Devotionals

Florence Chadwick was a world-renowned long-distance swimmer.  She was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions, each in record setting time.  In 1952 she determined to swim the 26-mile stretch from the coast of California to Catalina Island.  She was accompanied by a support crew whose job was to watch for threats such as sharks or to rescue her in [...]

Some quotes have real staying power.  One that is in use today, and that nearly dates to the beginning of time, are the infamous words of the murderous Cain, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  His impertinent response, while an effort to deflect attention from his crime, turns out to be quite revealing.  As the firstborn child of the family and the elder brother of Able, one [...]

There are many philosophies of education. In simple terms, the choice is based on how school executives believe that children learn. Teaching should be commensurate with a student’s human development, therefore, an educational philosophy is a commitment to that assumption. One example is the return by many schools to what is called “classical education.” This philosophy assumes the ideal method of instruction is captured [...]

The other day my three-year-old grandson was overheard telling his older brother not to tell mommy something. It’s clear that we don’t have to teach children to sin. At age three or 93, it comes quite naturally to all of us. Sadly, our tendency after sinning is not to repent because we have displeased our divine adoptive Father, it is to add another offense [...]

The Bible is teeming with heroic accounts of faith—Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and many, many more. However, a closer examination of their lives reveals that while they are heralded for their exceptional devotion to God, they made some significant missteps. Noah “walked with God” but got drunk. Abraham was “a friend of God” yet told his wife to lie to others about their relationship [...]

Our culture has an obsession with happiness, at least the appearance of it. A winning smile probably does as much to earn votes for presidential candidates as the content of their platforms. Whether it’s the face of a multi-million dollar church or the cover of a self-help book, big smiles are attractive and disarming. They communicate the kind of success in life that everyone [...]