“What’s on your mind?” asks Facebook. Well, other than shopping, baking, wrapping, etc., it’s a favorite scripture verse from Isaiah 9 which seems all too appropriate this year. Most of us know the second part from Handel’s Messiah, but may have missed the leadin to it. So here it is: Every warrior’s boot used in … Read more
Most of us are familiar with Isaiah 9:6-7; it’s a favorite Christmas text. But notice that the passage starts with the word “FOR”. What is the “for” for? Let’s move back a verse or two and take a listen to the words of the Lord through Isaiah, reaching across some 700 years of time into … Read more
January is fading at last, this long cold winter that confronts us after the joy of Christmas, a hurdle to be conquered. Tomorrow we will delight in a new calendar page, February, bringing us a bit closer to warmth and light, daffodils and daisies. Watching the winter birds flitting at my window reminds me of … Read more
Maybe you have heard the beautiful old Appalachian carol, “I Wonder as I Wander”, rediscovered by John Jacob Niles in about 1932. It is said that he heard a young girl singing this carol and made her sing it over and over until he captured it. One can feel the passion of the lyricist, lost … Read more
Have you noticed? Christmas is coming, as it always does, in good times and bad times. Satan’s efforts to snuff out its light have proven to be futile. At dusk, Christmas tree lights pop on, glowing in my neighbor’s window across the street. They remind me of a verse in John chapter 1: “In Him … Read more