Do you have a favorite Christmas movie? What about a favorite Christmas movie scene? Here are a few of my favorites: When Will Farrell, the Elf, is in the department store in New York, and he hears on the loudspeaker, “Santa is coming soon!” and he goes crazy: “SANTA!!” When Ralphie and the family have […]

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. One of the reasons for this is because it reminds me to be thankful, and giving thanks makes me realize how very blessed I am. Giving thanks can also open our eyes to what God might be doing in our lives, even in the middle of difficult times.

On July 12, we received the first images of the James Webb telescope, and they are incredible! The telescope is providing images from billions of light years away, allowing us to peer into what the universe looked like when it was just forming after the Big Bang.  The reaction from the public has been overwhelming and,

      I am blessed to have had, you might say, four fathers in my life. I cherish each one in different ways. I am thankful for my “real” earthly father, Tom Beasley. He was born in 1920 and raised in a small town in North Texas called Eliasville, which is now a ghost town. He

JUNIA, THE WOMAN APOSTLE Did you know that there was a woman apostle?  There was, and today, May 15, is a day in the Christian calendar to honor her. During the Middle Ages, the Christian church began commemorating the lives of deceased Christians, both to honor them and be encouraged by such a “great cloud

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been overwhelmingly sad and sobering. While the indiscriminate brutality and aggression of the Russian government is shocking, the indomitable spirit of the Ukrainian people, who will fight to the finish for their freedom and dignity, is inspiring. What are we in the West, watching from our cozy warm homes,

          “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem, and asked ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:1,2)            “This will be a

Do you have joy? When is the last time you experienced full-throttled, deep, peaceful joy? So much of life today robs us of joy, and that’s not right! Does it surprise you that God created us to have joy, and even more, to be “full of joy” (John 17:13). As C.S. Lewis said, joy is

Bimala, 17 years old, lives in Nepal. Like many women in Nepal, Bimala was lured into India by a man who promised her a future.  He promised to take her traveling to beautiful places in India and buy her expensive clothes. After luring her into India, however, it became clear he had  sinister plans. Thankfully,

In the last blog, we began to explore the interesting (and relevant) question of how we should understand the forceful conquest of the land of Canaan by the ancient Israelites as recorded in the Old Testament books of Joshua and Judges.  God was settling the new nation of Israel in Canaan, and this new nation