Devotionals

Genesis 17:15-17; 18:9-14; Joshua 6:1-22; 1 Corinthians 15:52-58

The feelings are familiar. Mouth open. Eyes like saucers. Chill up the spine. Heart pounding in the throat. Momentary disbelief. We frown and attempt to piece the story together without a script or narrator. Sometimes alone, occasionally with others...then boom! "The flash of a mighty surprise" boggles the mind, leaving us somewhere between stunned and dumb with wonder. "Am I dreaming or is a miracle happening?" So it is with surprises.

Nehemiah 8:1-12; Mark 12:41-44; Acts 13:44-48

The word hangs like an awful omen in our heads.

Mentally, we picture a brutal, grotesque image. Cows' hips protrude. Babies' eyes are hollow. Bloated stomachs growl angrily. Skin stretches across faces tight as a trampoline. The outline of the skull slowly emerges. Joints swell. Grim, despairing stares replace smiles. Hope is gone...life is reduced to a harsh existence as famine takes its toll. Those who have seen it cannot forget it. Those who haven't cannot imagine it.

Ruth 2:1-12; Titus 2:7-8; Hebrews 11:1-40

He was brilliant. Clearly a child prodigy...the pride of Salzburg...a performer par excellence.

Psalm 37:23-24; Hebrews 4:12-16

Nothing damages our dignity like stumbling!

Luke 21:5–19; 1 John 1:5–10; Philippians 1:9–11

A friend of mine ate dog food one evening. No, he wasn’t at a fraternity initiation or a hobo party...he was actually at an elegant student reception in a physician’s home near Miami. The dog food was served on delicate little crackers with a wedge of imported cheese, bacon chips, an olive, and a sliver of pimiento on top. That’s right, friends and neighbours, it was hors d’oeuvres a la Alpo. 

1 Kings 1:20–39; Proverbs 14:12; Acts 17:22–31

Do you know where you are going?

The place? Dublin, Ireland. The time? Toward the end of the 19th century. The event? A series of blistering attacks on Christianity, especially the “alleged resurrection” of Jesus of Nazareth. The person? Thomas Henry Huxley.

You remember Huxley. Devoted disciple of Darwin. Famous biologist, teacher, and author. Defender of the theory of evolution. Bold, convincing self-avowed humanist. Travelling lecturer.

John 3:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Peter 1:1-5

Two hours away from our own front door we travelled completely around the world. We didn't miss a continent. From Paraguay to the Congo. From the Serengeti Plains of Tanzania into the tropical rain forests of Malagasy, across the Indian Ocean to mysterious Malaya. Then it was the tundra of the Arctic Circle, Scandinavia to Mesopotamia, Egypt to China, Manchuria to Siberia. From the icy heights of the Himalayan peaks, across the vast outback of Australia, on deep into the tangled jungles of New Guinea....

By bus.

Mark 4:1-41; Ephesians 3:1-21; Colossians 2:1-23

There's this tree in my front yard that gives me fits several times a year. It leans. No, it never breaks or stops growing...it just leans. It's attractive, deep green, nicely shaped, and annually bears fragrant blossoms. But let a good, healthy gust give it a shove—and over it goes. Like, fast.

Lamentations 1:12-16; 3:46-50; Jeremiah 50:4; Luke 7:36-50

When words fail, tears flow.

Tears have a language all their own, a tongue that needs no interpreter. In some mysterious way, our complex inner-communication system knows when to admit its verbal limitations...and the tears come.

Eyes that flashed and sparkled only moments before are flooded from a secret reservoir. We try in vain to restrain the flow, but even strong men falter.

Proverbs 10:11-21; 15:1-7; James 3:1-12

Abraham Lincoln's coffin was pried open twice.

The first occasion was in 1887, 22 long years after his assassination. Why? You may be surprised to know it was not to determine if he had died of a bullet fired from John Wilkes Booth's derringer. Then why? Because a rumour was sweeping the country that his coffin was empty. A select group of witnesses observed that the rumour was totally false, then watched as the casket was resealed with lead.