In Southern California some of the hills and lowlands in Riverside County and northern San Diego County are littered with rocks. Many of them are more than mere rocks. They are actually giant boulders. They seem to be stable. None of them have toppled down in our 23 years in San Diego County. […]

 “Rejoice in hope,” Paul wrote to the Romans (12:12). Yet we watch and listen to the horrific news coming out of Ukraine and wonder how even the many Christians in Ukraine can have any hope. What is there to hope in or hope for? The future for Ukrainians seems bleak if many of them will […]

            God of the Impossible Matt and Carrie were in an impossible situation—or so it seemed. The lender on their home had scheduled a Trustee’s Sale that was now three days away. Foreclosure. Despair. Emptiness. They were semi-retired, but jobs were scarce in the ministry for an aging minister. For two years they had been […]

God Makes Us Happy            Psalm 144:15 closes with these joyful words: “Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!” (NKJV). Some versions read “blessed” instead of “happy,” but the KJV, NKJV, and RSV translate the Greek word (from the Old Testament Septuagint) makarios “happy.” In this verse “happy” is a better translation. And […]

What’s New in Your Life?           I’ve never been too keen on making New Year’s resolutions. I suppose they work for some people. The difficulty, of course, is keeping them even for a few weeks or a few months. The standard joke is that New Year’s resolutions are made to be broken. So if you […]