Walk With Darrell

I grew up in Amo, Indiana until I went into the seventh grade and my family moved. Amo is a small town in central Indiana where both sets of grandparents lived along with aunts and uncles. Being a small town, I had cousins all over the place. I grew up going to Sunday School where I would have a relative usually be one of my Sunday School teachers. I had my grandmother, aunts, and mom take turn teaching my Sunday School classes. Each summer our little church would have vacati

I have prayed to God over the years on a daily basis and the bible tells us that God hears our prayers. 1 John 5:14 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. OK, so it says that God hears my prayer, but it doesn’t say how God will answer our prayers. I have had some prayers that God’s answer was “NO”. It happens. So, when God answers our prayer with a “NO” how should we handle it. Do we get mad that our pr

I had a great dad growing up. He was one of those dads who would listen to me and then give me his thoughts. As I think back about my dad it is easy to see that he made time for me. In my early years we lived on a farm. I can remember dad always had farm work to do, but he made time to hit flyballs to me or he would spend time shooting hoops with me. The most important things were not how good I threw or caught the ball, but the time I spent with my dad. Time is something

As believers we have a treasure that can change lives. That treasure is the good news of what Jesus did for mankind by dying on the cross. That makes us “Stewards of Hope”. We steward the only message that can give people what their hearts need most, which is hope. Hope that our sins can be forgiven. Hope that our prayers can be answered. Hope that the doors of opportunity will be unlocked. Hope that broken relationships will be reconciled. Hope that our bodies will be healed

David was described as a man after God’s own heart. David wasn’t perfect by any means, but he did strive to walk close to God. Even with David’s ups and down he wanted to always restore his relationship with God. Sometimes we can fool ourselves into thinking I am doing OK; everything is right with God when actually it might not be. David courageously asked God to conduct an internal evaluation This was a brave request considering God knows all things, even that which we hide

Hebrews 10:23 (NLT) 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Despite God’s promises, despite Christ’s love, and despite our countless blessings we sometimes can still lose hope from time to time. If we are all honest, we have all been there. When we do we need the encouragement of Christian friends, the life-changing power of prayer, and the truth that comes from God’s Word. When you find yourself falling into

Ephesians 4:26-27(NIV) 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. Anger is something that is within all of us. There are times when anger is appropriate, even Jesus was angry with the moneychangers in the temple. On occasion we might have to confront evil and it is appropriate to have anger. But most of the time we have to deal with our anger on everyday things that we face. If you have ever pl

Have you ever had one of those days when you have all these plans and it seemed like everything from the start goes wrong? You realize you are out of coffee; the check engine light comes on; someone cuts you off in traffic; you walk into work, and it is a train wreck. These are flash points for the battle that is brewing on the inside of us. How are we going to react? Will the frustration start to rise, or will you just shrug it off and continue on with our daily plans? We ha

Yesterday, we were sitting with family and the topic of heaven came up. We were all Christians and expect to go to heaven when we die, and yet we did not have a thorough knowledge of what heaven is going to be like. We have lost family members that are already in heaven. Sure, we had bits and pieces from sermons, songs, and parts of scripture, but there is a lot we didn’t know about our future home. We did, however, realize that eternity is a long time. When Jesus left our ea

Proverbs 3:13 (NIV) “13 Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding” Today we are flooded with information everything from television, internet, radio, books, and expert commentaries. Many of these sources give us an array of instructions on how to live our lives in today’s hectic lifestyle. One of the problems of the world’s wisdom is that it is always changing as public opinion changes. Instead, look to God for Wisdom. Psalm 111:10 (NIV) 10 The fear of t

We are given the chance to help those in need. If we look around us and open our eyes, it is easy to see there are a lot of people in need. When we see someone in need do we get tightfisted with our money and put our head down and pass on by, or do we see how we can help? Jesus always called people to give generously and not be judgmental. In Luke Jesus said, if you have a banquet to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. Jesus promises that you will be blesse

As Christians we live by faith, there is so much about living the Christian life that is based on faith. And yet there are many people who have a real struggle with faith. Jesus disciples also struggled with faith, on several occasions Jesus ask them, why do you doubt? O, ye of little faith. These were men who walked with Jesus, and they still struggled with doubt. We at times have the same problem of doubting Him, and we doubt on the things we pray for. The most exciting th

There are many things that can hamper our faith. One of the things that at times can cause us to stumble in our faith is our own human reasoning. God has given us the ability to think and use our reasoning to figure out solutions. This isn’t necessarily bad, except when is causes us to not trust God like we should. Sometimes we allow ourselves to get in our own way. Sometimes when we struggle with wavering faith, it is because our own human reasoning gets in the way. We tr

How can we show empathy for someone in need? Every week we hear heartbreaking stories of people that are going through a terrible hardship. Some might be family, friends or maybe a stranger that we hear of their situation. Are we sensitive to their situation or is it easy to be callous? Is it too easy to say I am sorry, but not my problem? God makes it possible for us to empathize with others who might be enduring hardships. We don’t necessarily have to be going through the s

How to Have a Relationship with Christ What is the way for us to have a relationship with God? Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me”. John 14:6 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. “For unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins” John 8:24 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will

I have been doing a lot of camping lately and one of things I enjoy is a campfire. Towards the end of the evening it is time to separate the remaining coals. The coals burn for a while then they start to lose their flame and if you wait long enough the coals will go out. Our Christian life is similar if we don’t keep the fire going the flame can go out. So, what makes the fire go out in the Christian life? Not spending time with God. If we only speak to God every now and th

Do we ever feel like we fall short of what God expects from us? Well, I imagine if we are honest there are times, we all have experienced that feeling (my hand is up). Don’t lose heart because, Paul dealt with this same feeling. As we see in Romans 7:15 (NIV). 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. This revealed that Paul was dealing with internal struggles of living the Christian life. We deal with the same thing at times.

Does the Lord discipline His children? You bet He does. The Lord uses trials to discipline His children for the purpose of testing and strengthening their faith in order to bring praise, honor, and glory to Jesus Christ. So, what is a trial? According to James Macdonald’s study on trials, “When Life is Hard”, a trial is a painful experience allowed by God to change our conduct and our character. It might sound strange to some, but God does this because He loves us. Hebrews 1

2 Chronicles 20:20 (NIV) Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” Are you a dreamer? I have always been a dreamer for things in my life. I am still a dreamer. Some of my dreams have become goals for my life. I have talked to some people who put no value in dreaming, and I guess we are all different. However, I am dreamer and I believe God promises we can do all things through Him. Anne Frank wrote, “The g

A few weeks ago, I had a chance to visit my son David’s family, which gave me a chance to be with my little grandkids. I have many friends and family members with grandchildren, and you know what I am saying. What a precious gift from God.!!!!!!!!! There is nothing like having a little grandchild asking if you want to swing or go for a walk. Then to have both my granddaughters bring me books to read them. Then when the grandkids tell me that they will wake me up in the mornin