'A Taste of Home' Articles from Heartlight

Tough Decisions and God's Precious Gift

editor@heartlight.org (Kristi Powers) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 02:00:00 -0500

What would you have done?

It is that time of year again ... the time for rainy spring days, the smell of budding flowers, and the sound of chatter on the softball field. As I watch the tear-stained eighteen-year-old, I want to hug out all of the sadness and frustration she is feeling and tell her how much I love her. Tonight may be the last softball game of her high school career. A career cut short because a nagging knee injury needs surgery so that she can be ready to fulfill her athletic scholarship at college. As I gaze upon her face, I cannot help but think of how fortunate I have been to know this beautiful young lady. However, I know how easily her song could have been one that was unsung. It was almost nineteen years ago that a teenager trembled as she tearfully said to her mother and father the words that every parent dreads ... "Mom, Dad, I’m pregnant." What a frightening time for a nineteen-year-old as she is just starting her adult life and already facing an uncertain future. What devastation for the parents as this is the last thing they would have chosen for their daughter. Thoughts of "we have failed her" to "I am too young to be a grandparent" fill their minds. In a heartbeat, the atmosphere in the house becomes strained and the following nights are long for the teen as she drenches her pillow with tears. Tears that come only when she thinks no one can see or hear her. Many try to persuade her to keep her options open, but there is only one choice for this determined teen. The little life within her has now become her responsibility, and she will sacrifice all she has to see that this precious being grows to be the young man or woman God intended him/her to be. She is at peace with herself and the choice she has made. A baby’s first cries fill the air and an exhausted, but proud, teenage mom holds her young daughter for the first time. She is inexperienced, but is determined to provide for her priceless daughter the best way that she can. If the first few days are any indication, she has a tough hill to climb. Because of no insurance, she leaves the hospital early and takes her daughter home, but the baby girl develops jaundice and they are forced back to the hospital. Her pediatrician tells her to leave the baby in their care and to go home and rest. "You have got to be kidding me!" she exclaims, refusing to leave her baby girl for even a moment. Something inside her clicks, and with a determination that surpasses anything she has felt up to this point, she comes to grips with the situation. "You are a mom now. Deal with it," she quietly tells herself. Life is not easy and many hopes and plans for the future are set aside. The early years are filled with tests and trials, but it is a time in her life that she wouldn’t trade for anything. During those rough days and nights, she need only look at this tender creation God has given her to realize that the best things in life are right before her in the smile, the coo, and the laugh of this darling baby girl. Those eighteen years have flown by, and I ponder all of these things as we slowly walk away from the softball diamond today. I think about all the joy this baby girl (who is now a young woman herself), has brought into my life and to those around her. I remember all the basketball and softball games that we as her family have sat through, proudly cheering her on. Not only is she the best all-around female athlete I have ever seen, she is also one of the classiest and I am most proud of who she is off the court. She conducts herself with grace and humility and shows kindness to all who cross her path. I cannot imagine life without my Jen, my darling eighteen-year-old niece. Tonight my heart is bursting with pride, love, and joy for this remarkable being that came into our lives. I shudder to think if she had not been born. How different our family would have been, not to mention the lives of an untold number of people whom she has touched in her everyday life. A scared but determined teenage mom made a tough decision all those years ago, and through it, gave us all the gift of Jen.

Apples in Autumn

winther1@cox.net (Katha Winther) — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 02:00:00 -0600

So many good things in fall!

