It's August, so it's county fair season in the American Great Plains. My three-year-old grandson had never been to the fair, so on what must have been the hottest evening of the year, we shepherded our novice fair-goer through the animal barns at the Johnson County Fair in Gardner, Kansas. First, the chickens. The chickens…
It's the second most common full name in all of the United States. And it's mine. According to Ancestry.com, "Michael Smith" is the second most common name in America, behind only "James Smith" (and not far behind). I tell those whom I meet that they’re lucky if they only know three of us, as some…
It's the most important question you'll ever ask yourself. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? It's a two-thousand-year-old question, and it started with the people of Israel when Jesus lived here on earth. In those brief three years of Jesus' public ministry, God led many to quickly recognize Jesus' true identity. When Jesus came to the…
Let's join in a little "holy imagination" on this Resurrection Sunday. -------------- Cleopas pounded the dust off his sandal, and looked out the window at another Sunday morning in Jerusalem. "If we have to walk home today, at least the weather's decent," he thought, as his wife Mary tied the last bundle to their donkey.…
So let's finish what we started in my previous post. -------------- Epiphany. That's a big word. How about "an a-ha moment?" Whatever you call it, that's what I experienced the day it dawned on me that the Old Testament was all about Jesus. All of the old stories were no longer just allegorical tales about…
I'm thankful every minute of my life that Jesus died for me on that cross. I know that if God had chosen, he could have punished me for my sins instead of punishing Jesus. But Christ's atoning death satisfied my sin debt, and the debt of everyone else in the world who believes in Him. Because…
When my soul is required of me, I want to be rich towards God.
Like many young families, when I was growing up, we had a dog. A big dog. A 100-pound, pure bred, beautiful German Shepherd. Prettiest of that breed I’ve ever seen. He would have been the perfect childhood pet, except for one thing. The dog didn’t like me much. Oh, he was plenty protective of me,…
My guest blogger kicking off the new year is my youngest daughter, Lauren Drapal. She’s our brain injury survivor. She’s also a successful hairdresser in Kansas City - check out her Instagram @hairlikeaqueen. But first and foremost, she loves Jesus. And she’s a pretty good writer, too. She doesn’t have a blog, but posted this…
It's not my season of life to write any new content right now, so I'm re-sharing my attempt at post-Christmas poetry from four years ago. It's every bit as true this Christmas as it was then. -----------—-—----------------------------------------------------- Twas the day after Christmas And all through my brain I can't help but wonder What happened yesterday?…
Mike G. Smith 