When I was a very small girl, Dad and I went on a carnival ride. They called it the Octopus. Maybe you’ve heard about it and its ridiculous tentacles. I was terrified throughout the ride, but the end is most indelibly impressed in my memory. I remember lying on my back as the ride came …
Life Without Dad: Life in the Past Tense
Last summer, two friends kept suggesting we spend a day at this place their parents had taken them to as children. They remembered driving to a lake that dried up each summer. They insisted it was called “Big Dry,” but no one else seemed to know anything about it. I got out a map to …
NT 10:5 The Testing of our Faith
Week 10, Part II: James and the Fatherless Day 5: The Testing of our Faith (James 1:2-4, I Peter 1:6-8, Job 23-24) A few years ago, I helped out with an annual outreach in Central Montana. The pastor who organized it set up tents in 3 communities where we held Vacation Bible Schools and preaching …
NT 10:4 The Work of Experience and Hope
Week 10, Part II: James and the Fatherless Day 4: The Work of Experience and Hope (James 1:2-4, Romans 5:3-6, Proverbs 13:12; Psalm 39:7) “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.” Proverbs 13:12a No one likes disappointment. You hope for something and you hope for something and then — It doesn’t happen. You don’t get the …
NT 10:3 The Work of Patience
Week 10, Part II: James and the Fatherless Day 3: The Work of Patience (James 1:2-4) Very often the book of James deals with two primary things: Our heart attitudes and our actions. Though there are many subtopics, you can pretty well organize the entire book under these two headings. Looking at it from this …