Autumn has arrived! This technically happened on September 23, 2011, and the signs of the seasonal changes are all around us. For example, I read the "Peanuts" cartoon strip recently. Charlie Brown and Lucy observed a tree - one of its leaves fell to the ground. Lucy asked Charlie if he knew the significance of that event. She explained (in her opinionated way) that it is better to be a tree, and not a leaf. I guess she meant that the tree continues to grow and live while the leaf drops off and is gone. Maybe you have another conclusion to her philosophical statement. Yes, nature puts on a beautiful display of colorful leaves at this time of year with fall foliage. In some areas, we see different shades of red and gold. It's also the time of year that some enjoy planting bulbs, in anticipation of springtime blooms - Chrysanthemums are popular now. We'll "fall back" an hour to standard time on November 6th in some places, and it will get darker sooner. Some schools take children on field trips to pumpkin patches and nut farms. Some memories that I have of high school are football games, pep rallies, hayrides, wiener roasts and bonfires. Years later, there are class reunions, which often occur in the fall and remind the attendees of the years that have passed. When the weather gets that autumn "nip" in the air and turns cool, we turn our thoughts to bundling up. Out come the jackets, windbreakers, warm socks, boots, warm pajamas and flannel (or corduroy) shirts. Sometimes we add more bedding - blankets, quilts, comforters, and afghans in an effort to be warm and cozy. Something comes over me when it gets cool: I buy yarn and crochet. In the fall, it's so nice to enjoy a hot cup of coffee, herbal tea, hot apple cider, or a mug of hot chocolate milk with a marshmallow on top as we sit by the fire or snuggle up with a pet and read a good book. Even Starbucks has gotten into the act: they're advertising their Pumpkin Spice Latte these days - a definite sign of fall. Those fall beverages make me think of fall food - a big pot of chili or beef stew, turkey, yams, popcorn and popcorn balls, a basket of fruit, nuts to crack, gingerbread, pecan pie and smells of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Apples are abundant now, with many varieties to choose from - Red and Golden Delicious, Gala, Pink Lady, Pippin, Braeburn, Rome Beauty, Fuji, Granny Smith, Jonathan, McIntosh, and York. They can be enjoyed in so many different ways - eaten plain, apple pie, Apple Betty, applesauce, caramel or glazed, and even with peanut butter on slices (a personal favorite of mine). The main thing for me is that autumn is the time for giving thanks, recognizing our abundance, and rejoicing in the good gifts of God. Let's not allow a "scarecrow" or two to get us down. We are blessed in so many ways, and have much for which we should be thankful - an autumn abundance. And here are a couple ways to celebrate that abundance:

Psalm 100

Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth!
Worship the LORD with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the LORD is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
(Psalm 100:1-5 NLT)

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come
Words by Henry Alford (w. 1844)

Come, ye thankful people, come,
Raise the song of harvest home!
All is safely gathered in,
Ere the winter storms begin;
God, our Maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied:
Come to God's own temple, come,
Raise the song of harvest home.

We ourselves are God's own field,
Fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown
Unto joy or sorrow grown;
First the blade, and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear;
Lord of harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.

Title image licensed from Adobe Stock Images.

About the author: Katha's small town upbringing in Sherman, Texas was slow paced, with loving parents, lots of down home cooking, and church attendance. Katha graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in English and continued graduate studies in English at Abilene Christian University. Katha was an editor at a publishing company and has done freelance for businesses as well as writing devotional articles for Power for Today. She and her husband have two grown children and a granddaughter. Katha enjoys reading, crocheting, yoga, and singing in groups and as a soloist.

Finding Jesus: Experiencing Immanuel

phil@heartlight.org (Phil Ware) — Sat, 14 Jan 2023 02:00:00 -0600

Do we feel like we have to keep up some kind of smokescreen so others won't know about our own times of emptiness and longing?

[Jesus to the Christians in the church at Laodicea:] "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me" (Revelation 3:20).

Jesus longs to draw near to us and to be real to us. He will not force himself into our lives. He is looking for people willing to seek after him and welcome his living presence (John 7:7-8; Acts 17:24-28). While most of us have experienced a soul-hunger for Jesus to be real in our lives, we often forget that Jesus has a similar longing. The Lord longs to satiate our hunger with himself. Christ Jesus years to fill our soul-emptiness with his presence. I am not sure why we don't talk about this more as Jesus' disciples.

Are we afraid to admit we sense something is missing? Do we feel like we have to keep up a smokescreen so others won't know about our times of emptiness and longing? Are we concerned that if we voice our yearning for Jesus' presence, people will think we have lost faith?

