The Best Is Yet to Come
In our family, March means more than the end of winter. It means that the college basketball extravaganza called “March Madness” has arrived. As avid fans, we watch the tournament and enthusiastically root for our favorite teams. If we tune in early we get a chance to listen to the broadcasters talk about the upcoming game and to enjoy some of the pre-game drills where players shoot practice shots and warm up with teammates.
Our life on earth is like the pre-game in basketball. Life is interesting and full of promise, but it doesn’t compare to what lies ahead. Just think…
The Appeal of The Young Messiah
For anyone who has ever wondered if that was how Jesus was like as a boy, The Young Messiah, an American biblical drama, addresses this very question, presenting a fresh and interesting take on a seven-year-old Jesus.
A magnificent masterpiece of finishing well!
In the first-century Roman world, to be crucified meant your life did not “finish well.” Only the worst of criminals were executed on a cross. Today on “Discover the Word,” we begin a new study for Easter called, “It Is Finished.” Jesus’s crucifixion was a horrible picture that turned into a magnificent masterpiece that gives us hope that we can finish well! Join us today on “Discover the Word”!
Why I’m Fasting for the First Time
“Do you love God more than you love sugar?” A small voice in my head asked. I wavered, and was struck by the fact that I actually hesitated. We all have our coping mechanisms in times of stress and pressure.
Full Sun
I know better, but I still keep trying. The instructions on the label are clear: “Needs full sun.” Our yard has mostly shade. It is not suitable for plants that need full sun. But I like the plant. I like its color, the shape of the leaves, the size, the scent. So I buy it, bring it home, plant it, and take really good care of it. But the plant is not happy at my house. My care and attention are not enough. It needs sunlight, which I cannot provide. I thought I could make up for lack of light…
When the Water Blushed
Why did Jesus come to Earth before the invention of photography and video? Couldn’t He have reached more people if everyone could see Him? After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.
“No,” says Ravi Zacharias, who asserts that a word can be worth “a thousand pictures.” As evidence, he quotes poet Richard Crashaw’s magnificent line, “The conscious water saw its Master and blushed.” In one simple line, Crashaw captures the essence of Jesus’ first miracle (John 2:1-11). Creation itself recognizes Jesus as the Creator. No mere carpenter could turn water to wine.
Another time, when Christ calmed a storm with…
Ignore No More
I don’t know how these people find me, but I keep getting more and more flyers in the mail from folks asking me to show up at their events so they can teach me about retirement benefits. It started several years ago when I began getting invitations to join an organization that works on behalf of retirees. These reminders all serve to say: “You’re getting older. Get ready!”
I have ignored them all along, but soon enough I’m going to have to break down and go to one of their meetings. I really should be taking action on their suggestions.
Sometimes I…
May 26, 2015 started like most days - my sister, brother-in-law, my neice and my parents all went out for breakfast, then dropped me off at work. I worked as a receptionist and editor for two companies for several years now, and at 6:30 pm, I left the office with my coworker and her husband, who were kind enough to give me a ride home (I'm legally blind, so I can't drive). Unfortunately, while turning left at a yellow light, we were t-boned at high speed by a pickup truck, whose passengers and driver all fled after totaling their truck on our compact car.
The only things I remembered were some crazy nightmares and lots on intense pain, and thank God when I woke up, my dad was there. Waking up with no idea where I was, why I couldn't move, and seeing the external fixation on my right leg (large blue dials, like the inside of a watch) was the most frightening and out-of-this-world experience I've ever had.
He explained everything to me. I had a bad fracture on my right femur, low back, and cheek bone, was in a coma for 10 days, had ligament damage in my chest...I thought I had woken up from a nightmare to another nightmare. Literally everything was bruised a cut/scraped, even my toes. And talk about pain...
I ended up spending four full months in various hospitals, with a full 2 months in just the trauma ward. It was only with God's grace that I managed to get through -I learned that my entire church, my relatives, friends, and their churches were all praying for me on a daily basis. I had visits from friends from the other side of the country!! I couldn't believe the support and encouragement I felt, and I even got visit from friends of friends, who through the love of Christ, visited a complete stranger.
