Is there such a thing? The phrase sounds rather oxymoronic, “unwelcome friend.” But we all know in our hearts, I suppose, that such a word pairing actually expresses a curious aspect of reality. We have all had people in our lives who at one time or another may have seemed to be no friend to …
Over the last several weeks I have spent many hours going through the process of transferring all of my documents from New York to Pennsylvania. I first called Geico and transferred my auto insurance to PA (and was in the process informed by a kind gentleman that my premium would double as a result, for …
Jesus made it clear that some in the world will hate us. If they hated Jesus without cause, they will also hate His disciples without cause. Of course, there is in fact a cause for this kind of hatred. Such hatred is not random or arbitrary. Darkness hates the light. Sometimes, when the light shines in the …
I suppose we all struggle with self-awareness. There is an image that we want to project to the world – a way that we want to be perceived – and there is an image that we think we are projecting, but the image that we actually do project may be quite different. Sometimes we think we are less than we are …
The Pain and Pleasure of Having Pretensions ExposedRead More »
Picture this: “And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But [Jesus] was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And [his disciples] woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’” (Mark 4:37-38). If this scene …
No doubt the use of the verb “to know” as the favored way of describing sexual intimacy in the Bible must seem an oddity to the modern Western mind. “Now Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain….” (Gen. 4:1). The insight that this sort of language offers into the nature of …
Lord, you have bid the weary to come to you, And in my weariness I come. The pilgrimage through this world is so often hard, Read more
Following is a letter written by an adult daughter in our congregation to her father. It is published here as an encouragement to you to reach out similarly to someone in your life that God has used to bless you. How God Used my Father to Bless My Life (May 18, 2021) My father was …
How God Used my Father to Bless My Life (May 18, 2021)Read More »
Sam Hardman Imagine this: You are responsible for 350 children in Nigeria, all of whom have either been orphaned or are from impoverished families. You have built an orphanage to house and educate these children. You have also purchased seventeen acres of land to raise crops to feed them and to produce cash to help …
David Feister Tuesday is harvest day. That’s when we pull the most mature lettuce plants out of the aquaponics system, rinse off the roots, and bag the leafy greens to fulfill the weekly orders. Our 6 and 5-year-olds love harvest day—especially the prospect of getting to help, to be “volunteers” as they call it. What …