SINGING FOR JOY

I posted this on Facebook several years ago, but I think it bears repeating!  Cross necklaces are not as popular as they used to be, but I continue to wear mine, and here is why: 1. I am a sinner saved by grace. I am painfully aware of how far short I fall of God’s holiness and glory. Wearing a cross necklace is my daily visible reminder to be grateful that Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for my sins so that I might have abundant and eternal life. 2. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a visible sign of my identity in Christ and my identification with His work of love, peace, forgiveness, unity, and mercy.  

A dear friend has had a ministry for decades now, serving refugees from countries such as Burundi, D. R. Congo, and Rwanda. Many of these fine people have been resettled in the Phoenix Metropolitan area. It has been my privilege and joy for several years now to periodically attend their church with my friend. This church was founded by several brothers who are from Burundi. These outstanding men were once persecuted during the genocide in their home country and then forced into prison camps there for years. Finally, they were given legal refugee status and allowed to come to the USA to start new lives. They came to this country with absolutely nothing but one plastic bag each with all their earthly belongings. After years of hard work, they are now successful, outstanding, contributing members of our society. Since I am active in my own church, I only attend theirs once or twice a year. But I am welcomed with open arms every time I go. Their worship services are full of gratitude and...

 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 Temporal justice can be messy to obtain. I am currently hearing from many beloved sisters and brothers from the tiny southern African kingdom of Eswatini, where the king still has absolute authority, and the people are demanding democracy. It all sounds very noble, but what this means in real, day-to-day terms is that shops and crops are being looted and burned; roads, the airport, and borders get closed; the army is allegedly shooting dissenters, access to the Internet keeps getting shut down; and the entire country seems to be on fire. This also means that I am hearing from dear sisters in Christ who say, “I am scared. I do not know where to turn or how to feed my children.”  From what I understand, the road to democracy here in America hundreds of years ago was no less gruesome. More recently, the quest for...

I get daily news from the southern African countries in my inbox. I communicate on a daily basis with ministry partners in countries like Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, eSwatini, South Africa, Malawi, Namibia, Kenya, and Madagascar. We discuss ministry things, prayer requests, thanksgivings for what God is doing in our lives, and news of families. Since I know these dear brothers and sisters and have cherished relationships with them, what happens in their part of the world is very important to me. My heart breaks when I see headlines such as the one this morning, “Catastrophic Hunger Descending On Southern Madagascar” because I also hear their personal stories about such real suffering. https://allafrica.com/stories/202106230111.html?utm_campaign=daily-headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=aans-view-link  Yet here I am in America, perhaps living frugally but still with more than enough to eat. We Americans focus intently on our bodies, our healt...

I recently had the most amazing dream. I was in Heaven. The colors were dazzling all around, but the focus was on the radiant bright light that was the Lord Himself. We were a sea of faces surrounding Him, joyfully worshipping our King. Simultaneous to our rapturous adoration, we’d greet each new arrival with exuberant joy. Not only that, but in perfect harmonious order, at the same time as these other activities, each tribe and nation was announced and celebrated with exhilarated delight. It was the party to end all parties! This dream has stuck with me for weeks now, and I’ve even shared it with a few others. But it’s impossible to describe the glorious wonderment, hope, and comfort that vision brings to me every time I recall it. I’m sharing this with you now in the hopes that it will encourage you to also be filled with eager anticipation as you ponder our sublime future with the Lord, available for all those who call upon His Name now in our earthly existence. I’m not saying my ...

My husband spoils me rotten. There, I’ve publicly confessed it, so now may I move on with this post? 😅 This morning, he was cutting up a mango for my breakfast, and was disgruntled to discover that it had ugly brown spots on the inside. Out of curiosity, I Googled for information about why fruit that looks perfectly good on the outside turns out to be brown on the inside. I won’t bore you with the scientific reasons, but please feel free to do research on your own if you’re interested. Of course, I was also disappointed along with John. But you know what? I choose to be thankful that more often than not, I get to eat wonderful, unblemished mangos! Many times in life we find people or situations like that. They look so beautiful and appealing on the surface, but when we look deeper, we find rottenness. Or we believe ourselves to be “good” people, but bad things happen in our lives. Death and decay are part of our reality. I don’t have to use Google to understand this kind of corruption...

Yours, O  Lord , is the greatness, t he power and the glory, t he victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours;  Yours is the kingdom, O  Lord , a nd You are exalted as head over all. 1 Chronicles 29:11 A new Zulu king was proclaimed three days ago. This, and the bitter rivalry for succession to the throne, has been big news in the country of South Africa where the Zulus are still a powerful force. Here are links to just a couple of the many articles on the topic if you are interested:  https://www.africanews.com/2021/05/08/south-africa-royal-scandal-new-zulu-king-s-claim-disputed//   https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/05/28/south-africas-zulu-nation-is-riveted-by-royal-succession-drama-its-about-more-than-who-takes-throne/ Succession there is complicated in part because there are usually multiple wives involved, and multiple children from these wives. The ugliness of the past month or so...