I honestly don't know why we won't talk about this soul-emptiness that can only be filled by Jesus. Most of us know that saying and doing religious things cannot hide this emptiness. More religious activity cannot satiate the hunger in our souls for God's presence. Unfortunately, we continue to stumble through our discipleship with a nagging feeling that something is missing. More church stuff only means the restlessness in our spirits never gets addressed. We seldom turn to the Scriptures to listen for the Holy Spirit's counsel on how to close the gap between our soul-yearning for Jesus to be real to us and the Lord's desire to draw near to us. When Matthew wrote his gospel, he wanted the people in Jesus' church - Matthew is the only gospel that uses the term "church" - to know that Jesus came to be Immanuel, "God with us" (Matthew 1:23). Matthew is the only one to use this term for Jesus. Yet somehow, we lose the significance of the name Immanuel. The sentimentality of Christmas and the liturgy of Advent steal the blessing of this one incredibly revealing name for Jesus. Matthew uses the word "Immanuel," the story of the Magi, and his genealogy to preach the truth: Jesus came to bring God's presence to all people. The Great Commission at the end of his gospel makes God's desire clear: God longs to be present in the life of all people! God had been writing his story long before Abraham's faithfulness. Jesus coming as Immanuel, God with us, was the goal of this story. In Jesus, God entered the human timeline of the story. He did more than come near. In Jesus, God chose to be here, with us! Matthew wants us to know this truth from the beginning of his story. Jesus is Immanuel! Matthew takes great care to convey Jesus' promises to continue to be present as Immanuel with his disciples. He promises to continue to be with them. He reassures them that he will show up and be present in their world as God who chooses to live with them. Jesus made clear the ways his followers could experience him as Immanuel. You see, Jesus longs for us to seek him. The Lord wants us to invite him into our lives so that he can be real to us. He years to fill that soul-emptiness we avoid acknowledging and try to hide. So, here's the question each of us must ask: Will I invite him in to be real, to be Immanuel in my life?

I know of a painting representing the Scripture used to begin our thoughts (Revelation 3:20). In this painting, a man is alone eating at a table. He needs something, or someone, he does not have. He is alone and in distress. Jesus stands at the door of his house knocking, seeking to come in to fill this man's need. The problem is that the only latch to open the door was on the inside. The man must get up, lift the latch, and invite Jesus into his home. The painting is an open-ended question: Will the man open the door to Jesus to come and be Immanuel? This passage is often used today as an altar call to come to Jesus and find salvation. That is NOT how Jesus intended. This invitation was for Christians - church-goers whose passion and relationship with Jesus had grown lukewarm. (If you doubt me on this, please read the verses that surround it!) The question of whether or not we will open the door and invite Immanuel into our lives is our question! In much the same way, Jesus stands at the door of each of our hearts. He yearns to draw near to us. However, we have to be willing to lift the latch, open the door, and invite Jesus into our lives. He is not going to break down the door and barge in on us. Thankfully, Matthew wrote to help us lift the latch, open the door, and invite Immanuel into our lives. Matthew wants us to know that we can experience Jesus. He can be real and present to us. But first, we must get up, go to the door, and invite the Lord into our lives. Matthew wants us to know that Jesus has even told us how we do that in our lives as his followers. But, will we?

How to Experience Jesus as Immanuel Matthew emphasized that there are four ways that we can experience Jesus' presence as Immanuel, God with us:

In Jesus' Story
Jesus came to the world as Immanuel (Matthew 1:23). Getting to know Jesus through His story allows him to become real to us. The more we know Jesus's story - his actions and his teachings and his manner - the better we can recognize him in our lives.
In Authentic Spiritual Community
Jesus shows His presence to us when we live as Christian community (Matthew 18:20). Matthew 18 shows us what true, Jesus-styled community involves - gritty, relationally hard, fellowship.

Matthew 25:40

In Disciple-Making
Jesus said making disciples involves:
- GOING to share Jesus with others;
- BAPTIZING them in the name of the Father, Son, Spirit;
- TEACHING them to OBEY to Jesus' commands.
As we doe these three things, Jesus is with us, always (Matthew 28:18-20).

Now listen again to the promise of these four ways to experience Jesus as Immanuel, the last three promises given by Jesus, himself:

...they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us) - Matthew 1:23.
"...there am I with them" - Matthew 18:20.
"...you did it to me" - Matthew 18:40
"I am with you always, to the end of the age" - Matthew 28:20.

Jesus still stands at our door and knocks. The Lord promises to be present, to be God with us. Matthew has given us four clear ways to experience and know Jesus as Immanuel, ways to open the door and invite him into our lives. But, will I get up, open the door, and invite Immanuel into my life?

About the author: Phil Ware has authored 11 years of daily devotionals, including VerseoftheDay.com, read by 500,000 people a day. He works with churches in transition with Interim Ministry Partners and for the past 21+ years, he has been editor and president of HEARTLIGHT Magazine, author of VerseoftheDay.com, God's Holy Fire (on the Holy Spirit), and aYearwithJesus.com. Phil has also authored four books, daily devotionals on each of the four gospels.

A Great Friend, A Great Man

phil@heartlight.org (Phil Ware) — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 02:00:00 -0500

We are not alone as recipients of the kindness, encouragement, and love of Paul Faulkner. Many others have received the gracious touch of Paul and Gladys.

[A]mong you [greatness] will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves (Luke 22:26-27 NLT).

