"Simon, Simon, [Peter] behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Luke 22:31-32 (New American Standard Bible) I have just come out of an intense time of sifting. I have been greatly encouraged with a portion of a sermon I read three summers ago by … [Read more...] about The Lapidary’s Cut
perspective
A Healed Scar
"Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders..." Revelation 5:6 (NIV)Just one week after I had left Congo for college and a new life in the United States-the land that had gotten into my blood after eight years of living there-I was involved in a major vehicle accident. From that accident, I … [Read more...] about A Healed Scar
Footprints In The Sea
"Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen." Psalm 77:19 (New International Version)When I was in eighth grade, my family went with two other families to Moanda, the fifteen mile strip of Congo coast on the Atlantic Ocean. Everyday we would load up in our vehicle and head down to Tonde (Tone-day) Beach to spend the day … [Read more...] about Footprints In The Sea
Longing’s Disappointment
"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to … [Read more...] about Longing’s Disappointment
While I Was Still Speaking
"Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land." Proverbs 25:25After three and a half years of living in the Congo (called Zaire at the time), we were now just weeks away from leaving to go home to our family in the United States. Our excitement was palpable. Everyday I would mentally mark off another day until the MAF plane landed on our airstrip to take us to the capital … [Read more...] about While I Was Still Speaking
Perseverance’s Reward
"Do not, therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward. For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised. For still a little while (a very little while), and the Coming One will come and He … [Read more...] about Perseverance’s Reward
