 Ten times the word despair is used in the Holman Bible. Fittingly Job is the source of one third of them. The Psalmist cried out, “Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I waited for sympathy, but there was none; for comforters, but found no one” (Psa. 69:20). Despair is the stuff of hopelessness. It is a sinking feeling that saps one’s resolve. If not properly addressed it becomes the lingering glue of gloom.
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3/25/2020 1 Comment Scared and Sustained
3/16/2020 2 Comments Corona Virus The numbers worldwide continue to rise: 181,377 cases, 7119 deaths, 78,085 recoveries.[1] Worldwide reactions are dramatic: airline flights cancelled, large numbers of quarantined populations, countries with closed borders, bans on gatherings over 250 people, schools closed, colleges reverting to online classes, sports leagues cancelled, plummeting stock markets etc. Behold a pandemic! The cause of this chaos is a virus named “SARS-CoV-2” and the disease it causes is called “coronavirus disease 2019” (abbreviated “COVID-19”).
2/18/2020 0 Comments Exodus
12/10/2019 0 Comments Isolated and Insecure
5/31/2018 0 Comments Do Not FearMeditation
Zephaniah 3:15,16--The Lord has removed your punishment; He has turned back your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you; you need no longer fear harm. On that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not fear; Zion, do not let your hands grow weak. 5/23/2018 0 Comments I Can'tTwo words in the English language frequently reveal obstinacy—“I can’t.” Whenever I say “I can’t” in the context of not doing what should be done, I profess to know myself and my limitations and therefore to pronounce what Iwill not do. Of course, I have the right to state what I am unwilling to do. But it is not a question of rights when rebellion is exposed, rather it is a question of will. God sees me for who and what I really am. All the cleverest observations I utter about myself, the most thoughtful pronouncements fall infinitely short of God’s understanding of who I am.
4/8/2017 Because of ThemBecause of them, Shirley quit working so hard and gave up trying to achieve excellence. Her coworkers said she was making them look like slackers and they badgered her for getting too much done. They told her to stop being an overachiever or they would get her fired.
Because of them, Randy bullied Jonah, a scrawny eighth-grader. He knew it was wrong but he didn’t want his buddies to turn on him so he went along with them when they targeted Jonah for abuse. 1/17/2017 0 Comments Say You're My SisterMeditation
Genesis 12:10-13—There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine in the land was severe. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live. Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.” The story of Abraham would make a great movie. Knowing how attractive his wife was and what the Egyptians were like, he was correct in being concerned. Pharaoh’s 3/22/2015 You Don't Have to FearRebels in Liberia killed Momo Larmana’s fiancé Rosetta in 1990. As if losing his true love was not enough, his father and sister were also murdered. Were it not for U.S. soldiers he and the rest of his siblings would probably have met the same fate. Can you imagine the turmoil and pain that flowed through his veins? Fortunately, in 2004 Momo was able to move to America as a refugee. Three years later he enlisted in the Army and began pursuing a degree in business. In 2008, on the day he was awarded citizenship his home was robbed!
8/31/2013 0 Comments GrokGrok is a little used verb that means: “to understand thoroughly and intuitively”; or “to communicate sympathetically.” The word was invented by Robert A. Heinlein in the science-fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land written in 1961.[1]
The author of Psalm 91 groked God’s protective nature towards His children. 10/20/2012 Fearing FailureInstant communication comes with a price. Imagine if a leader made a mistake before 1845. People living hundreds of miles away might never hear of the gaffe. With the invention of the telegraph by Samuel Morse on May 24, 1844 and the implementation of thousands of miles of wires, people could more quickly hear news. But it cost money to send telegraphs and it took time for mailed letters to reach their destination. Now, anyone in the world with access to the internet can watch video footage of another human’s accident or meltdown.
2/25/2012 We're Going to Die!When I look back on my life, one of the scariest memories I have was the time I was rock climbing. Somehow I got into a position where I was stuck. I was frozen to a giant slab of granite knowing I had to move but scared that if I lost my grip I would plummet far enough that my chances of getting badly hurt were considerable. I still remember asking for God’s help and for the immediate peace that came over me as He answered.
2/25/2012 0 Comments The GhostWhen I look back on my life, one of the scariest memories I have was the time I was rock climbing. Somehow I got into a position where I was stuck. I was frozen to a giant slab of granite knowing I had to move but scared that if I lost my grip I would plummet far enough that my chances of getting badly hurt were considerable. I still remember asking for God’s help and for the immediate peace that came over me as He answered.
12/6/2011 0 Comments EscapeI met Lam in a dining facility at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. As we were chatting I asked him when he came to the United States. Lam escaped from Viet Nam at the age of eleven with an uncle and his older brother. His parents were afraid that when he turned thirteen he would be forced to serve in the military and potentially die or come back maimed as so many of their countrymen who were forced as children to fight the Cambodians.
10/16/2010 0 Comments ChallengesMeditation
Luke 14:26, 27, 33—If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not say good-bye to all his possessions cannot be My disciple. 4/9/2010 WaveringMeditation
1 Samuel 27:1,2—David said to himself, "One of these days I'll be swept away by Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape immediately to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me everywhere in Israel, and I'll escape from him." So David set out with his 600 men and went to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath. 11/22/2009 0 Comments AfraidMy friend David Brown was in a bicycle accident and broke his neck. Aside from the reality that he should be dead, I cannot imagine how he felt when he was fully conscious and realized that he was dealing with significant paralysis.
9/25/2009 0 Comments Terrified I received an email that tore my gut in two. A friend from seminary wrote to those on his mailing list. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. He was back in his home city with his children, no longer in the Asian country where God led him and his wife to minister. Their work was vital in a place restricted and fraught with danger. He knew what it meant to serve God through opposition. But he never expected his wife to fall in love with someone she met on the internet. She left her family—devastated. As if confused and heartbroken was not bad enough, his mission organization requested his resignation. Now what does he do? Who can he trust? His children struggle mightily to adjust to a new culture. They wrestle with the reality their mother is living in immorality. He wonders what more could go wrong.
4/28/2009 0 Comments RescueGreg is an avid kayaker. Along with his two sons, they decided to make a trip on the Tennessee River. Together they had a great day paddling until they hit a section where five-foot swells continually pounded them. His boys were in larger kayaks and had little difficulty cutting through the waves. Soon they were far away from Greg. But their dad hit a portion in the middle of the river where he could no longer cut through the waves and he began to take on water. With only a water bottle to bail he continued to sink. Calmly recognizing that his life was in serious danger, he prayed, “God, I need Your help, there is nothing I can do.”
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