics, ancient philosophers, present-day mentors, and upon the gridiron of experience. For me, Truth evolves and whatever fulfills me becomes my Truth.” —– —- A Truth Seeker STOP! “My application of “Truth” is complex malleable, flexible. I’m a borrower. I…
A C-124 Globemaster, one of the Air Force’s largest heavy transport planes in 1952, hit a cliff on Alaska’s Mount Gannett, killing 41 passengers and 11 crewmen. Due to severe weather, the military gave up trying to reach the crash site. Snow and ice entombed the remains of the passengers and crew for well…
In 334 B.C Alexander the Great invaded the Persian Empire with ships laden with his Greek and Macedonian warriors. He and his armada crossed the Dardanelles Strait (Hellespont), a four-mile-wide artery separating Europe from Asia Minor. By setting fire to his own transport ships anchored in the Dardanelles, Alexander torched all possibility of his army’s…
(Paraphrased scene from John 21:18-22) Something was eating at Peter. At suppertime, young John finagled a seat close to Jesus again — and Jesus treated him like a little brother! Why did he favor the kid so? Peter discussed personal issues with the risen Messiah, — and noticed John listening. He stuck a thumb in…
But godliness with contentment is great gain. I Tim. 6:6 Godliness is Jesus’s character expressed in my lifestyle. Godliness is the plow that prepares my heart for contentment to grow. Contentment springs from recognizing that what I have is enough. Contentment is an inner condition that protects me from comparing myself to others. Contentment thrives when…
From the end of the earth I will cry to You,When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psalms 61:2 The path to recovery begins with the first shovel-full…
Posted with permission from Judi Ballweber-Ruban, missionary to Ukraine —— Seldom do we encounter such credibility and insight. Please pray for Judi and her husband, Volodymyr —— Hello, Our Dearly Beloveds! (You!) Happy Thanksgiving Week! This (and Christmas) are my favorite times of the year! No doubt enhanced by the fact that Thanksgiving Week is…
And so, today, I can’t muster up the faith that preachers say is required for God to answer my prayers. It’s a David Day, and I feel like ___________. God? I don’t even have the strength to ask you “why?” anymore. Christians aren’t supposed to act this way, or feel this way, or admit defeat……
Are challenges looming ahead? Hebrews 11:1 NIV Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Comment: Faith is the confidence (certainty) that the resolution we (Christ followers) hope for, will happen. His resolution is divinely guaranteed. Faith is our intentional conviction that God is healing,…
No time to think. From the corner of my eye, I noticed a burly moose lumbering down the hillside next to the Glenn Highway. Anyone who has field dressed a cow would have calculated her to be about 700 pounds on the hoof. She planned to sprint across the Glenn Highway, barring any obstacles in…
Ze-rub-ba-bel — what a name. His name meant “Seed of Babylon (or one sown of Babylon)” but his Hebrew pedigree included the future Messiah, Jesus Christ. After the Persians conquered the Babylonians, the Persians appointed Zerubbabel to be governor of Judea, and honored his request to rebuild the Jewish temple at Jerusalem. Zerubbabel led…
The lanky couple dodged around us, careening down the narrow, dusty Matanuska Peak Trail. Veins throbbed in their foreheads and necks. Sweat trickled off their chins — but they chatted cheerily, as if strolling in an Anchorage mall. They nodded to us over-the-hillers, paying a sniff of homage to our graying ascent of years. Carol…
We recently attended a “celebration of life,” where a saint’s story of a vision from God came to light. Long before her cancer diagnosis, the woman whom we were honoring told a confidant about her spiritual visitation. She saw herself carrying garbage bags filled with trash up a long flight of stairs. In the vision…
Not many of our younger folk have Christian “old fellas” involved in their lives anymore — old guys who have failed God, received his bottomless mercy, and scraped themselves off the dirt and kept going; old guys like me who have confronted the great “why Lord?” flying at us like mortar rounds. Jesus is not…
I worry about our generation of parents who feel obligated to satisfy their children’s curiosity. We strive to sound kind and reasonable. Most have never asked their kids to trust them implicitly. How long has it been since you’ve heard a mom or dad say, “Because I said so,” when their child asked, “Why?” Is…
“Gramps!” I turned to Ivan’s voice and my heart stopped beating. Ivan stood inches from a 14-foot drop at the edge of the shop roof, smiling proudly. He was four years old. I had been nailing roofing panels, my focus upon lining up edges on a chalk line. The steep pitch didn’t scare me much.…
Cache of Grace 