Trusting God
Trusting God I took my grandson to the library for the first time last Friday. J enjoys being read to, so I hoped he would eagerly pick out...
Weekly Devotionals
Pastor Tim Richards
Just the Right Word
Just the Right Word Last Sunday, I read an inspirational Reader’s Digest post, The 100 Greatest Compliments You Could Ever Give or...
God’s Protective Love
God’s Protective Love In How Firm a Foundation, Jennifer Benson Schuldt described a visit to her great-grandmother’s house when she was...
Always Trusting God
Always Trusting God My friend Irene Hurt shared this story about Stephen Grellat which appeared in Measure Your Life, by Wesley Duewel....
The Hope of Easter
The Hope of Easter Popular author, Jim Cymbala, became pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle in 1971. He once wrote about a particularly busy...
Choices
Choices Columnist Bill Crowder wrote in a recent Our Daily Bread devotional that according to the Daily Mirror, a British newspaper, the...
Burgers to Blessings
Burgers to Blessings Ray Kroc was an incredibly successful entrepreneur. The 52-year-old believed he had discovered a gold mine when he...
Has Stealing Become the New Norm?
Has Stealing Become the New Norm? If you are like me, you are getting used to using self-check-out lines when you shop. Stores which hire...
Better Together
Better Together Sometimes a single word can bring a thousand memories to mind, words like: “Mom,” “Dad” or “Sweetheart.” Some...
Hearing God’s Voice
Hearing God’s Voice My friend, Bob Johnston, was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Rolla for over 30 years. He recently retired, but...
Dangerous Up and Down
Dangerous Up and Down A few years ago, I read an Our Daily Bread devotional by Mike Wittmer, about a mountain climber who reached the...
Commitment to a Higher Purpose
Commitment to a Higher Purpose Each Christmas someone in my family gives me a book they know I will use for future columns. This year my...
Incorrect Assumptions
Incorrect Assumptions “What in the world were you thinking, Kenneth Ray… The very idea! What are people going to think when they hear...
God Can Bring Good from Bad
God Can Bring Good from Bad I recently finished, Before We Were Yours, a fascinating novel by Lisa Wingate. Her book tells the story of...
A Fresh Start
A Fresh Start Those who read my last column may remember I wrote about Michael and Matthew Clark; two brothers with leukodystrophy, a fatal...
Achieving Maturity
Achieving Maturity Yahoo published a fascinating article in 2012 about two brothers, Michael and Matthew Clark who were living normal lives...
The Power of Love
The Power of Love First-lady Roselynn Carter passed away on November 19, 2023. Her death and thinking about her family’s contributions to...
The Lord Is My Shepherd
The Lord Is My Shepherd The twenty-third Psalm is one of the most famous passages in the Bible. Part of what makes the ancient psalm so...
Gratitude
Gratitude For the past 25 years I have used a marital survey designed and developed in 1977 by Prepare Enrich when I counsel couples. It...
Loneliness
Loneliness In Sam Kim’s excellent book, A Holy Haunting, the author referenced a recent national survey released by Cigna, a global...
Well Done
Well Done Many years ago, I read best-selling author John Maxwell’s fascinating book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Maxwell told...
Second Chances
Second Chances I once read about a man whose name was mistakenly included in the obituary column of his local newspaper. The notice of his...
Don’t Forget to Do Good
Don’t Forget to Do Good Larry Davies and I are friends though we have never met nor spoken by phone. We have read each other’s...
The Surprising Power of Kindness
The Surprising Power of Kindness Jimmy Abbott was born September 19, 1967, without a right hand. When he started school his classmates...
My Jesus I Love Thee
My Jesus I Love Thee William Featherston was born in Montreal Canada in 1846. He would die there when he was only 26. His life did not...
Life Is Short
Life Is Short The boy was barely a year old when the atomic bomb dropped just 100 miles from his home. Six years later during his...
Christianity— Stronger than You Think
Christianity— Stronger than You Think Christian anthropologist Jim Denison says in his June 28, 2023, Daily Article, we need to ask why...
Be A Hero By Serving
My Jesus I Love Thee William Featherston was born in Montreal Canada in 1846. He would die there when he was only 26. His life did not...
God Loves Us Unconditionally
God Loves Us Unconditionally I love the parables found in scripture. Jesus often used these fictional stories to teach spiritual truth in...
Amazing Power of Teamwork
The Amazing Power of Teamwork A couple of weeks ago I was privileged to serve as the photographer for the “Joni and Friends Missouri...
Helping Others
Helping Others Five-year-old Beth Usher experienced up to 100 seizures every day. She often injured herself when she fell during one of her...
