Author Archives: joyocala

If you are reading this, You are my inspiration. You may be a member of my family. You may be a friend. You may be a member of my congregation. Maybe we’ve never met. Yet, we’ve been bound by countless … Continue reading →

Isn’t this what its all about? God saved us by love. Yes, I know that He made us imperfect beings. Then He expected us to listen and do as He asked. He must have known that the complication of free … Continue reading →

In 1964 the Lutheran Church in America published an amazing Sunday School curriculum. I taught material on Great Christians to a fifth-grade class despite being only a few years older than the students. I don’t know if the class had … Continue reading →

While Jim is vacationing, we are pleased to post this blog from April 2018. Doug was one of my friends when I was in school at the University of Wisconsin. In the spring of 1970 Paulette and I, together with … Continue reading →

Mark Twain famously said, “get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.” We might reasonably presume that this was going on in his lifetime. It is so today, even where Christianity is concerned. When we speak … Continue reading →

The world looked on in shock as the 850 year old Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris was engulfed in flames. The cathedral, the work of medieval craftsmen and artists, was beloved by the French people and visitors from around the world. … Continue reading →

I’m thinking about descriptive expressions used often in relationship to our bodies, such as, the back of your hand, the tips of your fingers, the top of your head, the palm of your hand, but hmmmmm, it is called the … Continue reading →

It’s just a blister on the palm of my hand. A little bubble of skin . . . Not really sore . . . Just a little uncomfortable . Just a reason to stare at the palms of my hands. … Continue reading →

“Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’ And she told them that he had said these things to her.” John 20:18 NIV Doesn’t this say it all? Mary’s exclamation tells us that she … Continue reading →

“Impuriel rose half a meter off the ground, flew toward the monk, gently beating his wings, and said in a voice as soft as silk, ‘Fear not, and be in no wise afraid.’” This scene appears in Jostein Gaarder’s charming … Continue reading →