Clik here to view.
The Night Sky, the Shepherds and the Savior
Annunciation to the Shepherds by David Collins (Wikipedia Commons) For those who live in cities where the night sky is a mere reflection back of the lights, stars and galaxies may not be as common as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Advent: Simeon and Anna
Anna at the presentation of Jesus (right), from Giotto, Chapel of Scrovegni. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) So who were Simeon and Anna in the Advent story? Lovers of God who were given the gift of seeing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Advent: Enter the Magi
Magi from the east (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Many of us grew up with nativity stories that included camels bearing magi to greet the newborn king in the manger. That’s true–sort of. Let’s look at the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Advent: The Magi and Marco Polo
In my last post, I took apart the Advent story of the magi, and that same day asked some friends if they had any insight into them. My friend Holly, a former missionary to Gambia, sent me the following...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Advent: Jesus’ Childhood
The Flight into Egypt by Giotto di Bondone (1304-06, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua). (Photo credit: Wikipedia) I’m finishing up this Advent series with Jesus’ childhood. It’s not really part of Advent, which...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What is a Christian Devotional Book?
My three choices for many years What is a Christian devotional book and why do people read them? Obviously, the original Christian devotional book is the Bible–particularly the Psalms which are full of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Six Keys to writing Christian Devotionals
How do authors write Christian devotionals? Obviously, the earliest writers like Theresa of Avila wrote under compulsion from God–in her case out of her mysticism. Writers want to share what God has...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Who Wrote My Utmost for His Highest and How? Part I
Oswald and Biddy; photo courtesy Wheaton College Special Collections library You probably think Oswald Chambers wrote the well-loved devotional My Utmost for His Highest. You’re only half right. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My Utmost for His Highest and Sunday School
My husband recently began using My Utmost for His Highest devotionals in his post-high school Sunday School class. It didn’t start that way, but that’s where they are now. R and the young people are...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Understand My Utmost for His Highest
The different ways I read My Utmost for His Highest Do you have trouble understanding the devotionals in My Utmost for His Highest? If so, you’re not alone. Many people have told me these types of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Living a Faith Life in a Frame
See? I know the boundaries. Do you live your faith life within a frame? I hadn’t thought about that aspect until I met up with a friend from my childhood several years ago. 26 years had passed since...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Needed: Someone to Say No
Do you have someone in your life who can say “no” to you and you’ll accept it? Why not? Are you never wrong? Passages in the Bible admonition us to love one another and to speak the truth in love....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Edith Clavell and Personal Sacrifice
Red Cross Poster; Wikipedia Commons October 12, 2015 marked the 100th anniversary of British nurse Edith Clavell‘s execution by a German firing squad fifteen months...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Oswald Chambers and a Bible College Part I
A sign marks it now. Many people do not know Oswald Chambers ran a Bible Training College (BTC) in the four years prior to World War I. The ideas represented in his devotional My Utmost for His Highest...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Oswald Chambers and BTC Bible School Part 2
Oswald Chambers When Oswald Chambers set up his Bible Training College (BTC) in 1911 he had two things in mind: training students in the Bible and how to apply the Bible‘s teachings to practical...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bible School Students and Oswald Chambers Part III
What happened to Oswald Chambers‘ Bible School (BTC) students? What do modern students do with their Bible school training? Many people, then and now, argue that studying the Bible is an important...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Holy Saturday: Now What?
The Watch over the Tomb by James Tissot (Wikipedia Commons) Every year on “Holy Saturday,” I wonder what Jesus was doing. We finish Good Friday every year with a Tenebrae service, which usually leaves...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Who was the Apostle Paul?
Attributed to Valentin de Boulogne [Wikimedia Commons] Just who was the Apostle Paul of the New Testament? I’m leading a Bible study this spring on Paul’s character and after examining the New...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Shock and Faith: Saul and Ananias
By Pietro De Cortana (Wikipedia) Who was more shocked, Saul or Ananias after that fateful trip to Damascus? Both of them displayed shock, faith and courage in following what God had just dumped into...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Who was Barnabas?
Portuguese icon of Barnabas [Public Domain] Barnabas was an important member of the early Church and I’ve been running into him lately as I study the book of Acts. His name is generally understood to...
View Article