Theo News

Fish to Catch a Man

As a Bible college student I worked a swing shift in a local plastics factory to support my new wife, as well as pay for my tuition.  Cathy (my wife) worked at the school, and with the help of my G.I. Bill, we were able to make ends meet.  The foreman at the local plastics factory was a young man named Ray.  Ray did not like Christians, but the owner of the company hired them from the nearby college, regardless.

Supernatural Grace

I don’t know why Ray disliked Christians.  Maybe he’d had bad encounters with them at work or while growing up.  Sadly, we Christians often don’t let our lights shine as we ought.  On my very first night of work Ray made it clear that he didn’t like me, and made derogatory remarks about my Christian faith.  He treated me gruffly, snarling at me for little or no reason.  This went on night after night.

A note of confession: I am not normally one who turns the other cheek easily—I turn what’s inside the cheek much better.  When someone insults me my natural inclination is to insult back, or at least stand up to the insult in some way.  However, in Ray’s situation, God gave me supernatural grace to endure his insults.  I say supernatural because each time he insulted me I felt an amazing calm and peace. The more he insulted me the more I prayed for him.  Cathy and I made Ray a regular prayer item in our nightly devotions.

I asked God how I could reach this guy.  God answered my prayer through His Word.  Loosely paraphrased, Paul said that he became all things to all men that he might win a few for Christ (1 Cor 9:19-23).  I needed to find out what made Ray “tick,” so that I could somehow reach out to him.

I needed to build a bridge into Ray’s life. 

Building Bridges

I found out that he loved tropical fish.  It was actually his passion.  At the time I didn’t know a guppy from Moby Dick, let alone a Jack Dempsey, black ghost, or kissing gourami.  All I knew was that if I was going to become all things to Ray, I had better learn about tropical fish.  

One night I expressed my interest to Ray, and asked his advice on how to get started.  He mocked me for my ignorance (which I expected), and made me feel like a fool.  I took it.  God’s grace.  I asked again.  Same.  I asked again and again.  In time I wore him down, and he told me what I needed to know.  I asked if I could come over to his house to see his aquarium, get a sense of what might be involved.  To my surprise he said yes.  

Ray had a monster tank, at least 100 gallons.  His tank was amazing. Breathtaking! The number and variety of fish, the various colors, the obvious care with which he placed rocks and sand and artificial plants was the work of an artist.  Clearly Ray loved fish.  I could feel his eyes on me as I oohed and awed over his fish; I suppose, gauging the sincerity of my reaction.  I wasn’t faking.  I was truly inspired.

Upon Ray’s advice, Cathy and I bought a 55 gallon tank with all the trimmings. It was way more than we could afford, but we took the plunge anyway.  We set it up behind our sofa and it was beautiful, the focal point of our apartment.  Ray helped us with fish selections, and even came over to see that everything was working as it should.  

“Don’t ever put tetras in with cichlids,” he warned.  “The cichlids will eat them.”

“Oh, I was wondering what happened to them,” I thought to myself.

Never did that again.

Love people where they are

I continued working at the plastics factory, and over the weeks I noticed a change in Ray’s attitude toward me.  There was a bridge of growing friendship between us now.  The mocking had ceased, fish talk replaced it.  I had become all things to Ray.  I had become a tropical fish enthusiast.  

Then one night as I arrived at work, Ray told me that he wanted to talk with me about something.  He’d obviously been waiting for me.  I figured he wanted to tell me about a new fish or gadget he’d bought. We went into the back of the factory where we were alone.  He told me that he wanted to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior.  I was shocked.  The man who hated Christians wanted to become one.  I coached him in the “sinner’s prayer” that night, holding back tears as Ray prayed and became a child of the King! 

That night God taught me a valuable lesson. I need to love people where they are, regardless of their response to me, or to the Good News I bring.  I’m to pray for them, even if they’re my enemies.  I’m to model Christ before them, become a bridge builder.  I’m to become all things to them, a selfless act that takes supernatural grace.

Jesus said that he would make us fishers of men. In Ray’s case He used fish to catch a man.

