Luke records the birth of the Kingdom of Christ, His Church in Acts 2 sharing the following description of their life in the Church: "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were … Continue reading Open the Front Door!

Kiera’s day begins long before the sun comes up. Mother will gather a few eggs, brother will milk the goat, but the family will need water before breakfast. They will need water to wash their hands and faces, water to rinse the dishes, and water to drink during the hot, hot day. It is her … Continue reading It All Starts with Water

In the 2012 version of The Avengers, there is a scene where Clint Barton (a.k.a. Hawkeye) wakes up in restraints after having been under the influence of Loki leading him to fight against Natasha Romanov (Black Widow). She is in the room when he becomes aware that Loki no longer has control of him. Part … Continue reading Attitude Adjustment

I call the things I have mine. My truck, my house, my yard, my paycheck, mine, mine, mine. But the truth is that someone else holds claim on what I call mine. A bank holds the mortgage on my house and yard, a different bank holds the title to my truck, and government takes a … Continue reading Our Possessions

This coming month our lessons at Central will focus on the Revolutionary Grace that God supplies in Christ. As I was previewing some material, I recalled this poem I wrote in 2012. This is Grace Satan is a powerful enemy, His mission is but to deceive. He wants me to ignore God’s promise, In grace … Continue reading This is Grace

We live in a time of uncertainty and fear. We do not know what the next day brings, much less the next year. We are facing a viral pandemic that we now understand as an endemic, meaning we will deal with this virus for years to come. Many countries face civil unrest, including the United … Continue reading Facing My Fear(s)

Peter writes to Christians, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had … Continue reading He Chose Me

Two weeks ago we looked at how this world of sin can stain our lives - our souls. We explored keeping ourselves unspotted from this world, but the reality is that our past and our inconsistency stains us. The Good News is that those stains are not permanent. God provides stain removal through the blood … Continue reading Joy, Joy, and More Joy!

An advertisement from my childhood promised to remove "ring-around-the-collar" every time. A well-known infomercial of a decade or two ago demonstrated the stain removing power of an oxygen boosted powder. The products these commercials promoted seemed almost too good to be true and to be over-selling the abilities of their products. You may think otherwise. … Continue reading Removing the Stains

I have a collection of what I call "yard-work" or "car-work" shirts and jeans. They have stains from daily use. Likely, I was wearing a shirt or pair of jeans while cooking or moving something greasy or oily and permanently stained those clothes. Those clothes then moved from the "wear in public" drawer to "I … Continue reading Stained!