My wife and I served as evangelical, protestant missionaries in France for eleven and a half years, after which I became the pastor and director of a Christian school in a French-speaking evangelical church, L'Eglise Evangelique de Saint Jerome, in Quebec, Canada. After serving in Quebec for five years, we then moved to Greenville, South Carolina, where I became the pastor of the First Evangelical Church of Greenville. In 1995, we moved to Tallahassee, Florida, where I eventually assumed the management of the family business, and remained there until 2012, when our family moved to Meridian, Idaho. My wife and I have six children. These short devotionals are born out of the loss of one of these children in particular, with the hope and prayer that they will serve to encourage and inspire those who read them in their walk with Christ. God bless you all, and may we finish well the race set before us.
“And he laid it (a live, burning coal) upon my mouth, and said, ‘Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.’” Isaiah 6:7 Dear Ones: James, the Apostle, writes concerning the matter of speaking, “If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man,…
“For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth in peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” Isaiah 55:12 Dear Ones: Throughout Scripture there are references to mountains. Sometimes the significance and meaning of them concerns…
“So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.” 1 Samuel 1:18 Dear Ones: Does God answer prayer? How do we know? In the story of Hannah, in 1 Samuel 1-2:11, we find a woman who had no children. Scripture tells us that, “…the Lord had shut up…
“She saith unto Him, ‘Yes, Lord: I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.’” John 11:26 Dear Ones: When John the Baptist came upon the scene, to prepare the way for Christ’s coming and ministry, he came preaching “…the baptism of repentance for the remission (or…
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” John 1:18 Dear Ones: One of the most difficult concepts to grasp with regard to knowing God is the fact that He is invisible. Paul reaffirms John’s declaration on this subject,…
“No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” 2 Timothy 2:4 Dear Ones: Abraham was an unentangled man. How can this be when God had blessed him in every way, ultimately giving him a son of promise concerning …
“Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24 Dear Ones: The whole of Christianity is based on objective truth, as revealed in the Scriptures, and in Jesus Christ. Not only do we read what Paul says about the Scriptures as being inspired by God, Peter declaring the same thing,…
“…so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death.” Philippians 1:20 Dear Ones: The ways of God are certainly not our ways, but they are sure, and eternal. In choosing to follow Christ, we are called upon to embrace the ways and perspectives of God which…
“And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.” Nehemiah 2:8 Dear Ones: Shushan, or Susa, was an ancient capital of the Persian empire. Nehemiah, who was in the service of the king of Persia, was a very long way from Jerusalem. And yet, his heart for some reason…
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can you, except ye abide in Me.” John 15:4 Dear Ones: What is fulfillment? What is true satisfaction of heart, mind, and soul? Is it not the experience that God by the…