Today I spent an hour and a half in a dentist’s chair. He kept saying “Sorry,” but I didn’t believe it. He didn’t appear to be suffering. During the final stages of my treatment, a somewhat comforting thought came to me: “Well, this is probably the last time I’ll have to go through a heavy-duty […]

I was only half-listening to a TV commercial the other day when I recognized the background music as the familiar Spice Girls song from 1996, which begins: Yo, I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want; So tell me what you want, what you really really want… I wanna, wanna, wanna, wanna […]

Maybe you just heard about this movie when you watched the 2014 Oscar Awards presentations on TV. It’s a very insightful look at the life of Dr. Stephen Hawking, who has probably the greatest scientific mind of our time, limited within a body that has been ravaged by the disease ALS. More specifically, it’s about […]

As I wrote last week, the Apostle Paul spent two years in a prison in Caesarea, on the Mediterranean coast of Palestine, before being transferred to another two years of house arrest in Rome. It was while sailing from Caesarea to Rome that Paul experienced one of the most dangerous adventures of his life. In […]

Last Sunday, Pastor Connie began a preaching series in which we will study the Apostle Paul’s wonderful Letter to the Philippians, which is part of the New Testament in our Bible. There are so many encouraging gems in this short message sent by Paul to the believers who were part of that church that it’s […]

Sister Suzanne from Lebanon is spending more than six weeks with the ABC family to improve her conversational English. Various people have hosted her and helped her experience LA by taking her to a Dodgers game, Disneyland, Olvera Street, Huntington Gardens, etc. In the process, we have all been blessed by her warm personality, her […]

“I’m not an early bird or a night owl. I’m some form of permanently exhausted pigeon.” Most of our lives are not very dramatic. There may be high points we look forward to, and they tend to fly by pretty quickly. And there are sure to be some low periods, which are very hard to […]

Some days I can, and some days I cannot. When I can, it’s great! All of my energy is focused, I feel in control. I feel worth the air I breathe, Worth the space I take up. When I cannot, my chest is full of sand. My heart struggles to keep me alive. There are […]

We didn’t intentionally choose the hottest week of the year for Vacation Bible School, but that’s the way it has worked out. Fortunately, the air conditioners were repaired recently, so all the indoor spaces are quite comfortable. Recreational games have been played mostly in shaded areas, have been less energetic than usual and have featured […]

Vacation Bible School has been ABC’s most productive summer outreach program for more than fifty years. Just about the entire congregation is involved in one way or another in providing a welcoming atmosphere, solid content and child-centered activities. Many adults look back and mark the beginning of their spiritual journey from simple, happy songs learned […]