In our continuing exploration of Michigan, today my husband and I visited Old Town in Lansing, Michigan. In 1825 a surveying crew stopped along the Grand River next to what is now Lansing and plotted land that would someday be called Old Town.  James Seymour and Jacob Cooley from New York purchased the land from […]

there are two kinds of Christians: those who sincerely believe in God and those who, just as sincerely, believe that they believe. You can tell them apart by their actions in decisive moments.”     Pastor Richard Wurmbrand Richard Wurmbrand, founder of Voice of the Martyrs was born in Bucharest, Romania. Highly intellectual, Richard was fluent […]

For many weeks this post has been on my mind.  I have hesitated in writing it because the last thing I want is to offend anyone or cause more divisiveness than we already have in our nation. But as the past few days have become so bad with clashes between different factions in our nation, […]

It’s the holiday season and so it begins.  Many Christians complaining because people are saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”  I hear claims that we cannot now say “Merry Christmas.”  But no one is stopping us from saying that.  A few employers may ask their people to use the “Happy Holidays” response to customers, […]

Growing up in church I often heard a quote from the gospel of Luke that tells us Jesus said “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. Often this would be followed by an admonition that as Christians we would have crosses we must […]

According to Mercy Ships, five billion people lack access to safe surgery. Children, teens, and adults suffer and die every day from treatable causes, and one child in eight will die before age 5. In 1978 Don and Deyon Stephens founded Mercy Ships in Switzerland. Don says that “A devastating hurricane, meeting Mother Teresa and […]

Growing up I often heard my mother say that as you age time flies faster.  I always thought that was silly.  Time is time.  It does not move slower or faster.  A minute is 60 seconds, an hour is 60 minutes.  Same for everyone. Now that my mother is gone and I am the old […]

When I was in junior high we had an assignment to find out our family’s background – what nationality made up our family tree.  My parents did not have a lot of information to share, but Dad said his mother’s family was Irish and his father’s family German.  Mother was not very clear about her father’s side […]

More wisdom from my daily devotion book. Salvation is not a self-help program. What you worship is what you become We are often so caught up in our activities that we tend to worship our work, work at our play, and play at our worship. Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a […]

We often look at the Beatitudes as a moral code. We see it as an ideal that no one can really live up to. Perhaps it is a goal that we strive to achieve so that God will grant us entrance to heaven some day. As we head into another presidential campaign, we see politicians […]

There is a popular Christmas song that many love and it gets a lot of air time at the holiday season.  I love it too, especially the line that says “When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God.” But I have to ask myself as I listen to this song, do […]

After visiting Flint, Michigan on a recent trip, my husband and I traveled on to one of the most interesting little towns – Frankenmuth.  Known as “Little Bavaria” the sign welcoming us gave a feel for what was to come as we explored the town.  Its Bavarian-style architecture highlights its German roots. On of the […]

A rich young ruler came to Jesus with an important question: “What can I do to inherit eternal life?” Depending on what religious background you come from, there could be different answers. Some religions reject the very idea of “eternal life” and believe your spirit will live on in some form or another and that […]

In the fall of 2002 I was diagnosed with an advanced and very aggressive cancer.  Hearing my doctors words, “The odds are not in your favor,” I realized I was heading into the battle of my life. Would I live or would I die? Facing your own mortality changes the way you look at the […]