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Psalm 1 –Twelve Psalms for Avent, Christmas & Epiphany

For the 3rd Sunday in Advent (Psalm 1) Why are the psalms so hard? The psalms can be difficult to read. They aren’t like a typical book or letter. The focus and flow of many of the psalms sometimes seems to flit around making it hard to fit one verse with the next. Of course,ContinueContinue reading “Psalm 1 –Twelve Psalms for Avent, Christmas & Epiphany”

Psalm 121: Twelve Psalms for Advent, Christmas & Epiphany

Psalm 121 is referred to as a “Song of Ascents”. Some fifteen psalms bear this title. These psalms are traditionally connected with the time period of Israel’s Babylonian exile. Much like the Hallelujah Psalms that we talked about last time, except the Songs of Ascents are not songs of praise so much as they are expressionsContinueContinue reading “Psalm 121: Twelve Psalms for Advent, Christmas & Epiphany”

Psalm 147: Twelve Psalms for Advent, Christmas & Epiphany

Psalm 147 was composed at a very bittersweet moment in ancient Israel’s history. The holy city, Jerusalem, had been destroyed. God’s people had been in exile for seventy years in Babylon—taken out of their ancestral homeland and more than a generation passes while living in that foreign land. Grandparents weep at the fact that theirContinueContinue reading “Psalm 147: Twelve Psalms for Advent, Christmas & Epiphany”

Psalm 96: Twelve Psalms for Advent, Christmas & Epiphany

Long ago, King Solomon wrote that there is nothing new under the sun. Generations come and go. Winds, waters, the earth, and even heavenly bodies simply repeat their circuits and are the same from age to age. But in Psalm 96 we are told to sing a new song. We are told to sing andContinueContinue reading “Psalm 96: Twelve Psalms for Advent, Christmas & Epiphany”

Psalm 136: Twelve Psalms for Advent, Christmas & Epiphany

Let me make a few introductory remarks: First, I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. Second, I know I haven’t finished my devotional series on The Gospel of Matthew. Forgive me. But I’m currently doing this series of sermons and I thought I’d share them. Maybe finishing Matthew will be my NewContinueContinue reading “Psalm 136: Twelve Psalms for Advent, Christmas & Epiphany”

ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky prays for Damar Hamlin… prays to God!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1Vs59RDITc Maybe 2023 is going to be a brilliant year. We are only a few days in and an amazing thing has happened: Dan Orlovsky, an announcer on ESPN, prayed to God on a live TV Broadcast. Yes, you read that correctly. He prayed, “God, we come to you in these moments that we don’tContinueContinue reading “ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky prays for Damar Hamlin… prays to God!!!”

Devotion # 27

It’s tempting to skip over Matthew 10:1-22. Most of this chapter records warnings and promises that Jesus gave His disciples right before giving them a very special mission. “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans,” He says, “but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” TheseContinueContinue reading “Devotion # 27”

When men strive together to hit a pregnant woman…

Additionally, sound reason demands that we resist the fallacious nature of all pro-choice arguments that try to pit the worth of the mother’s life over and against the life of the baby in her womb. These arguments are false dichotomies. You can’t argue one against the other. Pastor Aaron Kalbas Recently, I posted on my church’sContinueContinue reading “When men strive together to hit a pregnant woman…”

Devotion #26

If you’ve ever grown a garden, you know that timing is everything. You can’t wait around with planting and harvesting. There’s always work to be done. Several years ago, my wife and I had a very large garden. At the time, we had some medical expenses we were trying to pay off, and so weContinueContinue reading “Devotion #26”

Devotion #25

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed. Halleluiah! I know it’s been a little while since I’ve posted any devotions from Matthew. The last leg of the season of Lent and then Holy Week got the best of me. I found myself a bit too busy and overwhelmed to get my thoughts down each morning.ContinueContinue reading “Devotion #25”