Truly Living

You haven’t truly lived until you have _________________. How would you fill in the blank? … Tried a different food? Visited a particular vacation spot? Experienced some unique activity? Saint Paul has his own answer to fill in the blank above: 17Command those who are rich in this present world...

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Savior, Servant, Friend

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Lent provides us with a perfect chance to explore the extraordinary attributes of our Savior, Servant, and Friend, Jesus. It is a time to marvel at the many blessings we received when he laid down his life for us on the cross and then rose...

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A Day To Remember

Memorial Day is just a few days away. On the last Monday of May, we pause from the usual day-today routines of life and work to remember and honor the legacy of the men and women who died while serving in the United States military. Memory can be a strange...

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Don’t Give Up!

It was the morning of July 4th, 1952 when Florence Chadwick slipped into the icy waters by Catalina Island and began her attempt to be the first woman to swim to the California coast. From time to time sharks moved toward her but were driven off by rifle shots. Then...

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Jesus Helps Us To See God

There’s a story about some older men who gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their college graduation. Naturally, all of them had changed in appearance over the years – they were grayer, heavier, balder, more wrinkled and so on. But instead of providing name tags, as some reunions do,...

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TOUCHED BY ‘HIM’!

There are numerous references in the Bible where Jesus touched someone, or someone touched Him, and they were healed. The blind were able to see, the deaf hear, and demons cast out. Touching someone can encourage and comfort. I miss not being able to shake a hand or console someone...

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Jesus ‘Resurrects’ Christmas!

In the December 2018 issue of The Lutheran Witness, an official publication of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, a title of one of the articles really grabbed my attention: “When Jesus Ruins Christmas.” It begins, “Up against the glorious reality of Christ’s incarnation, a ‘holly jolly Christmas’ loses all it’s...

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Folklore -or- Historical Fact?

I recently ran across two strange, but interesting, folk stories pertaining to some Christmas traditions. One of them was about a spider and the other about a pickle! How peculiar is that? There are many variations as to how and why these traditions got started. So, I’ll try to offer...

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