Stories from Bittersweet Farm

Even a simple gift, given in Jesus name, will be rewarded forever in heaven. 

One day I was thinking about what a good dog Hazzard has been for our family. He will be twelve this spring. 

Not all the banana bread in the world is mine, but every once in a while some of it is. Here is a story that will make your mouth water. 

OK that was really cheap click-bait, but here is a story I heard Andy tell about his dark past.  https://northpoint.org/messages/life-love-and-legacy/part-1 https://northpoint.org/messages/life-love-and-legacy/part-2

You are responsible for the effect of your mood. Think about it. 

Here is a useful old story that I have told for years. Something to think about. What are you looking for? 

When dark things happen to you or to your family, keep moving forward and keep seeking the Lord. This thing is not over and Jesus has a powerful way of winning in the end. Christos Victor.

Here is a bit of a story and a powerful, fascinating quote from Wendell Berry.

One of the most powerful memory-evoking things is a smell. Have you noticed that. 

Going through a great trial one day I saw something sad happen to a dog. What happened next made me cry.

Here is a memory from a winter day a few years ago. 

I had some thoughts shoveling out of a great snowfall one February Day.

Do you ever wonder what makes crabby people crabby?

If you have ever tired of winter you want to listen to this story from out on Bittersweet Farm.

God gives his mercies. They are new every day. Even in the darkest heart of winter.

I have a theory that when you are kind to people they are more likely to be kind to you. I know, there are people who get up in the morning trying to figure out ways to be rude or evil or obnoxious, but I think they are the exception to the rule. What do you think? Do you think being pushy gets more done?

Have you every longed for something you don’t have? Hear the legend of the house with the golden windows.

A classic story we have all lived.

You can’t be too careful in this evil world. There’ll it’s easy to be deceived and misdirected.

Here is an old true story with a twist.

Five years ago on the first day of autumn I was thinking about winter coming on... and, well, here is what happened.  (PS. Those of you who listen to this podcast, I would like you to vote. Background music or NO background music? What do you think?)

In 2017 I made plans to attend the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. There are few things I would rather do, but today I will do one of them... 

It was on the 11th of August 1976 that I took the pulpit for the first time as a pastor. I was the pastor of the Pleasant Ridge Congregational Christian Church on Watkins Road in Fort Recovery, Ohio. I was seventeen years old and between my Junior and Senior year of high school in Greenville, Ohio. Late the next August I would leave to study at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. I have been an acti...

What does a young man know about a woman at twenty? Not much.

The everyday routes you take and the everyday routines you perform will one day be precious to you when you look back on them. The ordinary things today will often be the things that bring a tear to our eye one day in memory. What if we could live with that awareness now?