Merry Christmas! I hope your life has been filled with the hope, peace, joy and love of Jesus this Advent season! The intense challenges of 2020 have only served to highlight our need for God’s presence and power among us. And they may also serve to intensify the joy as we celebrate our King of...
A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he shows us his mercy....
I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 122:1) “LORD OF THE HOUSE” My wife Heidi and I have been working harder than ever to prepare for our family Christmas this year. It’s a huge deal every year, of course, but 2020 has really ramped up...
The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (Psalm 121:7-8) “IMPERFECT” This past Sunday, we entered the season of Advent, the four-week liturgical period leading up to Christmas. Most of your Advent Calendars probably simplify it by counting down the days from December 1st to the...
Psalm 120 – A song of ascents. I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me. Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues. What will he do to you, and what more besides, you deceitful tongue? He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom bush. Woe to...
א Aleph 1 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. ת Taw 176 I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands. (Psalm 119:1, 176) “Ox, House, Camel, Door” (Aleph, Beth, Gimel, Daleth) Having raised three children of my own, and now watching my five (soon...
When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; and he brought me into a spacious place. (Psalm 118:5) “Dire Straits” If you read the title of this post and immediately thought of the song “Sultans of Swing,” then you are either a young fan of classic rock or a not-so-young child of the 1970’s. Guess which one I...
Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord. (Psalm 117) “Ockham’s Razor” On September 3, 2012 Sir Richard Branson–the famous entrepreneur and founder of the Virgin Group enterprise—created a buzz in the tech world when he tweeted “Complexity is your enemy. Any fool...
I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: “Lord, save me!” (Psalm 116:1-4) “Call...
Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. They have hands, but cannot feel,...
