“Let us come before him with thanksgiving” (Psalm 95:2) Satan has a stronghold on Thanksgiving. Have you noticed? Retail merchants don’t play it up anymore like they did when I was a kid. They skip right by Thanksgiving and go from Halloween to Christmas. In fact, most of them don’t even close on Thanksgiving Thursday, denying their own employees the opportunity to pause and reflect on the blessings of life. There’s simply too much money to be made on Christmas for them to stop and acknowledge Thanksgiving. History […]

“When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” (Proverbs 10:19) My son confided in me the other day that he had become the victim of some pretty hurtful name-calling. “Mark, you need to remember that people often resort to insults in order to distract attention from their own faults,” I told him. “It’s an ego defense and you’re going to see it the rest of your life.” It’s true, but it’s not much help for a fourteen year-old with thin […]

“I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble.” (Proverbs 4:11-12) I walk at a local park just about every day. I normally try to get my walk in after work, but have taken a few morning walks recently and noticed something different about the early morning crowd. They walk slower than the evening crowd. Why? The obvious answer is that the morning crowd is older and […]

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16) Funeral services for soon-to-be golfing legend Payne Stewart were held recently at the First Baptist Church in Orlando, Florida, just four days after his chartered Lear 35 jet crashed in a South Dakota pasture. Stewart won three major championships and 15 other titles during his twenty years of professional golf, but his U.S. Open victory at Pinehurst last June was as memorable as any national […]