What if you had been a child while Jesus walked the earth, hearing of His miracles and His arrival in your hometown, wanting so desperately to see Him, only to overhear within the week that He'd been crucified? What if you heard, "He's alive!" three days later? Would you find a way to meet Him …
Continue reading “Meeting Jesus Face-to-Face” – a short story
When a truck driver stops at a diner on Good Friday and agrees to let a stranger ride along, the trip suddenly takes a miraculous turn toward the eye-opening truth about death. While sitting at the counter of his favorite diner, Otis gulped the last of his orange juice to wash down the scratchy turkey …
Life is hard, even for Christians. ESPECIALLY for Christians. The world is watching, and that pressure can wear on us as we sense a magnifying glass aimed in our direction, inspecting everything we say and do, analyzing our every move. Our slip-ups bring cheers and finger-pointing with shouts of, "Aha! Hypocrite!" Our failures sting even …
When the night-shift janitor questions God, asking what purpose he could have working in a dark and lonely place, the man receives an answer through a powerful vision that brings him to his knees. Silas dunked the mop into the sudsy water and stood for a moment, taking in the hallway and the long stretch …
The enemy is going to try and take you down and wear you out. Depression. Loneliness. Discouragement. Satan will use whatever tool he can to keep you isolated so you can't encourage others. The enemy wants you to be alone and to leave others alone as well. When Satan keeps God's children separated, fighting, or …
Paul and Silas were brutally beaten and imprisoned in a Philippian jail. But they didn't do anything wrong. In fact, they'd just freed a woman from a demonic, fortune-telling spirit while going about their business - their FATHER'S business of sharing the gospel. And yet, they were violently beaten and thrown into the darkest dungeon, …
I've been trying to piece my thoughts together with no loose ends - a circle beginning with my own struggle and ending with hope. But sometimes things don't work out that way. Sometimes we don't have an answer to "why" we hurt, only the solid, concrete slab we're standing on with the word "trust" etched …
You can outrun pain for only so long before it eventually catches up to you. When you least expect it, a strange and unpredictable crumbling starts to happen. On the inside. Everything you counted on seems to be like sand running through your fingers, piling up in a bland heap. Everything you hoped for is …
Hello, friends! It's that time of year, and this year's Christmas story has finally arrived! But if you're short on time and would rather listen as I read the story, you can check out this YouTube video. Thank you for your time, and I hope you enjoy this short story. Merry Christmas! The Invitation Scarlet …
Continue reading “The Invitation” – a fictional Christmas story
I wrote this post several years ago, but I try to share it every year at this time. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You. I went to the foot of the cross during a prayer meeting at church a number of years ago. I knelt there, rested my hand on the wood, and bowed my head. …
Continue reading At the Foot of the Cross Where My Heart Is Torn in Two
Joey Rudder 