A Passover Meal to Remember
By Rick Chromey It’s so easy to forget. Most often our memory fades with time. We forget how we felt. We forget details and even reasons. Our memory of something can become jaded, biased, foggy, or...
View ArticleBattlefield Sacrifice
By Rick Chromey This weekend marks the unofficial beginning of summer, but it’s also when we pause to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Since 1970, the last Monday of May...
View ArticleBlood Relatives
By Gene Shelburne The son born to Robert and Suzanne Massie was a normal baby in most respects. He had the correct number of fingers, toes, eyes, and ears. He was intelligent, probably a...
View ArticleHe Stoops Down to Us
By Michael C. Mack A dad stops what he’s doing to bend down and intently listen to his child. This simple act conveys a powerful message: My child is important. I love this kid. I want to look into my...
View ArticleSinner Anonymous
By Gene Shelburne As God’s people, we have one common bond: All of us have brought our sins to Jesus. And that is what brings us around his table. How sad, then, that many of us spend so much energy...
View ArticleOur Link to Jesus
By Gene Shelburne In a very special way, Jesus is present in our pain. When Jerry Yamamoto was growing up as a Japanese boy in a mostly white neighborhood in California in the 1950s, he absorbed...
View ArticleA Hope for the Future
By Jon Wren On July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams lay on his deathbed surrounded by family and friends in Massachusetts. Adams had spent...
View ArticleA Life in Contrast
By Jon Wren Several years ago in Maine, authorities arrested a 47-year-old man after catching him stealing food and supplies from a local camp. Upon investigating, it was discovered the man had a much...
View ArticleA Meal That Reminds Us
By Jon Wren In the last chapter of John’s Gospel, Peter and John, among other disciples, encountered the resurrected Jesus early in the morning on a beach at the Sea of Galilee. Their meeting with him...
View ArticleNo More Avoiding
By Jon Wren In his later years, the playwright and poet Oscar Wilde lived in Paris, France. Wilde enjoyed life in Paris with one major exception . . . the recently constructed Eiffel Tower. Wilde...
View ArticleCelebrating the Victory
By Jon Wren Good sportsmanship is one of the values we try to foster in our kids. From the time they start playing Little League, we encourage them to shake hands after a game. We talk about the virtue...
View ArticleValue Statement
By Joe Harvey Some people are collectors, some are not. Some folks consider themselves too practical to spend time building a collection of coins, cards, stamps, or other treasures. If they don’t have...
View ArticleReflecting and Reactivating
By Joe Harvey Remembering can be powerful! Yet it all depends on how we go about it. We can remember that something happened: “Yes, I did pay that bill.” That kind of remembering is functionally...
View ArticleSpiritual Post-it Notes
By Joe Harvey He forgot . . . and twice in one week. First, he forgot to arrange transportation to a doctor’s appointment. Then, while at the appointment, he forgot to regather all his possessions...
View ArticleGrandparent’s Day: Paving a Path to Communion
By Mandy Smith We don’t know as much about Timothy as we do the apostle Paul, but we know Paul trusted Timothy deeply. Paul sent Timothy as his representative to churches he had planted. Paul listed...
View ArticleJesus’ Controversial Approach to Food and Eating
By Mandy Smith Jesus often caused a stir, and it’s surprising how often food was at the center of things. Whom he ate with caused controversy. When he ate and what he ate upset the religious leaders...
View ArticleAwaiting a Wedding Feast
By Mandy Smith First Corinthians 11:26 says: “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” So simply by taking this bread and juice today, we...
View ArticleHe’s Right Here
By Mandy Smith Outsiders watching Christians take part in the Lord’s Supper over and over might feel sorry for us. We take a tiny piece of bread and a tiny sip of juice and remember someone who had a...
View ArticleChristopher Columbus: Fellow Sinner in Need of God’s Grace
By Tom Claibourne Christopher Columbus was a lot like us, but his reputation and the holiday that bears his name have fallen on hard times. Not so many years ago, Columbus Day (October 8) prompted...
View ArticleThe Lord’s Supper Puts Us in Our Place
By Tom Claibourne If there was ever a place to be filled with humility, it is at the Lord’s table. It is not a place for judgmental comparisons, selfish pride, or spiritual arrogance. The Lord’s Supper...
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