The Proud Chicken

The Tale of the Proud Chicken is the most humorous of Theo’s Tales of Little Overhill, so far. I really had a fun time writing it. Although each of the tales contain elements of humor, the Proud Chicken is funny from cover to cover, beginning with its name. To me, just the sound of the word chicken is funny. I know, I’m weird.

I love to make people laugh; it’s what drew me into the cartoon industry back in the 1970s. Laughter helps let down barriers, it puts us more at ease. Laughter is also a good medicine (Proverbs 17:22). Not only is this biblically true, but scientifically as well. Medical institutions and universities have shown that laughter is, indeed, good for us; it lowers stress, prevents heart disease, and aids in a higher quality of life.

So practice laughing! Be fluent in it!  

In many ways The Proud Chicken is like a cartoon. It is both fast-paced and visually funny. From the opening illustration to the closing one, I trust that children (and their parents) will be smiling or laughing, all the while learning an important biblical truth. You see, humor is also a great vehicle for communicating truth.    

The Proud Chicken is a retelling of Jesus‘ parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). The prodigal son is the third in a trilogy of parables found in Luke 15 that deal with a lost sinner being found––the lost sheep, the lost coin, and then, of course, the lost son.  

The first two parables illustrate God seeking the lost, as illustrated by a shepherd leaving the ninety-nine sheep to hunt for the one, and a woman scouring her house until she finds a valuable coin. The point of these parables is that the sheep would remain lost, the coin would be unfound, except for the tenacious pursuit of our Lord and Savior.  God is the initiator, the First Cause of our salvation.

He is the pursuer of our souls, the “Hound of heaven,” as it were. 

What is unique about the prodigal son tale is the fact that we don’t see the Father pursuing the lost son at all. Instead we see the son coming to his senses after a season of debauchery. That is, he changes his mind about the road he has taken and returns to the Father. In this we view salvation from man’s perspective, the result of the Father’s initial pursuit and wooing (John 6:44).    

We are all prodigals in one way or another, past or present, so we will identify with Chadwick the rooster. We may not look like him but, there is a little bit of Chadwick in each of us. Each of us has gone his own way, none of us have pursued God, all of us have raised the fist of rebellion at God. We are sinners everyone.  Were it not for God’s great love for us, were it not for His dogged pursuit of our souls, each of us would remain spiritually dead and lost in our transgressions and sins.

Jesus said that if anyone comes to the Father he will in no way cast him out (John:6:37). What we see in the parable of the prodigal son is the great love of our heavenly Father. We see how warmly He receives the repentant sinner. With the Father clothing the prodigal with a royal robe, placing a signet ring on his finger, and sandals for his feet, we see a picture of the new birth, our adoption as sons and daughters into the royal family of our heavenly Father, as well as the authority that goes with it.  

Underlying the parable is the concept of grace. It is a sonship undeserved. The pharisees of Jesus’ day had no understanding of grace; theirs was a religion of outward appearance, of works.       

The prodigal son does not deserve the reception he is given; he deserves to be treated as a slave. He deserves to remain an outcast. But Jesus makes it clear that it’s not by our own works of righteousness that we are saved, it is by grace through faith (Ep:2:8-10).  

In the Tale of the Proud Chicken, Theo says this very thing in response to Chadwick’s humble contrition. Grace. We are saved by God’s unmerited favor. Our Father receives the believing sinner with open arms, clothes him or her in the righteousness of His dear Son. He sets before each child of God a path of righteousness.  

It is a finished work!

I hope you will enjoy this new book––smile as you read it with your children.  Most of all, I encourage you to ponder the parable of the prodigal son, put yourself in his position, and marvel at the great love and grace that our heavenly Father bestows upon us.

The Gift

As a child, Christmas was my favorite holiday––it still is. I loved Christmas not just because of all the presents, but for the season itself. I loved that time of year because of crisp, wintry days with Jack Frost nipping at my nose, when the Fall foliage sent up its glorious last hurrah, and sweaters and gloves came out of the closets. It was a time for football, and for those of us living in England it was the season for rugby: my favorite sport.

