“Praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Colossians 1:9).One of the things I have noticed, and I like, about Paul’s teachings on prayer is that he puts the focus not so much on our problems but on God’s purposes. This occurs not just in Colossians, as we have been studying recently, but also in other letters of enco...  Read More

“Do everything without complaining…” (Philippians 2:14).In case you had not noticed, the temperature has been a bit cooler in recent days. Yeah, I noticed! In fact, on Sunday, I met a couple of winter visitors in the Garden Room between services and I apologized for the cool weather while they were here. In all honesty, I think I was really just complaining over it being chilly. They laughed and s...  Read More

Pastor D.T. Niles once wrote about a member of his congregation whom he met on the street one day. She had been active for many years but had recently drifted away. She was suffering several personal and family problems. Evidently, it was a challenging time in her life. She told Niles that God had become distant to her, that she had lost any sense of closeness to Him, and that her faith did not se...  Read More

A story tells of a man who came to visit his old friend, a music teacher. As the man came in, he asked, "What's the good news today?" The old teacher was silent for a moment, but then he stood up and walked across the room. He picked up a small hammer and struck a tuning fork. As the note sounded throughout the room, he said, "That is the sound of an A. It is an A today; it was an A five thousand ...  Read More

If you live long enough you will find out that life has a way of creating doubt. It’s true! You walk through some dark valleys and you will know uncertainty. You get hit hard enough in your life situation and you will have questions. Some of God’s greatest people of faith had the strongest doubts. Moses, Elijah, David, and even Peter who said, “Master, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38).This...  Read More

Since we have entered a new year, you will recall from last week’s eHomily, that I thought it would be a good time to remind us, How to Talk to Our Father. This is Part 2 of this devotional thought. We begin with The Lord’s Prayer—Our Father in heaven,Holy is Your name,Your kingdom come.Your will be doneOn earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread.And forgive us our debts,As we f...  Read More