Monday Morning Devotionals

Here are a few commonly asked questions regarding the act of praying.

In the summer of 1992, I watched a girl from Oklahoma, Shannon Miller, rise to the lead in the individual gymnastics competition at the Olympics and then win her medals. They interviewed her coach and...

Several years ago, a Christian woman asked me what she could do for her father, who was not a Christian, and who was dying of cancer. After prayer, and some serious soul-searching, I provided her with...

In Matthew 6:9, Jesus is teaching His disciples how to pray. "Pray, then, in this way:" This was not so much the teaching of what words to say because the Jews were trained to memorize the psalms and...

In the Old Testament the word for trusting faith was a Hebrew word that meant a rope. I'd like to use this imagery to explain something about how trust is built and how trust is destroyed.

Over the years I've learned that each child has specific needs and, as a father who knows his children, I often pray for God to bless them in particular ways. If I had but one prayer to make, however,...

It seems that older people are the ones who are interested in religion and younger ones have little time for spiritual things.

My youngest was feeling a little low last week. The teacher sent home a long list of things that had been forgotten, ignored and left incomplete.

An important topic that parents and teens often discuss is what is, or is not, mature. Parents and teens do not have the same idea about what maturity actually means. Teens think that maturity means having...

​In July of 1776 the American Congress approved the Declaration of the Independence of the 13 United States of America. One of the key figures behind the Declaration was Thomas Jefferson, whose writing in "Defense of Liberty and Rights of Man" was the intellectual force behind the Revolution.

Let's begin our week by reading a psalm of praise. 1Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, In the company of the upright and in the assembly. 2Great are the works of the Lord...

When I lived in Montréal, I remember a shocking news story about a young woman who died instantly when a piece of concrete fell on her as she was eating supper with her husband in a downtown restaurant...

In Proverbs 13:24 Solomon writes: He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.- Proverbs 13:24 The rod spoken of here was a very meaningful image in the Old...

In an article entitled, "Enjoying the Enduring Magic of Long-Term Friendship," Katherine Lowry lists several important ingredients found in friendships that are able to last for many years. 1. Going through...

When faced with a decision to do something or get involved in some scheme or plan, people sometimes base their choice on the popular saying "why not?" When they cannot make up their minds they jump into...

5 indispensable rules that pave the way for your present-day survival and future prosperity as a preacher.

The Wednesday night service is as inconvenient a habit as you can have. You have to rush home from work and rush through supper or delay supper until late.

Bristo, a female Boxer belonging to our eldest daughter, died recently from a combination of age (13 years) and various ailments that are common in dogs of that type. Everyone in our family was fond of...

Tell me what kind of person is talking here… "I will do it later"; "I will watch the movie, then finish the work"; "tomorrow"; "next time"; "You want me to do it now?"… Of course, these...

One of the more gruesome characters who appeared in the new several years ago was a man they called "The Suicide Doctor" or "Doctor Death." His real name was Dr. Jack Kevorkian. He helped people consciously...

Recently, we have gone through the painful experience of having to withdraw from one of our members because he refused to repent from sin and had left the assembly. This caused many members to ask questions...

In Luke 17:19 we have the story of Jesus healing a leper. After this miracle, Jesus said to the man "Your faith has saved you." In other words, the miracle healed his body but it was the man's faith in...

Be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.- Luke 12:15 In this passage, the Lord warns us to guard against greed. In...

Several years ago, I was visiting a congregation whose "prime" had passed. The attendance was half of what it used to be as empty pews marked the places where entire families once sat. The singing only...

There is a modern expression that describes an old human need. The expression is "kissing up" and it means to curtsy or cultivate favor with a superior. The human need is, of course, the need to be liked...

In Matthew 6:31-33 Jesus said the following: This passage is the summary to a long section in which Jesus compares the experience of being in the kingdom of God under the grace of God and living in the...

In 1990 there was an unusual movie called "Awakenings" with Robert De Niro and Robin Williams. It was about a man who, for some reason, was in a coma for years and then suddenly came out of it for a while...

Sometimes when we listen to the news and they talk about the number of people there are in the world and the magnitude of the problems, we feel rather insignificant.

What does Paul mean when he says that we have been freed from sin; that we become slaves to righteousness?

Many years ago I took a trip in one of our church vans. When the weather suddenly changed and it began to rain so hard that the windshield wipers couldn't keep up. It was about 10 p.m. and I was riding...

As Christians, we eventually learn that there are always choices to make if you want to follow God's way. A thousand little decisions: to hold your tongue, to avoid certain websites, to make an effort...

When our children were young, during the weeks preceding Christmas, I watched them as they counted down the days, hours, and minutes until that special moment when the "gifts" were opened. For days they...

In Psalm 6, David the king of Israel, goes through a range of emotions as he suffers from an undisclosed illness.

I remember Christmas disappointments; left-winger equipment instead of goalie equipment; toboggan instead of pool table... Anybody remember theirs? The problem many times as children is that we are not clear on what was promised.

Perhaps the reason why Christmas time is "special" is because, for some reason or other, everything seems more intense at Christmas. We spend more, eat more, even take off work days. Have you even noticed...

The disastrous floods that ravage various parts of the world each year remind us of the catastrophic deluge that God once used to destroy the earth in the days of Noah. When surveying the destruction...