Important people do great things that people know about. Great people do important things regardless of whether people know about them or not. Paul Falkner was a great person. When my dad died when I was 25, Paul was increasingly there for me as a mentor and a friend. I didn't deserve it; he just was that kind of person. For those of us at Heartlight.org and VerseoftheDay.com, Paul was incredibly important. When the Lord prompted me to use the internet to minister in November of 1995, the internet was not very important and largely unknown as an emerging communicational presence in the world. As I searched for other resources to share in our first year on the web, Paul provided me with a CD full of short, one-minute inspirational and devotional ideas to use - see a few of these articles in the Related Links at the bottom of the page. We still use Paul's articles today. Having him as a writer was vital to us for several reasons. We were unknown and just beginning, far from the 300,000 plus people per day in the 15 languages we are today. Paul's content was excellent and carried some of that Paul Faulkner homespun humor and truth. His presence legitimatized us. If he was willing to share content, we were considered worthy of people's time and investigation. He was contemporary with my dad, so his facilitating the development of a new emerging communication channel was a clear statement to his contemporaries and my elders that this was a worthwhile investment of time, energy, and money. Plus, it was much-needed personal support for that young minister to confidently step into a new area of ministry and know he wasn't alone. Paul did far more than invest in our online ministry. He was a confidant and friend. He supported my preaching ministry. Paul and his wife, Gladys, were a blessing to Donna and me in the crazy years of ministry, teaching, and raising a young family. He was always available to talk on the phone. Then Paul and Gladys moved close to Austin and offered his beautiful ranch as a place to visit, write, and pray - see a personal tribute on Facebook. He blessed our church, ministry, families, and my life in immeasurable ways. One of the most recognizable is my "cornbread English, " which is my version of Paul's cornbread English he challenged me to use. Early in our Heartlight years, the Lord led us to Ben Steed. Ben was a bright, Jesus-loving student at Harding University who needed a little help with his senior year funding. We purchased verseoftheday.com from Ben if he agreed to stay on as part of our team. Paul interceded for him on a scholarship opportunity, and Ben was one of Harding's first Information Technology graduates. Paul's influence then meant we had three generations of faith on which to build our ministry! Ben continues today as my full partner, younger friend, vital team member, and I hope, successor. We are not alone as recipients of the kindness, encouragement, and love of Paul Faulkner. Many others have received the gracious touch of Paul and Gladys. A well-known preacher said that Paul was a great encouragement for young preachers. He is well known and dearly loved. But, as I said at the beginning of this post:

Important people do great things that people know about. Great people do important things regardless of whether people know about them or not.

Paul did great things whether people knew about them. Our lives and ministries have been blessed because Paul was great and not just famous! Yes, "the leader should be like a servant." Thank you, Paul, for living that truth!

Finding Jesus: Experiencing Immanuel

phil@heartlight.org (Phil Ware) — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 02:00:00 -0600

Do we feel like we have to keep up some kind of smokescreen so others won't know about our own times of emptiness and longing?

[Jesus to the Christians in the church at Laodicea:] "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me" (Revelation 3:20).

How to Experience Jesus as Immanuel Matthew emphasized that there are four ways that we can experience Jesus' presence as Immanuel, God with us:

In Jesus' Story
Jesus came to the world as Immanuel (Matthew 1:23). Getting to know Jesus through His story allows him to become real to us. The more we know Jesus's story - his actions and his teachings and his manner - the better we can recognize him in our lives.
In Authentic Spiritual Community
Jesus shows His presence to us when we live as Christian community (Matthew 18:20). Matthew 18 shows us what true, Jesus-styled community involves - gritty, relationally hard, fellowship.

Matthew 25:40

In Disciple-Making
Jesus said making disciples involves:
- GOING to share Jesus with others;
- BAPTIZING them in the name of the Father, Son, Spirit;
- TEACHING them to OBEY to Jesus' commands.
As we doe these three things, Jesus is with us, always (Matthew 28:18-20).

Now listen again to the promise of these four ways to experience Jesus as Immanuel, the last three promises given by Jesus, himself:

...they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us) - Matthew 1:23.
"...there am I with them" - Matthew 18:20.
"...you did it to me" - Matthew 18:40
"I am with you always, to the end of the age" - Matthew 28:20.

A Time to Weep

philip@philipgulley.com (Philip Gulley) — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 02:00:00 -0500

What time is it in your relationship with your older friends and family? What time is it in your own life? Are you ready for closing time?

