There is no sacrifice in true sacrifice.  That paradoxical statement might make us scratch our heads a bit.  However, David Livingstone, who was a bit of a paradox himself, helps us understand the truth of the opening statement. At the age of 15, Livingstone left the Church of Scotland over the issue of Calvinism and… Read More »

There’s no doubt that the English language has its challenges.  However, it’s not as difficult as it might seem.  According to Rosetta Stone, there are over 7,000 different languages spoken in the world.  To help assess the difficulty of the languages, the Foreign Service Institute of the State Department has divided all the languages into… Read More »

I met a man, Stan. His nature is Afghani. Yes! Afghani-stan. ——— World is vast and wide. So much out there to explore. Right now, let’s eat lunch. ——— The rule for today. Touch my tail, I shred your hand. New rule tomorrow. These are just a few examples of a haiku.  “A Haiku is… Read More »

The space shuttle Discovery launched on this day in 1990.  While we probably remember little about this day or even the event, the mere mention of the cargo aboard Discovery causes us to remember clearly the significance of the mission.  Discovery was carrying something that weighed 24,490 pounds, cost $1.5 billion, and it was going… Read More »

If you lived to be 80 years old and read one book per day, you would read 29,240 books (this figures in an extra day for every leap year).  This would only equate to .075% of the over 39 million books in the Library of Congress.  That doesn’t include the millions of maps, manuscripts, digital… Read More »

Several weeks ago in the middle of March when the weather was throwing random snow squalls that whited out nearly everything in sight, a neighbor was riding his ATV up and down the roads, bundled up in his Carhart’s and gloves.  He was desperately in search of his lost dog. Sunday night, March 24th, I… Read More »

On the Jewish calendar, today is Nisan 15, 5784.  The year “is the amount of years which have elapsed since creation.”1  And, according to that calendar, today is the first day of Pesach or Passover.  This week long observance becomes the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  It is used to commemorate the Lord’s deliverance in Egypt,… Read More »

I know a picture says a thousand words but since I can’t add the pictures I would like, I will just have to use my words.  Don’t panic, though.  The average devotional in its entirety is around 750 words.  Since I’m about to describe several pictures, that should set your minds at ease. There is… Read More »

Looking at our list of church officers and Sunday School officers, we have a total of 58 positions needing to be filled.  Of those 58, several positions require multiple people to serve; ie. assistant teachers, treasurers, musicians, coaches, staff, etc.  Every one of those positions is staffed by a volunteer.  They aren’t getting a paycheck… Read More »

If you would prefer not to read my rantings, I understand.  You might want to pass over today’s devotional.  However, I hope you won’t because the application is worth the time of reading something that happened in our history – a shameful part of our history that smacks of disgusting hypocrisy. On this day in… Read More »