As I look over the last year, I ask myself, What have I done that God would be pleased with? Yes, I know that my times are in His hands, so I ask, What is He expecting of me in this new year? I trust Him explicitly with it all, but … Read more
Last year was a very difficult year for our family. My mother and my mother-in-law both died within a period of three months. Then my wife was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. She was in hospital for five weeks. There were so … Read more
The roast turkey that we enjoyed so much on Christmas day just keeps going and going. Saturday was hot turkey sandwiches, Sunday was turkey salad, and today will find me standing at the counter picking its meaty bones. Picking the bones … Read more
This past Christmas, I became more and more aware of the commercialism of the season. We were talking to one family in which everybody buys a present for everybody in the family. Certainly, there are financial constraints arising from … Read more
Everything God does on earth has a purpose for humanity, so I have been intrigued by His purpose behind the manger scene and the obvious poverty of the animal stalls and the manger bed. We are so used to the nativity scene with the manger … Read more
It was a cold Christmas Eve. I found myself very comfortable within the lobby of my assisted living residence, conversing with staff members who were on duty. In the corner of a small sitting area, a highly customized manger scene had … Read more
I was eleven years old in Budapest during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Many Hungarians used that brief slit in the Iron Curtain to flee to the west. For domestic as well as political reasons, my 17-year-old brother took off in the … Read more
Pastor Phillips Brooks was known as a great orator in his day. Ironically, though, after visiting the actual site of Jesus' birth, he was moved beyond words. For the first time in his life, he was speechless — unable to communicate the … Read more
Recently, I read the story behind a popular Christmas carol, the song we all know and love, called "O little town of Bethlehem". The author, Phillips Brooks, lived during the civil war, a dark and tragic period in American history. … Read more