John 18:1-11 {Prayer} January 17, 2004 … that is when a sixty-six-ton sperm whale died and was beached on the southwestern coast of Taiwan. Two weeks later, authorities decided to truck the dead whale to a lab where they could do an autopsy. It took fifty men and three lifting cranes a total of…
Luke 22:47-53 {Prayer} Today we continue to follow Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. This painting entitled, “The Betrayal of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane” was painted in 1308 by an artist named Duccio. The betrayal. That is what we’ve called it. And that word sums up the event. “On the night when…
Luke 22:39-46 {Prayer} Periodically, our world calls us back to simplicity. Simpler is easier, more profitable, better use of space, they seem to say. Companies downsize. Products are marked as being made with “all natural ingredients.” People are practicing the Paleo Diet. HGTV has shows like “Hot Mess House” which are designed to help…
Luke 22:14-38 {Prayer} The artist Rembrandt tried to paint the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac. He did it twice. Twice he tried to help others see what faith looks like in that moment. The first time, Rembrandt made a grand painting. This was done early in his life. At that time Rembrandt was…
Luke 22:1-23 {Prayer} Caroline was a woman who had her place. If this was her church, it would there on the right-hand side, near the stained glass window with Luther’s Rose, and closest to the side aisle. That was where she worshiped and to her, that was her place. Caroline’s pastor learned this as…
John 6:16-21 {Prayer} Back in 2017, a newspaper reporter in Galveston, Texas, published a story about Chirpy the parakeet. One minute Chirpy was peacefully perched in his cage and singing a song. The next minute, he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over! Let me explain. It all began when Chirpy’s owner…
John 6:1-15 {Prayer} As a kid I remember watching TV when, out of the blue, an announcer would break in with these words … “This is a test of the emergency broadcast system. This is only a test.” Then, for what seemed like forever, there would be that loud, ear drum piercing sound. Somewhat…
John 5:1-17 {Prayer} Johnny Lechner is finally moving on. Actually, the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater forced Johnny Lechner to move on. You probably know someone who extended a 4-year college program into 7 or 8 years, but Johnny went beyond that. Johnny had been working on a 4-year degree for 12 years. Yes,…
John 4:46-54 {Prayer} Team Hoyt consists of a father and a son. Together, Dick and Rick Hoyt race. And they race a lot. They have completed 64 marathons, 206 triathlons, 6 Ironman triathlons and 204 10K runs. Since 1975, these two have crossed over 1,000 finish lines. They’ve even crossed the United States. …
John 2:1-11 {Prayer} For Christmas, Faith had been asking for this pendulum clock. Now, this clock comes with probably a thousand different pieces. Some of them the size of my head, some of them about the height of an eraser on the end of a regular pencil. To say that “some assembly is required”…