I loved the school parties that launched the seasonal school break. I loved the Christmas and holiday songs playing on the radio and piping through department store speakers. I loved singing Christmas hymns in church and, of course, I loved the general spirit of Christmas in the air.

Back in the Stone Age, when I was a kid, the Christmas season usually kicked off on the day following Thanksgiving. The season was usually inaugurated with stores decorating their storefronts with trees and wreaths and toys and other goodies, shoppers greeting one another with Merry Christmas, garlands of holly and mistletoe crisscrossing main street, and families stringing lights around their homes.

Television even got into the seasonal spirit with perennial favorites, such as A Charlie Brown Christmas, and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, A Miracle on 34th Street, and, of course, the all time Frank Capra favorite, It’s A Wonderful Life. It’s no wonder that I loved Christmas as a kid.

What’s not to love?

Then there were our family traditions that I grew up with and looked forward to enjoying every year. I’m sure that your family had special traditions as well.

One of our traditions was trimming the tree on Christmas Eve. That’s kind of late in the season, I know, but this particular tradition arose mainly because my dad got great, closeout deals at the tree lots. Once he even bought two trees, neither of which amounted to much more than firewood. Dad drilled holes in the bare spots in the better of the two trees, then cut branches off the second one and inserted them into the holes. The tree literally went from looking like the scrawny Charlie Brown tree at the beginning of the show, to the fuller one at the end.

Way to go, Dad!

One of the best family traditions was my dad reading the Nativity story from Luke 2, after which we’d all sing Silent Night by the lit tree. Singing next to my brothers was always a little awkward, but it was a tradition that we wouldn’t do without. And then we’d cap off the evening with a glass of eggnog and sugar cookies while we set out more cookies and milk for Santa before heading off to the midnight service or bed.

I’m sure everyone reading this blog has a unique family tradition that is treasured, perhaps even continued today in their families.

I would love to hear some of them.

But the Christmas season is not always so wonderful to some. It can be a time of sorrow and sadness, too. Statistically, it’s the time of year when many people get melancholy or depressed. There are many reasons for this: unfulfilled expectations, the stress of shopping, of beating the crowds, of traffic jams on the highways, and the loss and memory of a loved one, to name a few. However, the biggest reasons for depression during the Christmas season are loneliness and the lack of being with family.

And I can attest to that.

While serving in the Marine Corps in Naples, Italy, I well remember standing guard duty on Christmas Eve in 1971. It was the loneliest Christmas I’d ever spent. I was thousands of miles away from family and friends. There were no Nat King Cole classics playing on the radio (they weren’t allowed on post). I actually looked forward to the Sergeant of the Guard inspecting my post, so that I would have someone to talk to, even briefly. Boy, was I depressed.

On a happier note, that Christmas of 1971 was the last Christmas before I became a Christ follower and truly came to understand and appreciate the meaning and purpose of the babe in the manger. You see, Christmas is not about tinsel and holly boughs, or Currier and Ives greeting cards. It’s not about parties or presents. It’s not about Christmas carols sung by a choir, or even Christmas cheer.

It’s about the Gift!

I tried to capture the emotional ebb and flow of the Christmas season in Belfry’s Christmas Gift. The following is a brief synopsis:

In this heartwarming Christmas story from Theo's Tales of Little Overhill, Belfry must think of something to give Theo at the Christmas party. He soon discovers that the best gifts are not those wrapped in ribbons and bows. Belfry's gift is one that changes the life of a gruff and lonely clockmaker, someone shunned by all of the village animals. It is the gift of love!

I think that you will enjoy reading the book with your children and families this Christmas Season. Perhaps it will even become a tradition that your children, and your grandchildren, will carry on.

Another worthy tradition that we could all do together as the family of God would be to visit the lonely or send gifts to a worthy organization. I think about the loneliness of our men and women in uniform, miles from home today. I think about those heroes in our police and fire departments who must serve on Christmas. I think about those in hospital beds, or in prisons, in rest homes or orphanages. A card or gift or visit would certainly brighten someone’s Christmas season and manifest the love of Christ, don’t you think?

