Tracy

Power of the Bible Recently, someone eaves dropped on a spiritual conversation I was having at a social event and interjected, “God is a creation from weak human minds.” He then walked away.  This was a popular argument from the intellectual crowd in the 1800’s. Both the German Philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach and Sigmund Freud espoused [...]

Don't Quit This is the day when most people quit their New Year’s Resolutions. As we continue to walk through the door of a New Year (and decade) the question is, are you open to the possibility of experiencing all that God has available for you? To put it in Biblical terms are you ready [...]

Repentance A woman came into a pastor’s office complaining that his sermons were always about forgiveness and grace. She scolded him, “You need to come down harder on the sinners and nail them!” The pastor asked her, “So you have forgiveness and grace all worked out in your own life?” She replied, “There are some [...]

Following Jesus In John Ortberg’s book Faith and Doubt, he tells of a common experience for Western missionaries. Traveling through jungle sections of the terrain they would ask villagers for directions to their desired destinations. “We have a compass, map and co-ordinates, could you point us to the correct path?” The villager knows precisely how [...]

The True Reason for the Season Jim Denison ponders: I have been thinking lately about the strange phenomenon that is Christmas in America. Why don't more Americans do the same at Christmas? Millions of Americans have never heard the true story of Christmas. They may know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but they have no idea [...]

The Christmas Baby A little child who had just learned the story of Christmas was at a shopping mall with his parents and looking at all the decorations: Santa and his elves, the tree adorned with ornaments and lights and then asked the question, “But where is Jesus?” Why do the merchants leave Jesus out? [...]

Are You Looking Forward to Christmas? I love Christmas! The joyful atmosphere, the beautiful decor, the reminder that God came to earth looking for us!  I found a survey asking people: “If they were looking forward to Christmas?” While most answered yes, far too many said no. When asked why, they gave a variety of [...]

Sharing Our Faith at Christmas One of my favorite Christmas hymns is, Go Tell it on the Mountain!   Whether it is initiating a conversation with someone hurting, sharing how Jesus can bring them through their crises, or getting our hands dirty by demonstrating Christ’s love by caring for the hungry, broken and poverty stricken through [...]

What a motley crew of Six! Some of our Casuarina boys from left to right: Kadenge, Toby, Nicholas, Right, Dickson and Dennis  actually made a great crew earlier this month. Donning their masks they ventured into the village with us in the Casuarina mini bus to distribute maize flour to the orphans on the feeding [...]

Thanksgiving Afterglow Continuing in the afterglow of Thanksgiving are thoughts from Sarah Young’s, “Jesus Calling:” Thankfulness takes the sting out of adversity. That is why I have instructed you to give thanks for everything. There is an element of mystery in this transaction:  You give Me thanks (regardless of your feelings), and I give you [...]