My oldest foster son and I are waiting in the pediatric dentist’s office with other parents and children under the age of ten. In the waiting room is a big screen TV playing the Disney channel. The episode being aired is Halloween themed. It’s Disney, right? It’s innocent. Or…
Read MoreWe’ve all been hollowed and shaken with the gut-wrenching question, “Why me?” This certainly happened to Naaman, a well-known and deeply respected military marvel. His story is found in 2 Kings 5. Fame, wealth, and authority surround this man whose name in Hebrew — which is naem— means “be…
Read MoreAt this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid. — 2 Kings 5:2 She was just a whisper. He was a warrior. This servant didn’t have a real…
Read MoreLast week, I wrote about a volunteer from the Red Cross who left me a voicemail. Her name is Bethany. Bethany’s message was prerecorded. You may have received it, too. In her upbeat message, she shared numerous perks available to anyone who came in to donate blood. I also…
Read MoreRemember how jarring it was—how unnerving—to hear a robotic, automated voice in your home for the first time? I know you heard it at home because this modern marvel invention predates cell phones. “Oh, great,” some of us must have thought. “Now we have machines that talk like humans—sort…
Read MoreWhen the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. — Luke 22:14 When the time had come for the Last Summer, all the stories leading up to the meal were in place. From tremendous amounts of fish being caught in an instant to the miraculous…
Read MoreRomeo and Juliet gave us the Capulets and Montagues. American history gave us the Hatfields and the McCoys. West Side Story gave us the Jets and the Sharks. Professional baseball still gives us New York Yankee fans and Boston Red Soxs fans. Today, we have those for masks and…
Read MoreHide and seek For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. — Colossians 3:3 “Hide and Seek” is timeless, wonderful, and intergenerational. Really intergenerational. Humanity has been hiding from God since we’ve been humanity. Some consider Adam and Eve allegorical. Others take…
Read MoreSo be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. — 1 Peter 1:6 So, how sweaty was the groom some thirty minutes before the wedding? Well, he used a full-sized towel to mop his upper body. If asked…
Read MoreHere’s the disclaimer upfront. Dr. Seuss died on September 24, 1991. So, technically, he did not come to church in Harford this past Sunday, September 12th. One of his quotes did, however. Seuss never explicitly wrote as a Christian with Christian ideology. This didn’t preclude him in this…
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Copyright William Hagenbuch. All rights reserved.