I turned 60 last year, so I can really identify with these quips about the New Year: -Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to.  -Santa Claus and the dropping of the ball on Times Square have a...

“There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked” (Isaiah 48:22). How well did Jacob Marley, the business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge, know this! In A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, the spectral Marley groans under the weight of the chain he forged in life, links heavy with the cash-boxes,...

  Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35) – but how many of us really believe that? Certainly not Ebenezer Scrooge, the infamous miser of “A Christmas Carol.” Charles Dickens, his creator, described him as “hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had...

  In A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, the first spirit foretold by Jacob Marley is The Ghost of Christmas Past. “It was a strange figure,” Dickens writes — a white-haired apparition with the face of a child and jet of light beaming from its head. The Spirit of Christmas Past...

Everybody knows the story of Ebenezer Scrooge  —  the “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner” of Charles Dickens’ immortal novel, A Christmas Carol. The very mention of the name “Scrooge” conjures up the image of a stingy, spiteful old man, and his most famous catchword, “Bah, humbug,” has become a staple...

Last year at about this time, I got a letter from my doctor. He wrote that my PSA was high, which is a blood test to detect prostate cancer. He advised me to find a urologist and get a biopsy. I stared at the letter, dumbfounded, for several seconds before...

  I sat uncomfortably in the nicely-furnished room of the doctor’s office, trying to make small talk with my wife. Finally, the urologist walked in, exchanged brief pleasantries and sat down. I was trying to read his face, but it was as deadpan as a professional poker player’s. “I don’t...

  Take a deep breath – it’s almost over. The last presidential debate has been aired and ballots will be cast in a few short weeks. Then we can go back to “business-as-usual.” Or will we? It’s no secret that this has been one of the most contentious campaigns in modern...

  Summer dog days have slipped away and the cool air of autumn has arrived like a friendly visitor. Did you know that the Bible has much to say about the seasons? The following verses remind us that the seasons can teach us much about God and ourselves. Daniel 2:21 “He...

  The sign was emblazoned with red letters: “Jesus Christ Superstar? NO! Lord and Savior!” My youngest son and I had to make our way past the protestors if we were going to watch the classic 70s rock opera penned by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. A balding man...