Ken Winter

In 1979, four sisters from Philadelphia, who together formed an R&B vocal group, released what immediately became their breakthrough album,  We Are Family ,(1) featuring their Grammy Award winning single under the same title. The Sledge sisters celebrated in song what it meant to be family. If you were around in that era, i would venture to say that the song immediately began to play...

When the day is done or when our lives come to an end, what do we want to be known for? Do we want to be known for the success we achieved, the awards we earned, or the victories we won? Or do we want to be known for the way we helped others or the civic service we selflessly carried out? Or do we want to be known for being a faithful and loving son or daughter, or husband or wife, or parent, or f...

The journey of our lives often resembles a car ride on an interstate highway. We never plan to encounter the accidents or the detours, but the reality is that they are a part of traveling along the interstate. The same is true of our lives. This week, let’s look at the detours we come upon along the way, and heed some of the lessons the Israelites learned through the detours they encountered durin...

You probably remember the setting (Isaiah 6). There is no indication that God was directing the question to any one person. He was asking the question of all who heard it – at that moment, and as we read those words … even today. That’s the uncomfortable part. We’re okay with it when it’s directed toward someone else. But it’s quite a different story when we believe it has been directed toward us.

It’s the beginning of a new year. Just like every year that has preceded it, the year stretches out before us like a great big unblemished canvas. This time next year, we’ll all be experts about what 2022 held in store for us … but right now, we really don’t have a clue, even though we may think we do. We’ve made our plans. We’ve set our course. But the reality is we really don’t know what will un...

It’s hard to believe that another year is drawing to a close. And yes, what a year it has been! Some of the major wordsmiths are using singular words such as these to describe 2021: vaccine, insurrection, perseverance, variant, woke, “wokelash” – and the most recent addition – “omnicron.”  Most of the words, just like those in years past, tend to focus on the events we find swirling around us...

A story for this Christmas season about Anna, a woman who faithfully lived out her life with the God-given expectancy that she would see the Messiah with her own eyes. Despite the many years that passed, her faith never wavered. Her story should serve as a reminder to us this Christmas season that whatever our Lord has promised … He will bring to pass!

A story for this Christmas season about Elizabeth, a woman of great faith who believed her Lord despite overwhelming odds to the contrary. As a result, she was given the great honor of being the first to announce the arrival of God’s Son … an honor that would later be shared by her son, John. Her story should serve as a reminder to us this Christmas season that with God all things are possible!

A story for this Christmas season about an unsuspecting priest by the name of Zechariah who was simply going about his business when God gave him some overwhelming news. His story should serve as a reminder this Christmas season that God can come to us at any moment and direct us to do the unimaginable. After all … He’s God … and we’re not!

Gabriel was the angel created and sent by God to deliver His message of Good News on more than one occasion. We would do well to follow his example … for we too have been sent to declare the Good News this Christmas season.

From the days of the Garden of Eden, our God has been at work to redeem a lost world back to Himself. His plan was already in motion. The plan was to send His Son to pay our debt. The plan was to then send out the followers of His Son to every corner of the globe to be witnesses of the Good News. He set in motion a mission to make a global impact that continues to this day. In doing so, He desires...

Have you ever been so caught up in what was going on in your life that you failed to keep your eyes on Jesus? And when you did come around to looking for Him it seemed like He was missing? If so, there are some lessons to be learned from Mary and Joseph.

Are you feeling like God has called you to do something that is way outside of your comfort zone? Do you find yourself in the midst of a situation that is far beyond your capability or understanding? Do you feel like God has just thrown you into the deep end of the pool? If so, you’re in good company. We see that occurring to men and women God used throughout the Bible. One of those was Joseph.

Have you ever been rejected by the very people you thought would stand by you no matter what? If so, you’re in good company! Imagine Jesus’s heartbreak when He returned to Nazareth and those He knew the best, rejected Him. Those He desired to bless the greatest, turned away from Him with great fury. What are the lessons we can learn from His journey back home?

The early followers of Jesus were fully devoted. But the thing that drew them together was not their devotion – it was the One to whom they were devoted! The church today has a lot of devoted followers. But i would contend that in too many instances our devotion has become misplaced. We have become fully devoted to aspects of our politics – or our culture. Our core beliefs have become more ce...

Do you find yourself in the midst of a situation that looks bleak? Are you at a place facing the unknown where you have more questions than answers? Is your situation causing you to be anxious or fearful? If so, you have a lot in common with Jesus’s closest followers.

There were two men there at the shore to meet Jesus and the disciples when they docked. The night before, when they got into the boat, Jesus had told them,  “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake. ” The disciples had no idea why they were going to the other side of the lake. They had no idea what Jesus’s purpose was or who they would encounter. But Jesus did! Nothing with Jesus is ra...

What does it mean to be a “keeper of the light” – not when everything is going great – but when we are walking through tough times? Though we may need to endure for a little while, we do so with the promise of One who has walked where we are walking.

Are you at a crossroad in your journey? Are you needing wisdom to know which road to take? Are you considering which of the roads in front of you is the best one for you? The probability is that all of your options look pretty good. Let’s face it – if one of your options looks like it will lead to complete disaster, you’re probably not wasting much time considering it. So your quandary is probably...

i often receive comments or questions about why God didn’t intervene in a specific tragedy. If He is sovereign, why didn’t He keep that tragedy from occurring? The comments, in most instances, are from people crying out for an answer with a sincere and contrite heart. On occasion, it is pouring out from a heart that has become bitter and hardened by tragedy. Some have even gone so far as to conclu...

God has promised to always be faithful, but most often His faithfulness looks very different from what we thought it would. i have come to believe that God delights in our surprise. He enjoys doing things in ways we would never expect … because it is His way of reminding us that He is God … and we aren’t!

Jesus often takes us on a wilderness journey with Him in order to prepare us and equip us for the task that He is placing before us. Sometimes those wilderness journeys are a very private and personal affair. It’s us and the Lord – and very few others, if any, know about it. It’s a “hidden” journey – and i personally believe that it is in that type of journey that God does His deepest work in our...

One day in the temple, three days before His crucifixion, Jesus stood before the religious leaders of the day as their Judge rendering His verdict and His pronouncement over them. He used some very strong words. But don’t think that Jesus had allowed His emotion to get the better of Him. This was not like you or i might do – allowing our anger to seize control of our tongue and spew venom upo...

If someone was to ask you to name the twelve disciples who followed Jesus, how far could you get on the list? There are six names on the list that are more difficult to recall. Since little was written about them, their names tend to fade into obscurity in our memories But here’s the thing: the very fact that Jesus chose them to be His disciples tells us that He could entrust them to carry out His...

Forty years had passed since the Israelites’ journey out of Egypt had begun, and the journey hadn’t looked anything like they had envisioned it would be. And they were still journeying through the unknown … just like we are. There would be challenges ahead – those they could see – like the Jordan River and the city of Jericho – and those they had not yet seen.