Onward and upward!

Now, to one and all, have a blessed Christmas season, and always remember that because of God’s great love for every one of us He sent His only Son, wrapped not in ribbons and bows, but in the tender flesh of a little baby. Let’s celebrate Him well!

Merry Christmas!

November Priorities

During November, the weather turns from sweltering hot to bracing chill; the leaves, once ablaze with color in October, now fall en masse in the blustery winds. It’s the season of shorter days, for sweaters and scarves and fires in the hearth, hot soup, warm bread and baked pies. It’s a month for taking walks, for breathing clean, rain-washed air—a time to carry your binoculars into the parks and woodlands to observe the autumnal flora and fauna. And then, November kicks off the season of the four Fs—family, friends, food, and football.

Great month!

First Priority

But November also has some challenges. With the holidays fast approaching there may be heightened anxieties. Get-togethers need to be planned, meals prepared, gifts to buy, all of which contribute to higher stress levels. With priorities narrowed down to “just getting it done,” we often don’t take time for the number ONE priority. And what might that be? Serving God, of course, spending time with Him in prayer and the study of His Word. Abiding in Christ, allowing the Holy Spirit to grow His fruit in us, should be what drives us each day.

Second Priority

Loving our spouses and spending quality time with them follows closely. How we relate to our spouses on a horizontal plane, is a good indicator of our relationship with God. One relationship flows from the other—as we love our spouse, so do we love God.

Wives, respect your husbands, as unto the Lord...Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her (Eph 5:22, 25).

Third Priority

But there is a third priority, which flows from our love for God. It’s not our jobs, it’s not our churches, or ministries, or friends. It’s our children, of course. One of my favorite Bible passages, and one that I often refer to in my blogs, is found in Deuteronomy 6:6-7.

And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. (NASB)

Hermeneutics for Parents

The Christ-following parent who truly wishes to please God, will take these words to heart and obey them diligently. Let’s stop for a moment for a brief Bible study. Reread the above verses and let’s look at its individual components.

In other words, throughout our whole day, our children are to be our focus, our priority and responsibility. We should pray with our children as hard as we play with them, not just in November, but in every month of the year. This, too, flows from our relationship with God. Teaching children to walk in the light of God’s Word is to be our passion.

Yes, November is a great month for taking walks outside with our spouses and with our children and grandchildren. With the falling leaves the horizons open beautiful vistas to us, each one presenting teachable moments about God’s glory, His awesome creative power. Football games may be fun to watch, and eating pumpkin pie with a dollop or two of real whipped cream on top is hard to beat. But training up our children to walk well in the light of God’s Word outdoes these by far.

It’s a November priority that truly pleases God.

Halloween, the Open Door Holiday

I believe that Halloween gives Christ followers an opportunity unlike any other celebration during the year.  Before you stop reading, let me explain.  Christmas and Easter, of course, celebrate the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and are my all-time favorite holidays (a conjunction of holy days).  Thanksgiving celebrates God as our Provider, as well as for all His many blessings upon our lives.  And though our culture has tried to remove the religious significance of each of these holidays by commercializing them, they still retain among the sparkly trappings the historical reality and significance of our faith.

Now how can I include Halloween in this hallowed camp?

Many Christians get the willies during Halloween (if you don’t know what the willies are, google “heebie jeebies”).  At the very least it creates tension among Christians.  Some find nothing wrong with it––”it’s harmless fun”––and go all out donning costumes of Spiderman, or Princess Elsa, or characters from the latest movie blockbuster.  Others see it as a celebration of the dead, or worse, of the devil himself, and shun or avoid it entirely.  After all, as Christians we celebrate LIFE, not death, right?

Most certainly.

Open Door Holiday

What other holiday in the year do we open our doors to our neighbors?  Of course we may do this during any one of the Christian holidays, but the very nature of Halloween involves opening our doors, doesn’t it?  Kids and parents don’t come up to our doors on Christmas and ask for gifts.  Nor do they do this on Thanksgiving or Easter.  But they do it on Halloween!  Halloween is the one day where people open their doors to complete strangers and give them stuff.