Honoring the Overlooked
Honoring the Overlooked Far too often those who work behind the scenes are either ignored or viewed as less valuable than their upfront...
Grandchildren
Grandchildren As my wife and I approach the first birthday of our first grandchild I have been thinking about my first year as a...
Do Your Best Each Day
Do Your Best Each Day Most of you who read my weekly columns do not know that my friend David Shaw helps me edit each column you read....
Small Steps
Small Steps Dr. Jim Denison recently authored a fascinating Daily Article, about a piece which appeared in the MIT Technology Review. It...
God Knows
God Knows In 1994, the FBI arrested Aldrich Ames for espionage. He was a CIA agent for 30 years; during nine of those he sold secrets to...
What America Needs
What America Needs This week our country celebrates its 247th birthday. While Americans enjoy the freedoms our constitution affords us,...
Finding Hope
Finding Hope Stories are one of the most powerful tools speakers have at their disposal. As a pastor I have used them for over 40 years....
Sooner Than We Think
Sooner Than We Think I am writing today’s column the day after I had the honor of conducting my Uncle Ronny’s funeral. Many members of...
God Loves Us As We Are
God Loves Us As We Are Charlotte Elliot, born in 1789, grew up in the home of a minister in Brighton, England. She was a popular young...
Gratitude is an Attitude
Gratitude is an Attitude Over the course of many years, James Banks has had many devotionals in Our Daily Bread. In his devotional...
No Greater Love
No Greater Love… Like many, I was blessed to be with my family on Memorial Day. As I talked with my mother about the holiday, she...
Jesus Loves You
Jesus Loves You For over 2,000 years the life of Jesus has fascinated millions. Even many who do not follow the teachings of Jesus are...
Sharing Our Blessings
Sharing Our Blessings Each morning on his way to work, Glen went through the drive-through of a local coffee shop to order a coffee for...
A Case for Faith
A Case for Faith Lee Strobel’s journey to faith was long and difficult. The former atheist was an award-winning legal editor of the...
Consistent Faithfulness
Consistent Faithfulness I enjoyed reading about a young man named Nelson in the October 28, 2022, Our Daily Bread. Devotional writer, Karen...
Acknowledging Failure
Acknowledging Failure Few outside the ranks of historians know much about President James Garfield and for good reason; our twentieth...
Serving Others
Serving Others All of us have read an inspirational story which made us smile, however, occasionally, a friend plays a significant role in...
An Unexpected Lesson from Einstein
An Unexpected Lesson from Einstein I have always been fascinated by physicist Albert Einstein. His intellect is certainly amazing, but I...
Hope
Hope In The Jesus I Never Knew, award-winning author Philip Yancey examines the story of Jesus’ resurrection. He says those who reject...
Overcoming Loneliness
Overcoming Loneliness Last November an article from Michigan State University (MSU) addressed the devastating impact of rampant loneliness...
Revival at Asbury
Revival at Asbury Did you hear about the recent Asbury revival? Continuous revival services began at Asbury University, in Wilmore,...
Surprising Endings
Surprising Endings For many years country music fans have enjoyed the beautiful harmonies of the hit, Song of the South. It was written by...
The Surprising Truth About God’s Forgiveness
The Surprising Truth About God’s Forgiveness Philip Yancey is one of my favorite authors. His fascinating book, The Jesus I Never Knew,...
Make Pleasing God Your Priority
Make Pleasing God Your Priority I decided to use the story of Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler in a weekly column during Black History Month after...
Healthy Marriages
Healthy Marriages Like most of you, I watched Sunday’s Super Bowl along with an estimated 150 million viewers, but the night before I...
Sacrificial Love
Sacrificial Love Eighty years ago, February 3, 1943, on a frigid night in the North Atlantic, a German torpedo struck the SS Dorchester...
Limits of Knowledge
The Limits of Knowledge All of us have heard the statement, “knowledge is power.” I have a question, is this true? Nearly everyone...
God’s Help to Overcome Stress
God’s Help to Overcome Stress The Penn State Nittany Lions played the Memphis Tigers in the 2019 Cotton Bowl. Penn State’s running...
Do Not Give Up
Do Not Give Up Many people have heard the story found in Matthew 14 of Jesus walking on water. Most probably also know how Jesus told Peter...
Leading By Serving
Leading by Serving Few today know much about our 22nd and 24th president, Grover Cleveland. He was financially conservative in some areas...
Wise Words
Wise Words As we begin 2023, most of us are looking for ways to gain fresh perspective. Perhaps some of you read the recent...