I guess it takes a major incident like my car accident to realize just how many people are pulling for you. I still thank God every day for them all. Even now, when I'm going through physiotherapy, pain, working on relearning daily tasks, I remember how far I've come, and who it's thanks too. It has been 3 surgeries total now for my leg -external fixation, the metal brace around my femur bone, and the removal of scar tissue from my knee. I'm still fighting and working through the pain and medical side effects, but despite that, I'll be forever grateful for the nurses, doctors, and friends who have brought me through, and are still pulling me through, everyday.
How our decisions can shape our future
“You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth.” That famous line from a film can easily be applied to Jesus’s encounter with Pontius Pilate that the “Discover the Word” group is focusing on this week. Even when the Truth was standing right in front of him, Pilate couldn’t rise above the political pressure that influenced how he responded to Jesus. How did Pilate’s fateful decision shape the rest of his life and what lesson can that teach us? Listen today on “Discover the Word”!
Why I Look Forward to Heaven
Stories have been a part of my life since I was a kid. Before I could read, my grandpa and my mum used to read them to me. When I was old enough to read on my own, I would be found in the company of books for hours.
When to Walk Away
When my father became a Christian in his old age, he fascinated me with his plan for overcoming temptation. Sometimes he just walked away! For example, whenever a disagreement between him and a neighbor began to degenerate into a quarrel, my father just walked away for a time rather than be tempted to advance the quarrel.
One day he met with some friends who ordered pito (a locally brewed alcoholic beer). My father had formerly struggled with alcohol and had decided he was better off without it. So he simply stood up, said his goodbyes, and left the gathering of old friends…
Thirty five years ago I was 46 years old. I went to church regularly but did not have any relationship with the Lord. One night, between Christmas and New Years, I was sitting in my living room listening to music on the radio. I think it was Janice Joplin singing at the time. The only lights on were those on the Christmas tree. Under the tree was an about one foot wide statuette of the "Last Supper", Jesus and his dicipels . I focused on the image that would be Jesus and the thought came that this was the night before he died by crucifiction. Then the thought came to me if I were ready to die! I didn't want to think about that, but then I thought that if I did die, what were the provisions I had for my wife and children? As all this was going though my mind, the thought came, "What about YOU?" As I tried to shake all this from my mind I heard, NOT IN MY EARS, but in my heart and I knew that it was Jesus, " WHAT I DID ON THE CROSS, I DID FOR YOU BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!!" It was definetly not my thinking. I knew it was Jesus!
All I could do was THANK HIM! And I did. Shortly afterward I went peacefully to bed with no fear of dying but only a grateful heart!
A day or so later was New Years Day. My wife, children and I were at Mass. I remember the priest was Father Ireaneus Songlidongl, a visiting priest from Africa. He began with the words, "My brothers and sisters, let us give thanks to the Lord that He has given us another year in which to serve Him." This deeply touched me and in my heart I said to the Lord, "Lord, if it is only another year, I want it to be serving You!"
It has been thirty five years! I joined a weekly prayer group, became one of the leaders and teachers there. I have organized a small evangelization team at my parish and we are praying about the best ways to reach out to all the parish members. All this, and since my dear and beloved wife who also drew close to the Lord passed away three years ago, I look forward to the time when the Lord will call me HOME to be with Him and being together with her again!
During my morning prayer time, beside reading the scriptures that would be read at Mass that day, I read Our Daily Bread. The written comments on the Scripture is wonderful and so very often heart touching. God bless all of you involved in Our Daily Bread.
Is Christianity just a “Get Out Of Hell Free” Card?
Christianity is simple, isn’t it? After all, don’t Bible bits like John 3:16 show that all you need to do to be a Christian is to believe in God now and then you’ll go to heaven (good place) rather than hell (bad place) when you die?
“Leave this innocent man alone”
Pontius Pilate definitely felt pressure from two factions when deciding what to do with Jesus . . . Caesar and the Jewish religious leaders. But Pilate’s wife also presented a third option . . . which was to “leave this innocent man alone.” Today on “Discover the Word,” join us for another eye-opening conversation.
Positive Repetition
A journalist had a quirky habit of not using blue pens. So when his colleague asked him if he needed anything from the store, he asked for some pens. “But not blue pens,” he said. “I don’t want blue pens. I don’t like blue. Blue is too heavy. So please purchase 12 ballpoint pens for me—anything but blue!” The next day his colleague passed him the pens—and they were all blue. When asked to explain, he said, “You kept saying ‘blue, blue.’ That’s the word that left the deepest impression!” The journalist’s use of repetition had an effect, but not…
