Don’t believe your black thoughts in the middle of the night

I just want to sleep! Some nights I have trouble turning off my spinning mind and sink into slumber after I’ve followed my usual regimen of devotions, often followed by a crossword puzzle to keep my mind from straying down a plethora of rabbit trails. NOTE: Playing games on my phone doesn’t work. Sure it numbs my mind, but it… Read More

you won’t find any “Redemption” in the movie in spite of its title

Released in the summer of 2013, “Redemption” stars Jason Statham as a man battling his own violent tendencies. He wants desperately to be a “good man,” and thinks he can do it by doing enough good deeds to balance his badness—a killer with a conscience. The nun who helps him wants to earn her own… Read More

Colossians 2:9-10 Ultimate Ruler

Our God reigns.     Colossians 2:9-10 (New Living Translation) For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. 10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.   Colossians 2:9-10 (The Message) Everything of God gets expressed in him [Christ], so… Read More

Colossians 2:9-10 One God in three persons

Father, Son, Holy Spirit — One God “But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me.  And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to… Read More

Colossians 2:8-9 Empty human traditions and superstitions

I remember the song from the 1960s, “If that’s all there is, then let’s keep dancing; let’s break out the booze and have a ball … if that’s all there is.” And even though my teenage years were full of fast ascents to mountaintops followed by equally-as-fast descents to the bottomless pit, I knew it… Read More

Colossians 1:11-12 God’s strength for the long haul

Agony. Death. Pain. Fear. Sorrow. We will experience these things and more as we go through life. Do I have to just grit my teeth and endure? In the middle of the deepest and darkest valleys, God will help me to move beyond my wailing question, “Why me?” I look to see God in the… Read More