Breath of Life
Air is essential for life, so taking a next breath is required. For those who suffer mentally and emotionally, there are times that this feels hard to do and it has nothing to do with physically taking a breath. There are times when, emotionally, it seems very difficult to breathe. The experience is much like what happens when a car goes off the road into a body of water. The car begins to fill with water and you struggle to reach the air pocket at the top. For the sufferer, it feels like the amount of air available fluctuates from day to...
read moreLet Others See Jesus In You (Lyrics)
LET OTHERS SEE JESUS IN YOU Hymn Lyrics by B. B. McKinney While passing through this world of sin, And others your life shall view, Be clean and pure without, within, Let others see Jesus in you. Your life’s a book before their eyes, They’re reading it through and through, Say, does it point them to the skies, Do others see Jesus in you? What joy ‘twill be at set of sun, In mansions beyond the blue, To find some souls that you have won, Let others see Jesus in you. Then live for Christ both day and night, Be faithful, be...
read moreCry Wolf
“God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, He brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.” II Corinthians 1:4(MSG) We are all familiar with the Aesop’s fable where the boy falsely cried wolf and then, when he genuinely needed help, no one would respond to his desperate situation. Unfortunately, for those who experience long term emotional pain and anguish, the end result can be very similar...
read moreDropped the Ball
“God’s love for us gives us the reason to encourage others. God’s love in us gives us the ability to encourage others. God’s love through us gives us the way to encourage others.” John Maxwell Many of us, who have any familiarity with the game of football, have probably witnessed a player fumble the ball at an inopportune time in a game which often negatively affects the outcome of the game. The ball carrier was given the responsibility to see something through to conclusion and he failed. This scenario is the background for the...
read moreFeeling Stuck
“How blessed is he who considers the helpless.” Psalm 41:1 (NAS) Do you remember as a child getting stuck in mud that completely covered your rain boots? You couldn’t move until someone bigger and stronger came along to pull you up and out. The problem was that your boots remained, and soon they disappeared in the muck and mire! On a more serious note, there are real life stories and examples of people who get stuck in mud, muck or quicksand, and their movement is impeded and they are rendered paralyzed. Often, without intervention, the...
read moreThe View
“For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2: 20 & 21(NAS) The definition of view is: what is seen from a particular point, outlook or perspective. Viewpoint is frame of reference or context. San Francisco is one of the most scenic, panoramic, and beautiful cities in the world. If you visit though, your attention is almost immediately drawn to Alcatraz Island which sits in the middle of San Francisco Bay...
read moreThe Web
“The world is hip-deep in tears. Compassion is not an option. It is a matter of survival.” Sue Monk Kidd Charlotte’s Web is a beloved children’s book by E.B. White, which tells the story of a spider named Charlotte and a pig named Wilbur. An unlikely friendship develops between the two of them; one that is very symbolic and ripe with lessons we can learn about caring for one another. The story unfolds when Charlotte learns that Wilbur is soon to be slaughtered. She then begins to fervently weave intricate webs with words like “some pig”,...
read moreSOS
SOS is the commonly used description for the international Morse Code distress signal. SOS spelled out with rocks or limbs on a beach or in snow can be seen from overhead. This is a way of signaling someone if one is lost or in danger. With the development of audio radio transmitters, there was a need for a spoken distress phrase, and MAYDAY was adopted as the equivalent of SOS. MAYDAY is actually French for M’aidez which means “help me.” We often associate SOS with the tragic circumstances surrounding the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912....
read moreWalk A Mile In My Shoes
There are many examples today of how people have gone to extremes to experience even in a small way the plight of their fellow man. As the saying goes, they are attempting to walk a mile in the shoes of another. Some of these stories are: the man who darkens his skin to experience racism, the girl who wears a fat suit to experience discrimination, the college student who spends a night on the street with the homeless to experience deprivation, the pastor who on Sunday morning disguises himself as a disheveled visitor to see whether his...
read more