Over the past several decades we have become more and more isolated in our neighborhoods.  We have become a transient culture, always on the move, never rooting in communities.  Many people don’t know who lives just a few doors away.  Some never speak to their immediate neighbors.  It’s sad business.

Halloween is a wonderful time for us to get to know those in our neighborhood.  We invite neighbors into our homes, or we are invited into our neighbors’ homes.  They may be brief encounters, but, with such, longterm relationships can be developed.  “Hi, I’m so and so, I live just down the street.  I’ve seen you many times (mowing the lawn, collecting the mail, etc.  Truly, it is a time when bridges may be built.

A Tale of Two Houses

My wife and I once lived in a neighborhood where there was only one Trick or Treater.  Houses were far apart, and kids, being opportunistic entrepreneurs, did their candy grabbing in the big housing tracts.  There was one family, however, that lived down the street from us and they had a little one that they would bring by our house.  It served as an opportunity for us to get to know these people, and build a friendship with them.

And then there’s my wife’s sister and husband who live on a street that is closed down each Halloween.  The residents barricade the street at both ends and then hang out together, introducing themselves to each other and chatting, while their kids go from door to door along the street in safety.  How cool is that!?

A Light in the Dark

Of course there will be Christians who have other plans for that night––trunk or treating, harvest festivals, or something else.  However, I believe that if we choose to open our doors to the neighborhood that night we will have a great opportunity.  Yes, we will see weird costumes.  Some might be dark and even inappropriate.  But the Bible says that we are children of light.  What better time to shine our lights than on this night.

Remember the words of Isaiah 9:2 (NIV):

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.

When Jesus entered the world it was a very dark world, but He is the Light of the world (John 8:12).  As His children we, too, are lights, reflecting His glory, regardless of the darkness around us.  The light of Christ shining on our smiling faces on Halloween night may be the only true light our neighbors will ever see.

Biblical Illiteracy

What is it?

In this blog I would like to discuss illiteracy; in particular, biblical illiteracy.  To begin let me first define terms.  According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, illiteracy, is “the state of not having knowledge about a particular subject.”  

Biblical illiteracy is the state of not knowing what the Bible teaches.  When I came to know Christ I did not know what the Bible taught about justification by faith and not by works.  I didn’t know what it meant to be “born again,” or any of the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith.  I was biblically illiterate.

This condition––sad though it is––is understandable in countries where the Bible is not permitted, or in cultures where the gospel has not yet penetrated.  It is understandable if the Bible has not yet been translated into a particular language of a remote people group.  But what about a culture where there is an average of four Bibles per household?

Like America?

Stats & Figures

I’m not one who likes to quote statistics or polls, but I think that a few here will be helpful to grasp this crisis.  

According to the Barna Group (the go-to research pollsters on this kind of stuff), 37% of Americans read the Bible once a week or more.  That’s not quite four out of ten.  It includes Christians.  Of those four who do read, only 57% apply what they’ve read to their daily lives.  Do the math.  That’s just a little over two in ten people that make use of God’s Word in their lives.  

In America, God’s revelation of Himself is mostly ignored, and is all but irrelevant, practically speaking.  

Here are a couple of zingers.  Another poll indicated that at least 12 percent of adults believe that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife.  A survey of graduating high school seniors revealed that over 50 percent thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife.  A considerable number of respondents to one poll indicated that the Sermon on the Mount was preached by Billy Graham.

Heaven help us.  

And then, according to one more poll, “82% of Americans believe that the phrase, ‘God helps those who help themselves,’ is in the Bible.  Think that’s bad?  81% of those who consider themselves born-again Christians believe the same thing!  That’s eight in ten Christians who really don’t know their Bibles. 

Enough polls.

History Lesson

I think we can all agree that biblical illiteracy in America is at an all-time high.  That is to say, there are more people in America today who either do not read the Bible or consider what it teaches to be relevant to their daily lives.  Sadly this is also true of those calling themselves Christians.

