BLOG––Encouraged by Faith

“Paperwork, cleaning the house, dealing with the innumerable visitors who come all through the day, answering the phone, keeping patience and acting intelligently, which is to find some meaning in all that happens – these things, too, are the works of peace.” Dorothy...

I'm so proud of my son Scott Kenney for coming up with such a thoughtful communion meditation.  He delivered this on May 5, 2019, at East Side Church of Christ in Colorado Springs.   “Welcome to the Table of the Lord. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for...

“The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me, so they will not profane my holy name. I am the Lord.”Leviticus 22:1-2 NIV It’s as if babies instinctively know the sacred. As if they...

Stephen the Martyr is preaching while he’s dying. His words ignite hate in the hearers. We have the text in Acts 7. The angry sweating mob throw their coats to an approving Saul. He condones this act of silencing Stephen the traitor. But Stephen continues speaking and I doubt the crowd is...

Let me as a grandparent thank you all for the wonderful work you are doing with our grandkids.  I have high hopes for their future and present faith. I recognize that some of that hope is hinged upon your faithful performance of your duties. Those hopes and dreams are not being...

I watched an interview with David Gregory and Yossi Klein Halevi recently and was amazed at how the discussions going on with Judaism today have ancient roots.  So many of the issues are framed by the attitude toward land. Must a Jewish person today be a Zionist? In overly...

  Sometimes our need for God is ever before us. We feel unable to take another step or draw another breath unless God somehow supernaturally delivers us. These times of brokenness can be quite profound from a spiritual standpoint, especially when reviewed later. At other times, we feel...

  Maranatha. The word rolls off our tongues easily––Lord come quickly––but its implications might give us pause.  Do I really want the Lord to come quickly?  Perhaps even tonight? When all is right with my life, I confess I do not always crave the final...

When I was a teenager, The Vogues came out with a song called “You’re the One” (1965). Feel free to pause and listen to it on YouTube. At the time, it was a notional song that had no personal impact on me. However, over the years, I had several romantic interests and eventually...

Confession is good for the soul, they say. I believe it! Some of my friends know more about me than others do. Some of them know things that would be bad for my reputation, should they ever feel like doing me harm. It’s that vulnerability that keeps me from telling Everyone...