CoffeeBreak With The Word

When I walk the aisles of the local supermarket, shopping for my weekly groceries and household items, I often reflect on the abundance that surrounds me with gratitude. One long aisle contains dozens of varieties of snack items. Another holds 14 kinds of pastas of various shapes.  Beautiful fresh produce fills the front of the […]

Day 1: Departure Newark NJ Today we embark on our Journey to the Holy Land. Prepare yourself for a life-changing experience. Get some rest on the flight… Tomorrow you will be walking where Jesus walked! Day 2: Arrive Israel Arrive in Israel and travel northward to our hotel for one night in the coastal area […]

We love our casual society, don’t we? Our letters, if we write such things any more, no longer include greetings like “Dear Mr. Smith,” or even “Dear Joe.” We start with a “Hey” or “Dude.”  Titles are mostly seen as unnecessary or even phony. And, yes, unless I knew someone well, first names were not […]

Charismatic Christians, those who emphasize a personal experience of the Holy Spirit, will often use this this phrase when speaking of some choice they have made:  “I felt led.”   Christian should be led of the Spirit.  My daily prayer is “Lord, lead me.”  My choices include prayer for the ‘will of God’ to be known […]

Service. It’s mostly disappeared, hasn’t it? The kids who work at Chick-Fil-A™ always bring a smile to my face when they answer my ‘thank you’ with “It’s my pleasure.” Those simple words are a step beyond “You’re welcome” and add a bit of warmth.  Last week I took my car for an oil change at […]

One author described America in 2022 as being like the world after the confusion of languages in the Genesis story of the tower of Babel.  Confusion reigns. Words swirl around us but they are mostly noise; to borrow Shakespeare’s prose – “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”  As a result of our confusion, our […]

The church was beautiful, set with lilies and décor for Resurrection Sunday. The congregation’s numbers were about double and the building was full of life and energy.  I raised my voice in praise and worship, listened to the pastor’s sermon attentively, and came away with a full heart, renewed in hope. Later in the day, […]

On Maundy Thursday afternoon I sat for a time in the sanctuary at Faith Discovery Church, a room that is a sacred place for me, resting in the Presence of God, waiting in prayer, and meditating on Jesus’ journey to the Cross.  The cross that decorates the wall is beautiful polished wood, draped in purple, […]

I am a man with a busy mind, a do-er who is task-oriented. Those traits complicate my interactions with other people and I constantly coach myself, with varying amounts of success, to be ‘present.’  The best relationships exist when both people are paying attention, fully engaged. For most of our marriage, Bev and I were […]

The scenes from the streets of Ukraine are hard to look at, aren’t they?  The horror of war is even worse when it involves murder of civilians. I cry “why, Lord?”   Though I hear no audible response, I do find this in the Gospel record – “I suffer, too.”  Before we get to rejoice on […]