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die...
(Ecclesiastes 3:12 NRSV)

The morning of my father's operation, my brothers and sister, and mother gathered in his hospital room. After a while, the doctor came in and said they were ready for surgery. We prayed a prayer and filed out of the room. I was the last to leave, and when I did Dad called me back in. He lifted up the Gideon Bible from beside his bed, pulled out a piece of paper, and handed it to me. "Just in case," he told me. I opened the paper and read it. They were his burial instructions, penned during a sleepless night. He went over his instructions, line by line. "I want to be buried at the South Cemetery. Have Bob Bales pick the gravesite. He knows where the best spots are. I want you to give the eulogy. If you're not able, ask Pastor Thornburg at the Quaker meeting." Now it was my turn to care for him. I folded the paper and put it in my pocket. This was a conversation I had never rehearsed and never expected to have. As a minister, I had many conversations like this, but never with my father. Whenever we eat out together, my dad always pays the check. If I reach for the bill, he slaps my hand away and says it's a father's joy to care for his son. Now it was my turn to care for him. Full circle. But it didn't bring me joy. They wheeled Dad away. Six hours later the doctor came out, a smile on his face. An hour later, we got to see Dad. Five days after that, Dad came home. The doctors were optimistic. No more red meat or cigarettes, they told him. He agreed and pledged his promise on the Gideon Bible. I took his burial instructions and put them in my desk under glass. Every time I open my top right-hand drawer, I'm faced with my father's mortality. I'm no longer a little boy thinking my daddy will live forever. I'm a man with sons of my own coming to understand how frayed are the cords which bind us to this earth.

About the author: PHILIP GULLEY is a Quaker pastor. He has been the voice of small-town American life. Along with writing Front Porch Tales, Hometown Tales, and For Everything a Season (and granted us rights to post excerpts of these), he is the author of the Harmony series of novels. Gulley lives in Indiana with his wife, Joan.

Living the ultimate Romance

http://aholyexperience.com/ (Ann Voskamp) — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 02:00:00 -0500

Proven love can grow strong and holy passion can send sparks into the air!

Over our 25 years, HEARTLIGHT.org has passed along the creative blessings of many famous authors who graciously shared their writing with our readers. This year as we celebrate "Shining the Light" for a quarter-century, we will highlight some of these special authors. Today, please enjoy one of Ann Voskamp's early messages that is so full of her grit and grace and love for her husband and Jesus.

I watch you in the kitchen, slicing up a pie, summer evening sloping gold across your face. How do you know the moment when you love someone the most? I used to think it was that wild moment of crazy grace when you asked for forever on Reesor's side road and I laughed the wonder of yes. But then the babies came with the contractions and I really did think it had to be then - you telling me afterward that you thought your arms would be all bruised, but I'd never have guessed, you smiling through every one as I gripped you tight, you looking right in my eyes and nodding that we can do all things in Christ who strengthens us. Your whole life has spoken this to me, again, every time when it comes again, everything hard and tight. Then the day my heart was shattered and you wore your My Wife Rocks t-shirt even though the style wasn't really what farmers wear, and you winked whenever you caught my eye, and I thought that was then when my heart burned deepest amber - the way even your look cradled me gentle. And now I wonder if there never is one singular moment enflamed with the very most love - but real love is when you live the daily faithfulness of making whole decades of minutes tell the truth about the glorious gospel.

Your days have done this. You have told me the truth about who Christ is, how He dies to self and gives when there's nothing left and gives up what is His and gives to those who don't deserve, so they can have more, and I have seen Christ in you, the way you live, the way you make your life about laying down. There are no standing lovers: the only way to love is to lay down.

Lay down plans. Lay down agendas. Lay down self. Love is always the laying down.

This is how to make love out of a marriage: Love lays down its own wants to lift up the will of another. Love lets go of its plans - to hold on to a person. This is the passion of Christ. Ours is the romanced universe: For God so loved the world that he gave... (John 3:16). A good marriage isn't about reliving a good movie, but reliving the Good News. Nothing is more attractive than sacrifice. You there in the kitchen, all aflame, you make me know it again - how marriage is two people who keep kindling and igniting in a thousand little ways, grace sparks flying high and everywhere. When you come and grin, serve me a wedge of rhubarb pie heaped with ice cream, I watch how it all melts quickly on a summer night in the heat of a holy burn. My heart running all straight into yours...

About the author: Ann helps us see "the holy" in laundry, listening, and liturgy. Her blog, "Holy Experience," is a fresh breath of air for the soul.