60 Seconds of Hope with Horace McMillon

Send us Fan Mail The Holy Spirit: A Voice Who Speaks For Us  “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.” John 14:26 We often have to distinguish and discern between two different sets of thoughts, two different sets of voices running through our minds. Once voice edifies, informs and inspires. T...

Send us Fan Mail We Have to Try “When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them” - Acts 16:10 Paul’s travels in the ancient world were filled with danger and uncertainty. In his travels he faced religious and political opposition that led to his being run out of town when he wasn’t beaten and ar...

Send us Fan Mail Some Things We Just Have to Carry… “Jesus said to him, "Stand up, take your mat and walk." - John 5:8 The story of Jesus healing the paralytic is a little different from the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, found later in this same Gospel.  Lazarus, when he came out of the grave was able to remove his burial clothes and in a sense get a completely fresh star...

Send us Fan Mail What Do We Really Want? “When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" - John 5:6 On the surface, Jesus’s question to the man who had been ill for 38 years is shocking. 38 years of hardship, 38 years of struggle, 38 years of disappointment, who wouldn’t want those to come to an end? No doubt the...

Send us Fan Mail The Holy Spirit Heals Division “At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were.” - Acts 11:11 Peter breaking bread with these Gentile folk from Caesarea was about far more than his willingness to change and adapt his religious customs for them.  The people of Israel and Judea were a conquered people who lived under the boot of Roman occ...

Send us Fan Mail Two Interpretations of Revelation  “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” -from Revelation 21:1 We have two ways we can read the words of Revelation.  We can believe that these are future events that will take place at the end of the world. So we accept a world that in the meantime is destined to keep getting worse. Or w...

Send us Fan Mail What Should Our Love Look Like? “Everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." - from John 13:35 Love is patient, love is kind. We should be known for our patience and kindness. We do not envy. Rather we are genuinely happy to see others thrive and succeed. We are humble about and grateful for our accomplishments and blessings. As we seek ou...

Send us Fan Mail Yes, Even Them!  “And they praised God, saying, "Then God has given even to the gentiles the repentance that leads to life." - from Acts  11:18 A healthy spirituality allows us to look in the mirror and truly see ourselves. This spirituality gives us both confidence and humility. We see our faults and shortcomings. At the same time we also know and feel that God loves an...

Send us Fan Mail Be Servants not Judges “But a second time the voice answered from heaven, 'What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” Acts  11:9 We have been called to take matters of ethics, morality, and personal conviction very seriously. Paul in writing to the Romans declares that each of us should be fully convinced in our own minds. (Romans 14:5) Where most of us struggle is...

Send us Fan Mail Recognize the Gifts of Yourselves and Others  “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning.” -Acts 11:15 The earliest Christians made a lot of assumptions about who could be fully accepted and included and who couldn’t be. They assumed they the gifts were only available for people who believed and practiced like them.  The Gentil...

Send us Fan Mail Watch, Wait, and Work for the Vision of Revelation  They will hunger no more and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat… (he) will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. - Revelation 7:16-17 Revelation envisions a world in which no child, in fact in which no person,...

Send us Fan Mail The Defeat of Cynicism, Indifference, and Division  “After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.” - Revelation 9:7 The Rulers of empires such as Rome survive and thrive and maintain their...

Send us Fan Mail The Revolution of Revelation  “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb!" - from Revelation 7:10 Revelation is a complex book that is subject to a multitude of interpretations. At its heart, its core message declares that God is on the throne not Caesar. That message makes it both subversive and revolutionary. That’s why so many early Christian...

Send us Fan Mail Whose Voice Are We Following?  “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” - John 10:27 Many years ago now, back when my children were little and I was still a young parent, a professional colleague talked to me about the way she had raised her children.  She told them was never going to yell and scream to get their attention. No matter what was going on, no matter...

Send us Fan Mail “No one will snatch them out of my hand” - from John 10:29 Over the years, I have found that the most controversial aspect of my speaking and writing is that my understanding of the Gospel is centered around the core belief that God’s love is unconditional and universal.  The Gospel message directs us to love everyone even those who refuse to love us back, to forgive everyone even...

Send us Fan Mail Safety in an Unsafe World  “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” - from Psalm 23:5 The world is not safe. Not everyone means us well, but God is our Host. We are under God’s care, and have been invited to God’s table.  Some of the paths we walk are bleak and desolate. When what we need to sustain us isn’t present, we trust God to guide us to where it is.  G...

Send us Fan Mail “The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me.” - from John 10:25 Anyone who does anything of substance or significance is going to be subject to questions and criticism. Jesus had a lot of skeptics and critics.  None of us particularly like to be questioned or criticized. We have a tendency to want to justify ourselves, to rationalize our choices, and at times to be...

Send us Fan Mail Care for My Sheep “A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep." - John 21:16 Three times on this sequence, Jesus asks Peter if he loves him. Three times Peter answers that he does. Three times Jesus replies, then that being the case, you go...

Send us Fan Mail They Followed Him Anyway  “After this he said to him, "Follow me."- from John  21:19 It would have been easy for the disciples to follow Jesus if they had believed following him was going to lead them to health, and wealth, and material prosperity.  However, in this case, Jesus had just finished describing to Peter how he would one day be arrested and executed. In fact n...

Send us Fan Mail Bring What You Have “Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." - John 21:10 These disciples had spent the entire night fishing.  After their initial night of failure and frustration, Jesus had them adjust their approach and try again. This led to their bringing in a massive haul.  When they got back to shore, they found that Jesus had alread...

Send us Fan Mail God Has Prepared a Meal for Us  “When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread.” - John 21:9 These disciples had been through a lot to say the least. Jesus did not bring about the kind of change that had hoped for or expected.  Yet they knew something even bigger was happening. Jesus was raised from the dead and had appeared. They didn’t kno...

Send us Fan Mail The Truth Will Set Us Free  “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” - from John 8:31-32 Some truths are difficult for us to acknowledge. Sometimes acknowledging the truth portrays us and the people we love in a bad light. Sometimes acknowledging the truth forces us to deal with our guilt and shame.  Yet,...

Send us Fan Mail The Truth We Dare Not Speak “Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord.” -from John 21:12 It’s easy for us to tell ourselves the things we want to believe. It’s easy to tell ourselves comfortable lies. It’s easy for us to overlook the truth right in front of us when the truth demands that we make a change.  If the Jesus...

Send us Fan Mail When We Come Up Empty  “They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.” - from John 21:3 Peter and some of the other disciples had spent the entire night fishing. But despite their best efforts and hard work, they came up empty. They hadn’t caught anything.  It sometimes happens to all of us. We do the right things. We work hard. And still we fail to reac...

Send us Fan Mail Accountable to Grow  “He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" - Acts 9:4 How did, Saul, one of the biggest persecutors of the early Christian movement, which was then know as “The Way”, go on to be remembered as Paul a saint who had more books of the New Testament attributed to him than to any other writer?  He was op...