Dear Faith Family, We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3). Steadfastness. Hope. Wow, those two words appeared to have a fallin' out this week! This week a condemning report w...

Dear Faith Family, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God, (Exodus 20:8-10a). It has pre-hardened, rust resistant hardened steel blades that stay sharp longer. It is lightweight and compact making it easy to use with less fatigue. It has a powerful motor to tackle yo...

Dear Faith Family, But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also, (Matthew 6:20-21). 1 So off to lunch with a friend. The distance between Ballentine and Chapin was littered with storage facilities. Got me to thinking. I think I sho...

Dear Faith Family, We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, (Colossians 1:3-4). There it was in black and white (ok, the attached picture was in color). It was a post on Facebook from "Meanwhile in Ukraine": "I left the bomb shelter and s...

Dear Faith Family, For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building, (1 Corinthians 3:9). It was insensitive, inconsiderate, unimaginable, unthinkable, dare I say it, inconctheivable! I mean my "back forty" is a work of art. For years I've worked the soil adding compost, tilling, watering, and weeding. The 8'X12' garden plot in my backyard is fraught ...

Dear Faith Family, Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving, Colossians 2:6-7. All it takes is a pole, a ball, and something to connect the ball to the pole. Tetherball here we come! The rallying point for fierce competitors becomes the pol...

Dear Faith Family, Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table, Matthew 26:6. As newlyweds, my wife and I enjoyed life in a small town. We would travel to "the city" to pick up groceries, etc. On one trip, I noticed someone...

Dear Faith Family, I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth, (John 1...

Dear Faith Family, Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand, (Isaiah 41:10). I didn't know what it was. I didn't know what the outcome would be. I didn't know the purpose of the encounter. I didn't even know who it was. Sound familiar? Fear is an unpredictable p...

Dear Faith Family, Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour, (1 Peter 5:8). Sooooo, yesterday was opening day of turkey season. But you already knew that, right? And you also knew that I would talk about turkeys in today's blog, right? A few squawks on the turkey call as I paused on the road in th...