1 Samuel 17:12-30 On the front porch of his little country store inIllinois, Abraham Lincoln and Berry, his partner,stood. Business was all gone, and Berry asked,“How much longer can we keep this going?”Lincoln answered, “It looks as if our business hasjust about winked out.” Then he continued,“You know, I wouldn’t mind so much if I…
I Samuel 17:1-11 Our brains have chemical reactions to fear. Theamygdala is a part of the brain that activates whenwe sense a threat stimulus and prompts the bodyto have a physical response, like the “release ofstress hormones and sympathetic nervous system.”The hippocampus is closely related to the amygdalaand helps our brains interpret the threat. Forexample,…
I Samuel 16:13-23 “A young man came to visit me with a question onhis mind. He asked, “I prayed to receive Jesus asmy Savior, but why has nothing really changed inmy life?” I asked him, “Who is running your life?”He replied, “I am!” I inquired further, “Has anyoneinformed you that Jesus wants to be your…
I Samuel 16:1-13 A new pastor in a rural area is ready for his firstservice, but only one farmer has shown up. Thepastor asks the farmer, “If you took a load of hayto feed your cows and when you got there, therewas only one cow, what would you do?”.“I’d feed it” said the farmer.So the…
Deuteronomy 6:1-9 I heard a story about a guy who was getting readyto go out of town for the weekend to a formalevent. And as the week went along, he got towardthe end of the week and realized that he hadn’tgotten his formalwear dry-cleaned, and it was in amess, and the cleaners where he normally…
Luke 2:8-20 On Dec. 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright madetheir first flight of an airplane at Kitty Hawk, NorthCarolina. On their fifth attempt, the plane under thecontrol of Orville, embarked on a 12-second flight. Wilbur rushed to the local telegraph office and sentthe following message: WE HAVE FLOWN FOR 12SECONDS—WE WILL BE HOME FOR…
Matthew 1:21-23 This week I was talking with some of mycolleagues at work discussing Christmas traditions,from food to when and how the gifts are opened. Itwas interesting to see their view of Christmas froma worldly perspective. Some shared withexcitement, while others expressed theirfrustration with the pressures of Christmas and theobligations that come with it. Still…
Luke 1:26-38 A man was putting a tin roof on his barn when all ofa sudden, he slipped and began to slide down theroof. He cried out to God to save him when nosooner he got the words out of his mouth a nailcaught his pants and stopped him. When hestopped, he said, never mind…
Matthew 1:18-25 On the Sunday before Christmas, a reverend waswalking down a street on his way to see aparishioner. However, he wanted to mail a letter urgently so heasked a young boy where he could find the postoffice. When the boy had directed him, thereverend thanked him and said, ‘If you’ll come tothe Church this…
I Thessalonians 5:16-18 From an Elementary School TeacherAfter reading my all-time favorite turkey-day book,“The Night Before Thanksgiving” by Dave Pilkey, tothe class, I asked them what Thanksgiving wasreally all about. While many shouted, “FOOD!”others enthusiastically raised their hands. “Well, we are celebrating the day our country camehere!”I looked at Tennison and asked, “What do youmean?”…