This is nothing new for the people of God.

There was a time in Israel’s history when its knowledge of God was woefully barren.  It was a spiritually dark time during the divided kingdom of the kings.  Worship of Yahweh had nearly ceased to exist.  There was a spiritual vacuum in the land, one that was filled by idolatry, and by the worship of pagan deities.  Sexual immorality and violence were rampant.  Israel’s borders were opened to invasions by the Assyrians.  This is what happens when the people of God reject His Word, and thereby reject Him. 

How could it have happened?    

The Israelites had had it all!  They were God’s chosen people, a people whom Yahweh had brought into a special covenant relationship with Himself––a people to whom He gave the promises, and to whom He revealed His Word through the prophets.  They were a people through whom, and to whom, Messiah would come. God had blessed them immeasurably.  

And yet, because of their neglect of and disdain for this great privilege of knowing God through His revealed Word, the people of God created a self-imposed famine of knowledge.  A drought of spiritual health.

And then came Josiah, an eight year old boy who became king of Judah, following the death of the wicked King Amon.  The Bible says that Josiah

“did right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left” (2 Chron 34:2).

When Josiah was twenty-six years old Hilkiah the high priest discovered the Book of the Law, hidden in some dark recess of the neglected temple.

Imagine that, prior to that discovery, neither the high priest nor any in the priesthood––Israel’s spiritual leaders––had a clue as to what God’s Word had to say.  They didn’t have four Bibles per home, they had none!  Talk about your biblical illiteracy. It was like an earlier time when

“every man did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6).   

When the Book of the Law was read to King Josiah (a young man no older than one of our “millennial” generation), he tore his robes and repented before God.  Then he commanded that the Book of the Law be read to the entire nation.  Following that, he tossed out the mediums, tore down the pagan altars, and reestablished proper temple worship (you can read about his reforms in 2 Chronicles 34 and 35).

What then should we do?

Brothers and sisters, if you look around at our own culture and wonder why there is so much darkness in the land, why there is such violence in our schools and in our towns, why sexual promiscuity has increased to disgusting proportions, why the foundations of our Christian heritage are being challenged and removed from every area in the public arena, then learn the lesson from Israel’s history.

Let us not forsake His Word.  

Our God is an awesome God.  He is compassionate, He is slow to anger, He is full of grace and truth.  With outstretched arms He beckons us to come and fellowship with Him.  The thought of such a thing to me is mind-blowing.  Imagine, God who is infinite, holy, righteous; God who is all powerful, who is all knowing, all wise; God who is without beginning or end, who is everywhere Present; God who is Sovereign over the universe, who is transcendent over His creation, and yet condescends to fellowship on an intimate level with His children, how can we neglect to read His Word that might know Him better?

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-7.  I wrote about this in my last blog (3 Ways to Teach Your Child the Bible), but I must speak to it again.

4  Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!  5 You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength. 6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, 7 and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road,  as you lie down, and as you get up.    

You and I have the power to reverse the downward spiral of biblical illiteracy and its consequences in our country by simply obeying God’s Word.

“If My people, who are called by My Name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek My Face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chron 7:14).

Dear ones, there is hope for us, and for our children.  There is hope for this generation of millennials, if we will but guide them into the refreshing truth of God’s Word, backed by the authenticity of our lives.

Let us dust off our Bibles and commit to reading a chapter, or paragraph, or even a verse of Scripture every day.  Not just read the Bible ourselves, but read it to our children––when we sit in our homes, when we walk along the road outside, when we rise in the morning and in the evening at bedtime.

And let us commit to memorizing verses, meditating upon them.  For when we do we will agree with the psalmist who wrote,

“Your Word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You” (Ps 119:11).

And we will have the light of truth to guide us through the obstacles in our paths.

For “Your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path” (Ps 119:105).

