About 20 years ago, I first became familiar with Henry Blackaby's incredible book Experiencing God. It is a powerful book and study tool. So powerful, in fact, that it kind of scared me at times. But that's a story for a different post. One of the most impactful observations in that book is Blackaby’s call…
Daily Grins: Tell Us How You Really Feel
If you’ve followed my blog for very long, you know I love those witty signs that people sell at crafts fairs. We’ve just completed the circuit of Fall crafts fairs here in the Great Plains, and I’ve noticed a theme among the signs they’re selling this year. Perhaps it’s an extension of the “crudening” of…
Roomies
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…
What’s In a Name?
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…
Resurrection Sunday +1: When Things Got Real
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…
Walking on a Sunday Afternoon (Luke 24:18-35)
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.…
Walking on a Sunday Afternoon (Luke 24:18-35), Part 2
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…
Resurrection Week: On a Cross Beside Jesus (Luke 24:32-43)
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…
Wisdom, the Hard Way
When my soul is required of me, I want to be rich towards God.
Daily Grins: What Would the Dog Say?
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,…
Mike G. Smith 