on November 11, 2020
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 118:1 (NIV) Our world is changing right before our eyes. Thanksgiving 2020 is the optimal time to reflect on thankful thoughts and memories we can share during this holiday season instead of the emotional days behind us. To move through the… Read more
on October 8, 2020
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.Psalm 27:14 (ESV) It’s hard to wait, isn’t it? In today’s time, it seems we are waiting on too many things: the presidential election results, a vaccine for COVID-19, getting people back to work. For me, I’m waiting to feel… Read more
on September 2, 2020
Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. (Proverbs 16:3) There is a unique reason for your existence. God has a plan that he designed that only you can fulfill for a specific event. He wants us to listen and follow his purpose for our lives. Scripture tells us to… Read more
on July 14, 2020
Ask, Seek, Knock Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7, NIV) In the 1920s, Fred R. Barnard coined the phrase, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” For many people, a picture, vision, or dream conveys a feeling… Read more
on June 8, 2020
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.” (Isaiah 43:2) The world is in a state of change right now. What does it take to pass through uncharted territory? Returning to a new unpredictable world for one is not the same for another. When we suffer loss or a treasured hope, how… Read more
on April 27, 2020
One of the main tasks of living a Christian life is to offer hope through the good news of Jesus. The disciples went before us and now it’s our turn to proclaim God’s message. In 2008, Oyster Bay Baptist Church offered a training class on how to tell what life was like before trusting Jesus,… Read more
on April 7, 2020
There are many reasons why people dance. It’s a personal preference. Some dance to entertain, to express their emotions, or for the pure enjoyment it brings to move our body. My love of dance turned into a teaching career. For thirty-two years my staff and I held an annual recital to highlight what the students… Read more
on March 13, 2020
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.1 Thessalonians 5:11 Christian encouragement is a command. But like the command to evangelize, we often find it awkward to employ in everyday life. It doesn’t have to be awkward, though. Like any other skill, we get better at it with practice…. Read more
on February 10, 2020
(Originally posted on www.tmurphywrites.com) I’d already been reading Giants May Fall, by Dutch Sheets when I opened my son’s Christmas gift—Malcom Gladwell’s David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants. It didn’t take long to begin seeing connections between them. What Sheets explores from one angle, Gladwell considers from another. Both books… Read more
on January 14, 2020
A Story of Hope for the New Year My cell phone rang at four a.m. “Mom can’t breathe,” my sister cried. “An ambulance is taking her to the emergency room.” Clutching the phone, I sat up. “What?” “It’s bad. You need to come home— now.” During the seven-hour drive to the hospital, I prayed, please,… Read more