Sound Words (Page 7)
SOUND WORDS, AUGUST 13, 2023
BUILDING UP OR TEARING DOWN When I think of New Your City, I think of huge skyscrapers all standing in close proximity to each other. Should an outside force act upon one, it is likely going to affect the rest of the buildings around it. If everyone’s life was represented by buildings, what would our affect be on not only our own building, but also on the buildings we come in contact with? Would owners of other building welcome and even…
SOUND WORDS, AUGUST 6, 2023
WE NEED GOD ALWAYS Because of how busy life is, and because of the weaknesses of the flesh, it is easy to find ourselves thinking only of our earthly needs and desires. If we “get along just fine” through our daily routines, we may feel pretty self-sufficient. What else can we want? We think of our own successes and failures, perhaps thinking little of God’s purposes or our need to live for Him. Why do we really need Him? Even…
SOUND WORDS, JULY 30, 2023
GROWING FOR A RUN Growing up I remember a threat my parents used against me should I fail to act right…If I didn’t get my act together in this class or that one, if I didn’t get the grades my parents knew I was capable of, if I was misbehaving and acting foolish, the threat was usually the same…NO MORE SPORTS. I love sports. I love playing them. I love watching them. I love watching my son play them. But…
SOUND WORDS, JULY 23, 2023
BURNING HEARTS Sometime after the resurrection of Christ, Jesus met two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus. They were discussing the things that had recently developed concerning Christ when He suddenly joined them on their journey, but the Bible says, “their eyes were kept from recognizing him (Luke 24:13-16). When Jesus asked them about their conversation, they were amazed that He could be unaware of the events that had so publicly transpired, and they began to tell Him about…
SOUND WORDS, JULY 16, 2023
THE CULTURE OF NO CONSEQUENCE In the beginning, the Lord blessed man with a paradise garden to keep, trim, and enjoy. Only one prohibition was mentioned. Adam and Eve were not to eat of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2:17). If they ate, they would lose their place in the garden and forfeit their right to the “tree of life.” They would lose their lives and their special relationship with the Lord. This was the…
SOUND WORDS, JULY 9, 2023
GETTING ON AN ELEVATOR I made the mistake before one of my recent surgeries of looking up, the night before the procedure, exactly what was going to happen. It took those vague words “spinal laminectomy and lumbar fusion” and turned them into ones to inspire anxiety if not terror in the one who was facing the procedure. Google even supplied a couple of un-asked-for photos in addition to the text which were particularly unhelpful. Quite understandably, I could not sleep…
SOUND WORDS, JULY 2, 2O23
WITHOUT THE FULL STORY Judas and Peter were two of the twelve men hand-picked by Christ to serve as His apostles. At first glance, when we read about these men and consider how the acted and the ways in which they moved in the Gospel accounts we see that one was seemed to be successful while the other was a failure. There are qualities about the man named Judas that many would look at as good and would even strive…
SOUND WORDS, JUNE 24, 2023
YOU BETTER WATCH OUT, YOU BETTER NOT… The Devil is no fool. How often we underestimate his cunning and crafty nature. The Scriptures warn of his “wiles” (Eph. 6:11) and tell us of his devices (2 Cor. 2:11). “Wiles” have to do with the Devil’s abilities–abilities to concoct methods, plans, strategies for deceiving us. He’s good at it. Real good. “Devices” are the tools he uses to make his plans work, to cause us to move toward evil. He’s good at that,…