The book of Lamentations is a difficult book to study. The emotions of the prophet Jeremiah are raw as he writes about the forty years he spent prophesying to God’s people and suffering at their hands. God had not promised him success, but had told him that he was born for this purpose and He would be with him (Jeremiah 1). Lamentations comes after Judah is overcome by Babylon and Jerusalem is destroyed by Babylonian forces. In chapter 1 and verse 1 we see a great contrast drawn between what is and what was. The city of Jerusalem (symbolic of the people of God) is described as a lonely widow…

Most who read this will be at least somewhat familiar with the experience that a man who was then known as Saul of Tarsus had as he traveled from Jerusalem to Damascus. If you are not familiar with this, you can read the original account recorded in the ninth chapter of Acts and recounted later by the man who was then known as Paul in the twenty-second and twenty-sixth chapter of that same book. Saul was making that trip in order to imprison and/or punish Christians.  All of that began to change when Saul saw an extremely bright light. The light was so bright that Saul lost his eyesight for…

Many, many years ago, back in the ”dark ages” before you could buy chicken in the grocery store already cleaned, cut up and ready to be cooked, you had to raise your own chickens. If you wanted to have fried chicken on Sunday, you had to catch one of your chickens, wring its head off, catch it again, put it in hot water, pick off the feathers, chop off its feet, get rid of the insides, and then begin preparing it for frying. It was quite the production! I remember it well. I would be playing in our backyard on Saturday afternoon and my mother would come out of the…

Over and over in the Gospels, we read of Jesus attributing miracles to a person’s faith. Upon His own disciples’ failure to cure a man’s son He tells them “if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Recently I was reading a different account in Matthew that got my attention. In chapter 9, we read of Jesus going to the house of Jairus. (We actually learn his name from Mark and Luke who also record these events.) While on His way to raise Jairus’s daughter from…

Since the 2024 Major League Baseball season is about to get underway, I thought that I would share a story with you that you might find interesting. As you have probably guessed already, it involves the player in the picture accompanying this post. The player’s name is Johnnie LeMaster and the picture was taken during a game when he was at bat for the San Francisco Giants. Lemaster was the shortstop for the Giants at that time and is remembered by those who know about baseball as a very good defensive shortstop. Unfortunately, this picture was taken during a time when he was not doing well. That led to the…

Christians are familiar with the concept of trying to live like Jesus. The whole purpose in calling ourselves “Christians” is to be affiliated with His person, His gospel, His hope, and His life. Often, we (or at least I) think about this through my daily decisions on things like how to reach people or the example I try to set around others. We all want to love like Jesus, give like Jesus, and have compassion like Jesus. One thing we often don’t want to do is sacrifice like Jesus. However, if we want the blessings of Jesus, we need to consider how we can do this in our daily lives. …

Some who read this will know that Donna and I live in a neighborhood in which quite a few people get their exercise by walking. Some are accompanied by a dog or two. Now that the weather is becoming more and more mild, there seems to be more people walking by our house. When we are sitting in our sunroom, its windows provide a wonderful view of part of our neighborhood and of those who are walking its streets. Due to the fact that we’ve lived here for a number of years now, we now recognize those who make walking a regular part of what they do.  It is interesting…

We live in a time when many people don’t seem to have hope in this world. They are faced with illnesses, financial difficulties, housing difficulties, family issues, marital problems, age-related issues, and the list could go on and on. Our world seems broken with all of the national and international problems we see on the news. It seems as though many have turned their back on God, just like those Jews of old who did not obey God, but bowed down to idols. There are times when I see and feel the pressures of this life, and even though I am a firm believer in God and His plan for my life,…