Psalm 35:27 "Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant." The five most frequently repeated words at the Jersey Shore every summer are not "license and registration please", or "we are all booked up". Instead, it's...
Read MoreAll in the Family
Genesis 12:3 (Amplified Bible) - "And I will bless those who bless you [who confer prosperity or happiness upon you] and curse him who curses {or} uses insolent language toward you; in you will all the families {and} kindred of the earth be blessed [and by you they will bless themselves]." If you are over 50 years old, you may remember the 1970's hit TV comedy, All in the Family, depicting a so-called typical blue collar family from New York City. Who can forget the head of the house, Archie Bunker, extremely...
Read MoreAmazing Feet
Ephesians 1:22 “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,” Several weeks ago, the USA Women’s Soccer Team accomplish an amazing “feat”, who had been previously de-“feat”-ed by Japan by penalty kicks. But this year was a different story when...
Read MoreThe Honeymoon is Never Over
Romans 5:8-9: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” For those of you who are married, remember how wonderful your honeymoon was? I hope so! You and your spouse...
Read MoreSchool's Out for Summer
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) – “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”. My favorite moment of the school year was the minute the last exam was finished and I heard...
Read MoreThe New Adams Family
Colossians 3:3 – “For you died, and your new life is hidden with Christ in God”. Some of you might be old enough to remember the 1964 TV series, The Addams Family, about a rather different, shall we say, type of family...
Read MoreError Message
Romans 2:4 – “…the goodness of God leads you to repentance”. For so long, Satan has trapped people into a sin consciousness, always thinking about what’s “wrong”, a performance based system of measuring our worth, accusing us of every little thing. That’s a lousy way to live, but so clever on his part. Why? He knows if he can...
Read MoreNo If's, And's or But's
Romans 8:4 – “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” You’ve probably heard the phrase “No if’s, and’s or but’s”, most likely from your…parents! It means “No excuses! If you don’t mow the lawn, you can’t go to the movies, no if’s, and’s or but’s!” Sound familiar? Maybe so, however, the way I’m thinking about this phrase is entirely different.
Read MoreSuperman
2 Corinthians 5:17 “So then if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new.” Did you know that the comic book character Superman was born on the planet “Krypton”, then rocketed to earth by his scientist father as an infant, just moments before Krypton’s destruction? The story goes on to say...
Read MoreA Living Legacy
Hebrews 9:17 – “For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.” The late great North Carolina Men’s Basketball coach, Dean Smith, who passed away this past February at age 83, was one of the most successful college coaches in history. Smith was called a...
Read MoreSweatless Grace
Ezekiel 44:17-18 – “And it shall be, when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with bleached linen clothing. And no wool shall come on them while they serve in the gates of the inner court, and inside. Turbans of bleached linen shall be on their heads, and shall have bleached linen undergarments on their loins. They shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat.” Did you ever buy a deodorant that didn’t…do what it was supposed to do, stop the sweat? I have...
Read More
Who's Your Daddy?
John 17:25-26 – “O righteous Father, indeed the world has not known You; but I have known You, and these have known that You have sent me. And I made known to them Your name, and will make it known, so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” In the movie Taken, Liam Neeson plays a character named Bryan, the father of a young adult girl abducted in Paris by a human trafficking ring. The outlook is not good as the daughter...
Read MoreSix Powerful Words
Acts 13:43 “When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.” If you are ever asked to share your faith with a group of people and you are stuck for ideas...
Read MoreRun Under His Wings
Psalm 91:4 - "He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust". When you picture a magnificent flying bird, it won't be a chicken that comes to mind. I've never seen a chicken fly, eagle yes, chickens no...
Read More
Once Shaved, Always Shaved
1 Corinthians 1:8-9 – “Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” I know that beards are making quite the comeback these days, but every day, no matter what, like most men, I shave...
Read MoreBobo's Back!
Matthew 6:9 “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed by thy name”. Some of you may remember me talking about Bobo in recent years, a dog in my neighborhood where I grew up. He was chained up in the yard at his house, all day long, rain or shine, near the softball field where we played. Bobo was a huge black dog with matted fur and very large teeth, and barked nonstop. Unfortunately...
Read MoreTake What's Yours
Matthew 6:11 – “Give us this day our daily bread”. Some of my favorite memories are of dinner time as a young boy in the Fortunato household. Imagine five kids, mom, dad, around the kitchen table…a lot could, and often would happen. People talked over one another, lots of hijinks, questions were asked that you were supposed to answer, it was really interesting. But there’s one thing that none of us ever did...
Read MoreDynamic Soaring in 2015
Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” When I was in the window and siding business many years ago, there was a saying among the sales people, “Are you working hard, or working smart?”, meaning...
Read MoreThe Naughty and Nice List
Romans 4:4 “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt". Christmas brings back some really great memories for me from my childhood. How about the lyrics to the song “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”? We used to sing that song all the time, loved it. But as I got older and really listened to the lyrics...
Read More"Thanks-given"
2 Peter 1:3 "According as his divine power has "given" unto us all things..." My favorite holiday to celebrate has always been Thanksgiving. As a child, I have great memories of our family going to the big rivalry football game on Thanksgiving morning and then...
Read More