Our Fathers’ 9 Actions from Matthew

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Señor Mancini transforms leather into beautiful handbags, briefcases, belts, and other works of art. Behind the Parthenon in Rome lies a shop filled with art, leather, and stories of a father who had a passion for creating the best leather products by hand. He worked diligently to build his business and provide for his family. He gave his family the good things in life, and he taught his son his craft. He demonstrated his love by protecting, giving, instructing, and rewarding.

Our Heavenly Father has given us a faint picture of Himself through the good fathers we have on earth. Like the Mancinis, I was blessed with a good father.

Just from the Gospel of Matthew, I found these qualities of our Heavenly Father, and we see a faint reflection of this description in our earthly fathers. Continue reading Our Fathers’ 9 Actions from Matthew

68 Reasons Why Jesus is Superior

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Christians are walking the Roman Road together. There are gaps in the road, sometimes holes, grass, and weeds.

Often, we stumble, and sometimes we veer off the road and the stones, but Jesus holds out His hand and waits for us to grab it again. He picks us up when we stumble, brushes us off, and points us in the right direction. Continue reading 68 Reasons Why Jesus is Superior

What A Bike Ride in Tuscany Taught Me About Following Jesus

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Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

Setting aside every encumbrance and fixing our eyes on Jesus.

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of accompanying university students to Italy. One of our optional opportunities was an 8-mile bike ride into the hills outside of Florence, with We Like Tuscany. To get to the country, we rode our bikes through the traffic. Our guide, Bill, told us to “go with the flow” and not worry about the cars coming within inches of us.

Each time a car got close to me, my front tire wobbled, and I had to stop and try to start again. The students were also excited and came within inches of me. Once, I crashed into a stone wall.

Four miles up the hills at more than a 60 degree angle. Front tire wobbling, crashing, restarting, walking, and retrying. Continue reading What A Bike Ride in Tuscany Taught Me About Following Jesus

God’s Mystery Revealed

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There’s just something about a good mystery that I like. What about you? Do you like to look for the clues? Do you feel elation when you discover the answer?

Keith was in the Air Force for 22 years, and we lived in the Philippines, Italy, the East and West Coasts and in the Midwest. We enjoyed unwrapping the mystery of the differences in the lifestyles, priorities, values, and ways of thinking of the different cultures. Yes, people on the East Coast have very different ways of “doing life” than Californians.

Have you ever felt like some passages in the Bible are a mystery to you? You see the words, but you don’t understand them, nor do you understand how to apply the passage to your life. Continue reading God’s Mystery Revealed

God in the Dark: Light Pierces the Dark

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“It’s hard to be a Christian,” was a stranger’s comment when he asked me about God in the Dark. We were in the sun on a hot day waiting for the celebration to begin, a graduation ceremony.

The crowd, the heat, the noise disappeared as we explored Sarah Van Diest’s 31 devotions focused on recognizing God in the dark places of pain and suffering. We looked up Scripture on our phones; we found where he could purchase a copy, and we bonded with Van Diest.

God orchestrated a divine appointment, and He used God in the Dark as the tool to start the conversation.

God in the Dark goes deep into those places where some Christians are reluctant to admit that they are walking through–those shadows of doubt, the caves of despair, and the pits of pain. It asks, “Why?”

“Does God see me?”

“Can I see God in what I’m going through?” Continue reading God in the Dark: Light Pierces the Dark