What Makes Christmas, Christmas?

You could be forgiven for thinking Christmas is all about presents, food, family, Santa and all the other things the world pushes at us. On the radio recently the announcer said, ‘What makes Christmas, Christmas?’ He then went on to answer his own question and tell everyone, ‘Christmas is lights, family, food and loyalty points.’ Excuse me? None of those things make Christmas, Christmas. Now don’t get me wrong I enjoy looking at Christmas lights and I enjoy Christmas food. I love spending time with family, not just at Christmas but at any time of the year. But none of … Continue reading →

Don’t Let Guilt Get the Better of You

Guilt can be a destructive emotion. It can take over and overwhelm us. Don’t let guilt get the better of you. It’s easy said but sometimes not so easy to do. We all feel at times that we let people down, or that we don’t behave the way we should. As we’ve no doubt discovered, there will always be those to criticize and heap guilt on you. This can happen when we don’t do what other people expect us to or think we should. It can happen when, despite our best intentions, plans don’t work out and we are not … Continue reading →

Someone Always Knows

There are times when in our own lives we don’t we really know what to pray for. There are times in the lives of others and when we hear about situations and really don’t know how or what to pray. Thankfully, when we don’t know what to pray, there is someone who does. Paul reminds us in reminds us in Romans 8:26 that when we don’t know how or what to pray the Holy Spirit does and ‘He intercedes for the saints.’ The saints are not just a special group of select people but are all of us who are … Continue reading →

Dreams and Visions

God spoke to people in Old Testament times in dreams and visions and even in New Testament times by this manner, does this mean we can expect God to speak to us today by dreams and visions. I don’t believe it necessarily does. Yes, I know there are those that will disagree about his and that people have written books about how we can still expect God to speak to us in this manner today. These people will say that God hasn’t changed. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Certainly that is true. So what has changed? What … Continue reading →

Do You Want to be Smarter?

Do you want to be smarter? In all our relationships, in marriage, in parenting, in friendship, in our Christian life and our work life, we all need wisdom. So where and how do we get it? In this blog you’ll find the answer. Wisdom is essential if we are to successfully negotiate our way through this life and the problems it throws at us from time to time. Some people take the way out of trying to peek into the future by reading their horoscope or having a reading of tea leaves or going to a fortune teller. All of … Continue reading →

Why Celebrate Easter?

Most everyone loves having a few days off at Easter and they love Easter eggs. Many of us will probably eat way too much chocolate. But how many people stop and think about why we celebrate Easter? Do they even know? Have you ever talked to your friends about why we celebrate Easter? The world wants to depict Easter with Easter bunnies and eggs and while that can be fun, there is a deeper significance to Easter that many people are not aware of. One idea I liked of getting the message out there came, from a teenage girl at … Continue reading →

Practical Examples of Trusting God When Satan Interferes

Last week Mick and I had our first visit this year to the local school to teach the children about God and God’s rescue plan for a sinful world. It was one of those mornings where everything that could go wrong, did – from the dog being sick, to dropping things, cutting myself on a can, to not being able to find the map telling us which classroom we needed to go to. To add to the problems, that morning I had trouble for some reason posting my blog. All just minor mishaps that created hassles and slowed us down, … Continue reading →

Actions Bring Consequences

We often hear that God is a God of love and He is. He is also a God of judgment as we see in Isaiah 3. The thing is that God’s judgment does arrive without Him first giving His people warning of what is to come if they do not change their ways. Isaiah 3:1-8 God warns He will divest Judah of leadership supports because of defiant deeds. While we might criticize these people for not listening to Isaiah’s prophecy and the warning God gave, how often do we refuse to listen to what God is saying to us? Maybe … Continue reading →

A Wedding Gift toTreasure

Is there a wedding coming up in your family? What about a unique wedding gift? In the marriage blog I wrote about a unique recipe book. This is adapted from that idea. What about giving the happy couple a book of the family’s favorite verses and those of family members? Each page could include a favorite bible verse or two as well as a few lines about why that verse is special to you. You might include an example of a situation or story of where that verse was a help to you in your life or a drawing, a … Continue reading →