God's Classroom

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” -Psalm 19.1

The holy Scriptures tell us time and again that God’s glory and power are revealed in His creation. Most of us have ventured out into the world and have been in awe at the sheer grandeur of the heavens and the earth, the incalculable power and beauty of everything God has made. His fingerprints are everywhere evident—the petals of a bird of paradise, the flight of a bird, the stars in their courses. Whether we are walking along a beach and reveling in the sheer magnitude of the roar of ocean waves, or cresting a mountain top to view the incredible panorama of mountains against sky, God’s majesty is all around us, drawing us to worship Him.

The writer to the Hebrews wrote that all of creation is held together by the powerful word of our resurrected Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Heb 1:3). Isn’t that amazing? The very word of God the Son sustains the entire universe. What awesome power!

The world of nature is God’s “classroom.” We may learn so much about our God, as well as the lives of faith He desires us to live, by “considering the lilies of the field,” or “observing the birds of the sky” as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 6:26-29). And so the question becomes why don’t we spend more time in the classroom? Demands of work and home, of course, compete for the precious hours of our days. The culture in which we live creates many distractions. Even so, we must find time to pause, to rest, to wonder at the beauty of the world about us, and marvel at the Author of it—the God who spoke it into existence.

Each day brings with it a sunrise and a sunset, events which are nothing short of opportunities for worship and thankfulness. It’s almost as if the sky itself is caught up in a devoted routine of worship, where it begins and ends each day with ascribing the proper glory to God, for as the Psalmists continues,

“day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge” (Ps 19:2)

—speech and knowledge of our Creator.

Fall is the ideal season for us to spend time in the classroom of God’s great outdoors. The heat has finally dissipated, the leaves are turning with a spectrum of colors from God’s limitless palette. So let’s go. Let’s take hikes together with family and friends, or drives into the country to witness God’s canvas of Autumn, His masterpiece! The Bible says,

“Let the trees of the forest sing, let them sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth” (1 Chron 16:33).

Let’s get outside and listen to their praise of the Creator. Let us join them in holy anthem!

Belfry's Christmas Gift Out Today!

We are excited to announce that our new book is out today!

In this heartwarming Christmas story from Theo's Tales of Little Overhill, Belfry must think of something to give Theo at the Christmas party. He soon discovers that the best gifts are not those wrapped in ribbons and bows. Belfry's gift is one that changes the life of a gruff and lonely clockmaker, someone shunned by all of the village animals. It is the gift of love!

Belfry’s Christmas Gift is a beautiful hardcover board book. The story is written by Theo creator Mike Joens and beautifully illustrated by Len Simon.

You can find out more about the book on our website.

Belfry’s Christmas Gift is available today at your local Christian Bookstore and online.

Merry (early) Christmas!

First Day of Fall: Visiting the Pumpkin Patch

The first day of fall is September 23rd. The first day of fall is an exciting point in the calendar, particularly for families with children. The shift from the freedom of summer to the rigid schedule of the school year, somehow crammed packed with activities and responsibilities, can be a tough transition. The first day of fall, though, seems to mark a breath of fresh air. The kids are finally adjusted to their new bedtimes, the nightly routine has taken a definitive shape, and the heat of summer is finally starting to slip away into the distance. This is why we consider the first day of fall to be such a refreshing time of the year; it’s almost like a new year in and of itself.

Don’t miss out on the incredibly opportunity that the first day of fall offers to you and your family. This is a chance to celebrate your children and their hard work in school. Fall is a new season, and it brings new opportunities with it, so be sure to seize the day with your family.

Whether you want to celebrate your family’s accomplishments or simply let your kids know that you love and cherish them, creating a special surprise celebration is a terrific way to usher in fall. We tend to think that a family trip to the pumpkin patch is the ideal way to welcome in this chilly season. Bundle up, pack yourselves in the car, and head to the most exciting pumpkin patch you can find. Take a hay ride, pick a few pumpkins to carve together, and play whatever games the pumpkin patch features. You could even consider stopping for hot chocolate on the way home!

These small outings are vitally important for a family. It’s nice to celebrate change and accomplishment together, as a family unit. And its important for your kids to see you treating them to good things, simply because you love and care for them. So don’t miss out on the opportunity that the first day of fall is providing.

So get out there, and get chilly!

God's Desire Trailer