What brings joy at Christmas? It’s not just one thing. It’s a combination of many. Family get-togethers We started the season early, heading out to Keely’s and Mark’s in mid December as…
Category: Joy Notes
Posts that intend to inspire
Thanks for giving your gifts!
This last Sunday at Community Wesleyan was a festival of gifts. In the Nativity Story (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0762121/), the old shepherd tells Mary that each one of us has a gift. This is a…
The Sunday before Christmas is Cherished
How do you describe the Sunday before Christmas? From my observations over the years, at church, it’s one of the most musical of the year. Many churches put on special dramatic presentations…
More Thanksgiving Ideas
At our extended family Thanksgiving dinner for the Jones clan yesterday, I received a couple really neat ideas for young families. 1. My niece, Pat, and her family who hosted this year…
Making Thanksgiving Real
Thanksgiving is one of the great holidays of the year. These days when so much is determined by commercial value, it is being swallowed up between Halloween and Christmas. I will do…
My Results of Fasting and Prayer through Pray & Act
I have been participating in the national Pray & Act emphasis led by Jim Garlow and Chuck Colson. October 30 marked the formal end of this forty-day fasting and prayer effort on…
A Climate of appreciation returns to us on Pastor Appreciation Sunday!
As a pastor, you never quite know what the congregation will do for pastor appreciation Sunday, a verbal roast, a vacation you weren’t planning on, a hearty dinner or…? And they like…
Corn Maze Fun
Fall is a great time for family fun. On our recent two day trip to Keely’s and Mark’s house, we took time for a couple typical fall activities. The most fun one…
Why a Christian College like Houghton
I usually enjoy my trip to Houghton for the fall Trustee meeting, but this time, something really exhilarating happened. I was privileged to be invited late one evening to give a devotional…
An abundance of blessings
We have just felt so blessed on our trip west. So I decided to make a list of some of the special blessings we have noted. The messianic blessing promised to Israel and…