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I face an enemy daily, sometimes hourly. Perhaps you know him, too. Many are his names. So ubiquitous, so pervasive, so insidious is he that the New Testament identifies him six times as “Losing Heart.” Losing Heart invites us to embrace discouragement, agree to quitting, welcome defeat. His solicitations demand from us an emphatic “No!” Perhaps it [...] By many miracles, God delivered Israel out of Egypt and across the Red Sea. Immediately thereafter, they were three days in the wilderness without water. When they did find at Marah the water they had desperately sought, it was bitter (Exodus 15:22-25). How would they respond to this disappointment? Not understanding this test from God, they [...] A curious event in Genesis 48 demonstrates how God’s work in us is never really over. Joseph was about 56 years old, and his father, Jacob, was dying. As was the custom, Jacob called for Joseph’s two sons so he could bestow the patriarchal blessing upon them. Joseph carefully placed the young men in front of [...] After its conception as a holy celebration in the second century, Easter was not always celebrated on Sunday as it is today. But when it should be celebrated has been a source of controversy and confusion that continues even until today. The current rules that determine the date of Easter originated in A.D. 325 at the [...] A band of swarthy men prod their sleepy camels out of slumber to face another interminable, boiling desert day. Traders from the land of Midian, Egypt's bustling bazaars beckon. But unbeknownst to them, they will keep an appointment they do not know they have. And it will fling them into the centrifuge of history that [...] Regular readers know our daughter Jenny, who died unexpectedly in October 1995. So in honor of Father’s Day, I share this brief essay about her that I prepared for a writing contest. And to that I add a few journal snippets from Father’s Days past. Though the concept may seem strange, the Bible occasionally declares that God "remembers" one thing or another. But we must not assume that God has "forgotten" something for a time–and then suddenly "remembers" it again. When God "remembers," He has simply determined that the time for action is at hand. Interestingly, the accounts of God's remembrances [...] I gaze at two differing pictures of Christmas. The first, a photograph my wife discovered tucked away in an old book, hints of the 1940s. It's Christmas morning, and five smiling children radiate the pleasure of having a few simple gifts arrayed before them, fully satisfied. Curiously, I recall but one Christmas present of my own [...] "Tell me, Watson, your opinion of this. Is it better to start well or to finish well?" "The answer seems obvious, Holmes. Without starting well, one can't hope to finish well, can he?" "I see your point, Watson. But what about the story of the tortoise and the hare? Surely you're not suggesting that jumping quickly into [...] |
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Copyright 2012 James McAlister - All Rights Reserved |
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