My name is Patrick, and tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day. When I was growing up, on the front side of my life and part of a proud Irish family, I held this day higher than my birthday. Now that I’m on the back side of my life, it’s not St. Patrick that I celebrate as […]
How can you be thankful if you are not humble, and how can you be humble if you are not patient, and how can you be patient if you are not dependent on God, and how can you be dependent unless you trust in the Lord God Almighty with all your heart and lean not […]
LOVE IN THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love Yeah they’ll know we are Christians by our love. Where is this love today, my friends, in the political landscape of this country? Serious Christians are drawn to the outermost poles of the political spectrum, from far left […]
A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE It’s not so much what you do but where you are standing when you do it. Whatever does that mean? you might ask, with a frown on your forehead and a blank stare at the wall. Well, there are two worlds you can choose to stand in. One is the natural […]
THE HOLY SPIRIT WRITES A BLOG Now, here’s a new one for me. I’m letting the Holy Spirit write this blog. Pardon me as I quiet my mind and listen for what He has to say to y’all, and to me as well. You hurry and scurry all over the place buying Christmas presents and […]
EVERYTHING THE HOLY SPIRIT CAN DO The man, in his natural self, looked into his own soul first, then to the world around him, and finally to his God. In his spiritual self, he saw God first, then the world around him as a reflection of God, and finally the soul God […]
THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Where does the power to pray come from? Where does the power to do anything of significance in the kingdom of heaven come from? As with electricity, power comes from a source, and the source of spiritual power is the Holy Spirit.
GROWING OLDER As you grow older, if you are focusing on this world, your life is behind you. If you are focusing on heaven, your life is before you. The focus on heaven makes life exciting. The focus on this world makes life depressing.
OBSERVATIONS FROM A COURTROOM BENCH Last Monday afternoon, I sat in the Wright County Courthouse for two hours at Joe’s hearing, a young man I’m mentoring who resides in a county jail. You can read about that part of the story in the last blog. Today I want to make some general observations about my […]
FEAR OF THE LORD Mr. Beaver about Aslan: “Of course he’s not safe. But he’s good.” Various people in The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis were afraid when they encountered Aslan face to face. After all, he was a powerful lion and mighty in deed. So too it is with God. If (and certainly […]