BLOG––Encouraged by Faith

When I was a teenager, The Vogues came out with a song called “You’re the One” (1965). Feel free to pause and listen to it on YouTube. At the time, it was a notional song that had no personal impact on me. However, over the years, I had several romantic interests and eventually...

Confession is good for the soul, they say. I believe it! Some of my friends know more about me than others do. Some of them know things that would be bad for my reputation, should they ever feel like doing me harm. It’s that vulnerability that keeps me from telling Everyone...

Evangelism is a quirky word. Of course, there is a primary definition derived from the Greek and meaning “messenger," approximately. The four New Testament gospels are named the Evangelisms of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The “good news” and the “gospel” are also...

According to gospel accounts, Jesus dispatched his disciples to go to those who needed him––to the poor, the sick, the lonely––to anyone who would talk to them, not just to “the lost." The disciples took no provisions and no money. They were to rely on God to...

Many words bring to mind an impression or an image, a connotation. That connotation may be wildly at odds with the plain definition of the word. “Priest” is just such a word. The Roman Catholic priesthood comes to my mind first because it is ubiquitous in our society. The ancient...

Like many things in Revelation, interpreters have debated the identity of the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders for centuries. And while they remain a mystery, I do know they sang this song of worship to the Lamb of God.  You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals...

Standing unafraid in the presence of God is not for weaklings. If my strength of character is diminished by the parasitic losses of sin or acquired weaknesses of any kind, I am unfit for the full armor of God. If I spend my energies in fearful defenses against my accusers, my strength is not...

Consider this: What good does my patience do you? Is patience a virtue for my own benefit, or is it a grace to be dispensed by me for your benefit? Looking back at the days of early fatherhood when I became aware of my need for patience in a deeper sense, I see now that before the birth of our...

For the sake of appearances, I might say that the troubles and hardships of life don’t really matter. You might have heard me say, “this too shall pass” or that our true rest and refuge isn’t to be found in this life, anyway. Those may be true statements in a certain...

You would expect this time to be filled with holiday joy. Christmas has been a time of celebration for centuries and we remember those times with joy. This year may be a little different for many of us. We lived for the past year with a looming threat of pandemic doom. Fear was more or less a...