When my soul is required of me, I want to be rich towards God.
Wisdom, the Hard Way
Sunday Perspectives
Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, don’t be discouraged, for the Lord God will be with you wherever you go. - Joshua 1:9 Gratefully, 2020 will soon be over. So, as we “go” into 2021, take Joshua 1:9 with you as one of God’s promises for the new year. Yes, 2020 was rough,…
Start With Christmas
Name your favorite Christmas movie! Go! Mine: The Nativity Story. Why? Simple. The three wise men. In this Biblically-accurate retelling of the Gospel story of Jesus' birth, we’re introduced to Melchior, Balthasar and Gaspar as they are watching two planets and a single star align into what will become the Bethlehem Star. As they talk…
It’s All Right to be Little Bitty: Colossians 3:23-24
NOTE: In one of my favorites posts from 2019, here are my thoughts on Colossians 3:23. Fame. In 2019's social-media driven world, it's all about being famous. Today's American culture considers entertainers, sports stars and "influencers" as the only people who are really important. That's why the simple, plaintive words of the old country song…
The Right Sword: John 15:4
The young dad, not yet in his mid-30s, sat unsuspectingly in the church pew on that Sunday morning, unaware that the course of his life was about to change. These days, you might think a gun was involved. But there wasn't. Instead, there was a sword. On that summer Sunday in 1994, the pastor pulled…
Not Just a Holiday
A uniquely American holiday, this "Thanksgiving." In 2019 America, the last Thursday in November in the United States is set aside for food, family, and these days, football. But more than 400 years ago, stories of the "first Thanksgivings" in North America tell very different tales. The remaining Mayflower settlers celebrated surviving a harrowing year…
Conversation Starters
On a back road in Southern Illinois, heading home for a Memorial Day visit, I saw these words on a church sign in Thompsonville, Illinois: Jesus is God's selfie. I love clever church signs as much as the next guy. And I understand the desire to engage the culture "where it's at." As long as…
It’s All Right to be Little Bitty
Let's redirect our thoughts away from what our culture deems important, which is often non-reality, to what is real, and what is true.
Peace
So this is how the big city folks do it. I’m on a train from Kansas City to Chicago. Right now, I’m in a quiet coach car. Everyone is either reading, sleeping, or in the observation or dining cars, and I now have time, in the morning when I’m fresh, to do some writing. I…
The Day After Christmas
Here's my annual repost of a poem I wrote two years ago - as true today as the day I wrote it.
Mike G. Smith 