Maybe you heard the story of Robert Baswell, 44, a homeless man who fell asleep in a trash bin in West Palm Beach on May 6, 2007. It provided escape from the rain and a pretty soft bed because it was filled with brush. But, imagine his rude awakening when he was tossed with the […]
Archive | Devotionals
Resolution or Revolution? – Romans 6
We’re usually only a few days into each new year when most of us have already been reminded how hard it is to establish a new good habit or break an old bad one. At the start of 2007 my wife and I outvoted our 10-year-old granddaughter, whom we raise fulltime, with one of our resolutions. It was that we not […]
Finders Keepers? – Matthew 13:44-45
There’s much interest these days in presenting your case as a story to convince the jury. We all like a good story. Jesus liked the idea 2000 years ago and He often used stories to teach powerful lessons. We call them parables and several are clustered in Matthew 13. Two of these are very short […]
Grief is Hard Work – I Thessalonians 4:13
That’s what I told my nephew-in-law at the graveside of his wife, my niece. And, I added that every person does this hard work a little differently. There are no shortcuts and it cannot be programmed to end at a specific time. He and his 14-yr-old daughter and all our family are mourning the death […]
Careless With Valuables? – I Peter 4:8
Maybe you read about the guy who lost his cello. Daniel Rothmuller came home very tired one night and absent-mindedly left his cello outside his home. This was no ordinary cello. Daniel is a cellist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and this was a 1684 Stradivarius cello worth $3.5 million. What happened to this incredibly […]
Anger Mismanagement – Ephesians 4:26-27
Justin John Boudin is a 27-year-old in St. Paul, Minnesota, who lost his temper at a bus stop in August 2007. According to witnesses, he harassed a 59-year-old woman, yelling, “Why don’t you show me some respect?” When she took out her cell phone to call police, he punched her in the face. A 63-year-old […]
Small Decisions Become BIG – I Corinthians 16:13
Four guys decided to go fishing in the Gulf of Mexico off the west coast of Florida. One guy provided his boat. Someone chose the time to leave. Someone decided how far out to go. Someone decided to check the weather or not. Someone decided to stay a little longer when the wind came up. […]
Rescued To Rescue – Colossians 1:13-14
My daughter loves animals and her family loves animals. When I visit, there’s usually a new rodent or rabbit to meet. Few were bought; most were found and rescued. Especially cherished by Tiffany is her rescued cat, Hemingway, who looks and acts like the cartoon Garfield. Hemi, as he is called, was declawed early in […]
Going Home – John 14:1-3
“Home” is the word that, for many of us, brings to mind wonderful memories. If you were blessed with a good family of origin, your home was the key place where you learned about love and security, discipline, sharing, forgiving and many other crucial parts of life. When you leave home, whether for a short […]
Turn The Other What? – Matthew 5:10-12,38-48
One of our members wrote, “If you have any devotional messages about turning the other cheek, I would really appreciate it. I’m praying for the strength and guidance not to sink to the level of the person whose actions are hurting me and not to take a wrong course in reaction. I realized how much […]