Bible at Home

God always knew that words cannot express the “Word”, the one known by his disciple John as the “Word.” (John 1:1) Instead, God wrapped the Word in human flesh and swaddling cloths, so that, with the help of angel visitations to Mary and in dreams to Joseph, in a host of sweet singers to some…

C.S. Lewis wrote a famous book titled “The Four Loves” in which he explores the four Greek words for the English word “love”: Philia, Eros, Storge, Agape. Roughly translated these four are, friendship, erotic love, affection, and holy charity. The translators of the Greek New Testament into English had no choice but to include all…

Joy Most of my life I believed that Joy is a by-product of happy circumstances or relationships., but Nehemiah, the steadfast returner to Jerusalem after being exiled, wrote this when his people had become conscious of how far away they had fallen from God’s words to them: “This day (of return) is holy to the…

“The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything , but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the Peace which transcends all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) Of all the turbulent lives that have been lived on earth,…

Advent is a season of waiting, and waiting requires patience. Compared to Love, Hope, Joy, and Peace, patience is a poor cousin. It doesn’t come with trumpet blasts or satin ribbons; it doesn’t sit on top of the Christmas tree or sparkle. When my grandson was visiting with his family on Christmas Eve he could…

Hope Today is the first Sunday in Advent, the beginning of the Christian year for many denominations. It’s a time of reflection ad of anticipation built on the history of salvation fro the earliest times, and culminating in the birth of Jesus the Christ. While different churches agree that the four Sundays before Christmas represent…

“The Chambered Nautilus” is a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes which has been taught and discussed in school rooms for generations in America. In it Holmes writes of the “silent toil” of the nautilus to construct an ever growing shell, into which the creature continues to inhabit and to grow. At the very last stanza…

Ally, a friend of mine from California told this story about herself when she was a child. Ally overheard her father tell her mother that they would “take the Pontiac up the coast to San Francisco and catch the circus there” on their summer vacation. What she thought she heard was, “We’ll take the pony…

“Your love must migrate; cast off your moorings from creatures, moor yourself to the creator. Change your love, change your fear; the only things that make good or bad lives are good or bad loves.” (St.. Augustine, sermon # 313A) The only direct preparation given to Peter in order for him to become on apostle…

The eighth person to walk on the moon, and the first to ride on it was James Irwin in 1971. While Irwin was on the moon he experienced the presence of God in such a way that a year later he left the space program and began to preach his faith, repeating his famous statement,…