Picture it, a small child holding her father’s hand, walking through a carnival.  Everywhere she turns there are distractions and attractions. Yet, in that clamor and chaos, would this child dare release her hand from his?  To do so, might just end in becoming separated, and finally lost. Instinctively, the child’s grip tightens, rather than…

The Great Commission is not an invitation, but a command.  So, when we take it seriously, we find ourselves stepping into ministry, which compounds an already hectic lifestyle. So often, our unhurried moments with God become a casualty of war, instead of a conductor of love.  Where do we draw the line between our mission’s…

The seven skaters looked at us like we just landed our spacecraft.  The best tact, direct and to the point: “We’re here to talk with you about Christianity!” Seven skateboards, seven suspicious souls.   Some rolled their eyes, and others went to leave.  But something kept their feet on those boards. We had an honest…

One of my top-ten all time favorite books!  Here’s a few snippets from its musty bindings.             Bonhoeffer said, “The church must get out of the cloister and into the world…man is challenged to participate in the sufferings of God at the hands of a godless world.  He must therefore plunge himself into the life…

Three daughters. Different as any humans can be, represented in this photo by the tight bulbs that encircle the bloom. Do you see them—three resplendent objects of perfection? Three individual shoots, yet all from the same branch. In shades, they share their mother’s quiet determination, and their father’s artistry; their mother’s discipline and their father’s…

On this night, sixty-eight years ago, our president, FDR spoke to an anxious nation.  Our boys were  storming the beaches of Europe to a hail of bullets and bombs, many never to return. Those who listened to him that evening didn’t need more information, because special reports had trickled in all day.  The nation waited…

Nothing can bring us to heaven, this side of eternity, like a spirit orchestrated, soul surrendered hour in prayer.  I wrote this during a time like that, where I entered the attic hot with concerns, tied up inside and wondering where my reason was heading, but then got up from my knees refreshed, as though…

True faith doesn’t feel good, like splitting the tape under 60 seconds in a gut busting 400 meter run. But there you are bent over,  numb, tight, gasping for air, and smiling from ear to ear.  We are designed by God to hold faith, so that if He wills, we move into the hot spots…

For several years I have written short devotionals on the subject of prayer.  The collection of 40 or so thematic writings on intimacy with God sit on my blog site undisturbed and gathering cyber dust.(Onshouldersoftheshepherd.blogspot.com)   Then last year while in Puebla, Mexico, I walked through the old town with my daughter Audrey, distracted by…

Sitting in Common Ground Cafe, Bed Stuy Brooklyn.  Misty overcast day, light cool breeze brushes my face, and I sip a fine Chai Tea Latte.  Suddenly, the Lord brings a question to my mind.  What are you afraid of?  This takes me by surprise, and as I ponder it’s implications, the idea of faith’s battle…