King Solomon gave us a beautiful description of spring when he wrote, “For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land” (Song of Solomon 2:11-12).

Over 55 years ago, Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. We often focus on the dream that King envisions for his hearers, the dream that one day people “will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

In the midst of the church there has stood and still stands the risen, reigning Lord.

When I was a kid, my friends and I used to play outside a lot. We used to come up with all kinds of things to do. I do not remember ever being bored, and I wonder if I even knew then the meaning of that word.

I’ve begun reading an old copy of the classic tale Gulliver’s Travels. Although this is sometimes considered a children’s story, I’ve been reminded that much of it was meant to be a satire and was rather critical of certain aspects of the politics and religion of the day.

A news source reported recently that “65 percent of Democrats think that Christians are too judgmental.” I imagine some of you reading that agree. Let’s consider this.

A friend is present, I mean, really present. Being present with someone in mind, body and spirit is what I am suggesting.

The Psalmist led the congregation of Israel to praise God for the beauty He provided in the fields, on the ridges and in the forests.

Why was Jesus baptized?

The Christmas Season comes to a close this weekend. Our tree and decorations will be taken down, boxed and put away until next year. I will miss them, but we have to get back to ordinary life.

Have you experienced occasions when you were suddenly made especially aware of God’s leadership and guidance in your life?

While it is not a pleasant thing to contemplate our mortality, it is a necessary thing. As a Christ follower I believe that this life is not all there is.

I want to break down the prescription for moving toward higher ground.

May the resolutions we have made aid in helping peace to be achieved soon, and that it will be worldwide; and may our national economy be robust without the aid of a war effort.

Whatever happened to those gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh? We never hear of them again, which allows my imagination to play with the possibilities.

I am still writing my Christmas cards. It is very early in January, and I have a lot more to go.

Instead of lifting up a standard of players skillfully executing their duties within the bounds of the rules of the game, expectations seem to be that the most effective players are those who learn how to get away with breaking the rules – those who do it discreetly or within the limits often overlooked by the referee.

Last week we began to look at the report by Dr. Luke, a Gentile physician who was not one of the 12 disciples, written to a Roman official identified as Theophilus.

Christmas is commonly promoted as a time of giving and receiving of gifts. It is filled with joy, disappointment, renewed friendships and loneliness for some. So many contrasting statements could be listed, but the angel’s message prevails, “…Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people (Luke 2:10 KJV).”

If God can bring people together in a family history, what can God do with us now?

I have arrived at an age when many a Christmas card from friends has a sentence or two or more about the aches and pains of aging.

A few days before Christmas I searched for and brought up online a few songs I had not heard this holiday season.

Recently a friend told me about a conversation he had with a long-time church member. My friend was disturbed over the fact that in this conversation the churchman revealed that he questioned the virgin birth and the concept that Jesus was in fact God in the flesh.

First, love large enough is a different kind of love.

Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Advent with special focus on love.

The night was finally quiet. They had driven away the lone wolf at the edge of the field. They had counted the sheep – once, twice, three times – and all were accounted for.

Wondrous gifts in life take time to reveal their true beauty and power.

Here’s a man standing up to life and staying with it when the going is rough.

Every Christmas, without fail, someone will ask me if Christians should celebrate Christmas.

This Sunday we will gather to celebrate the joy proclaimed by the angels who appeared to the shepherds.

What would happen if we let the Christmas story change our attitude toward the homeless?

Thomas Merton once wrote that to be human is to be a living incompleteness.

Due to a physical ailment I was virtually without a voice for a few days recently.

When the guiding question of any church becomes, “Who are we trying to keep?” that church has lost her God-given purpose.

This Sunday, the second of the Advent season, focuses on Peace.

Advent then can become a season of celebration, as we live in expectation of the end. We live, knowing that we only have this day, this moment. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. And in this moment, God is here. In all our moments, God is here.

There is tremendous power to be found in being grateful and in the exercise of gratitude. Let’s focus on it.

Advent stirs in the hearts of believers a hunger for God.

Recently I’ve had a couple of people tell me about individuals they met who didn’t know what a nativity scene is.

The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in the context of enormous hardship.

Let’s talk about the purpose of the church. I fear that all too many churches have lost sight of the very reason they exist.

Attitude is determined by how you look at life. Some people complain because God put thorns on rose bushes. Others praise Him because He put roses on thorny bushes.

Advent invites us to see the world in a new way.

Perhaps the first major tear in the curtain that exists between the individual and the larger world happens as early as the first day of kindergarten.

Have you heard the call to build a wall? I’m not talking about a mandate from the President. Neither am I referring to that type of wall. This call comes from a higher authority – from the Ruler over all.

Along with you, I was recently appalled to hear again that a gunman had opened fire at a nightclub in Thousand Oaks, Calif., killing 12 and wounding a number of others.

On Thursday of this week we celebrated Thanksgiving. Most of us know the story of Thanksgiving, that time when the settlers of the Plymouth Colony gathered in 1621 to give thanks to God for his provisions for them. A part of that amazing story involved an Native American by the name of Squanto.

I have always attended Sunday School and church.

Thanksgiving as a holiday calls us to give thanks. We give thanks to God for our families. We give thanks to God for our health. We give thanks to God for our blessings.

At this time of the year, the word “home” and all that word evokes will come to the minds and hearts of many.