Spring of Hope

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions               Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here    A Time for Everything Mark Twain said, “Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.”  Time was not created by any man. It was there when we came. In the United States it was a railroad engineer's suggestions that time was finally standardized  on November 18, 1883. Before that, every community decided what time it was on their own. all railroads out of New York ran on New York time, and railroads west from Chicago mostly used Chicago time, but between Chicago and Pittsburgh/Buffalo the norm was Columbus time. Standard time was not enacted into US law until the 1918 Standard Time Act established standard time in time zones; the law also instituted daylight saving time (DST). Back in 1792 the French tried a ten-day week with ten hours in a d

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions               Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here    A Faster Delivery A Hollywood maternity shop received this note in the mail: "Dear Sirs, you have not yet delivered that maternity dress I ordered. Please cancel the order. My delivery was faster than yours."  In today's world of online shopping, we pay extra for faster deliveries. Now we have same day delivery or even one hour delivery.  We want our orders fast and quick. The birth of Jesus was faster than Mary or Joseph expected. They did not pay for a faster delivery.  But the delivery of the baby was faster than they expected. So was with all the characters in the story of Christmas.  "While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room availa

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions               Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here    Immanuel "When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and accepted and  took Mary home as his wife." (Matthew 1:24) Last year at Christmas time, an elderly woman said, “pastors preach about the busy schedules of the holidays and the need to make time in the busy schedules to meditate on the scripture and take time for prayer. These are great suggestions, but my problem is that I am not busy. I am 86 years old, estranged from my family, have eyesight issues due to  macular degeneration, and live alone. My Christmases are devoid of joyful activity.” This Christmas season, many of us spend the time without family or company. Some of you may have planned with family or friends, who probably have changed their plans due to health or other unforeseen circumstances. We may ask God

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions               Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here    Advent of Peace Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”  Many people are afraid of car washes.  They get anxious, they check and recheck the windows and hold their breath during a car wash.  One such man writes,  “Powers beyond my control began moving my car forward as if on a conveyor belt. There I was, cocooned inside, when a thunderous rush of water, soap, and brushes hit my car from all directions. What if I get stuck in here or water crashes in?" We are all going through a car wash experience with this pandemic.  We are afraid when this conveyor belt situation will move forward. We are mostly cocooned inside when news of deaths and tragedies like the brush of storm hitting us daily from all directions.  People have lost jobs, homes, businesses.

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions               Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here    Advent of Love Advent season anticipates the coming of coming of Christ from different perspectives. It signifies the longing for the coming of the Messiah into history as the Savior, into our hearts and lives and the Lords and and it alerts for His second coming as the King.  In the letter to the Roman church, Paul says, "Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into us" (Romas 5:5). The hope of the coming of Messiah is established in God’s love. God's love is given as a gift of no return that was evidenced in the coming of Christ. “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8). Advent calls us for a love that must be experienced.  We may hear about God's love from others or by reading about it. But a person

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions               Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here    Advent of Hope In the Christian calendar, the new year starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas day (December 25). It is called the advent Sunday and the season of advent is for four weeks that ends on Christmas eve. It is a season observed as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. The term is an English version of the Latin word adventus, meaning 'coming'. The season of advent anticipates the coming of Christ from three different perspectives. It offers an opportunity to share in the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah into history. It also signifies the longing for the coming of the Messiah into our hearts and lives; and it alerts for His second coming as the King. Advent has past, present and future in itself.  The Bible tells us that God

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions               Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here    Peniel-The Face of God In a certain pond, there were two ducks and a frog who were neighbours and the best of friends. They played together all day long during the summer time. But as the cold drew near and the water dried up, the ducks realized they would have to move. This would be easy for them, but what about their friend the frog? Finally it was decided that they would put a stick in the bill of each duck, and then the frog would hang onto the stick with his mouth and they would fly him to another pond. And so they did. Just then, a farmer looked up and said to his wife, "What a great idea! I wonder who thought of that?" Proudly, the frog said, "I did!" Thus illustrating: "Pride goes before a fall!" Jacob the resourceful and aggressive planner and schemer who thought he was the