Devotionals

One of my sons is a skilled drummer, though the early days of his musical education was a challenge to everyone else in the house (and the neighbors).  Over the years, the pitter-patter of fundamental syncopation drills gave way to increasing speed, volume and aggression.  He had to wear headphones to hear what he was accompanying, which meant the rest of us were subjected to the [...]

Pre-planned police and military tactical operations are preceded by a briefing.  In films, tactical briefings are never depicted accurately because they would be far too detailed for most viewers’ interest.  Instead, Hollywood portrays a strong-chinned, steely-eyed commander (complete with salt-and-pepper hair) barking out over-generalized assignments.  “Cunningham, you’ve got eyes on the entrance!  Jackson, you cover the back!  Sanchez, the basement is yours!” In reality, [...]

Born in the 1980s, the term “foodie” is a relatively young one.  The moniker is not confined to those that simply enjoy eating, in fact, many don’t even cook.  A foodie has a keen interest in the eating experience.  In the overgeneralized categories of those that “eat to live” and those that “live to eat,” they fall squarely in the latter. Foodies make dining something of a [...]

A few days ago I was sitting next to my son as we were waiting for a preschool graduation to start.  He strained his neck earlier in the week, so he had to purposefully turn his shoulders to hold a conversation.  He winced slightly as he rotated his torso while trying to keep his head still.  As any loving dad would do, I chuckled [...]

Countless times I’ve heard someone walking to the mailbox quip, “Who knows?  Maybe there’ll be a check from a long, lost uncle.”  It’s not an entirely groundless cliché.  One example is a windfall received by a woman named Lillian Malrup in 1930.  Her uncle George made a fortune in the Alaskan gold rush and when he died, she unexpectedly inherited $60,000 (approximately $1.1 million today).  Five years later Uncle [...]

In addition to being a 16th century theologian, John Calvin was a prolific writer.  In his Institutes of the Christian Religion he remarked that “the human heart is a perpetual forge of idols” (known better by the paraphrase “the human heart is an idol factory”).  His point was that people cannot help themselves.  They are prone to give credit where it is not due or, as Romans 1:25 [...]