A ROCKY FOUNDATION

                    Pastor John Pittman tells of one of his experiences as a pastor. This is his story, “the parents of a church member known as Ann had taken custody of her children against her wish. The matter was in court. On the eve of the case, Ann and her husband came to pastor Pittman for prayers.   They prayed earnestly that God would intervene and take control of the events in the courtroom the following day. After so much prayer, God said No to all their requests. There was no eloquence of speech and their story was not convincing to the judge.   One of the witnesses was Ann’s sister who had suffered the same fate. Because of the same parents a teenage son that she loved had committed suicide. And now in her sister Ann’s case she was denied an opportunity give her story. She broke down and wept bitterly. She asked the pastor “where was God today in the courtroom?” Ann...

                     One spring, our hen hatched some chicks. One afternoon, when the little chicks were scattered all over the yard, I suddenly saw the shadow of a hawk overhead. What I thought would happen and what did happen were two different things. That mother hen did not run all over the barnyard and jump on top of those chicks in an attempt to cover them with her wings as one might have expected. Instead, to my surprise, she squatted down, spread out her wings and began to squawk. Without hesitation, those little chicks came running to her from every direction and then ducked under those outstretched wings. All that mother hen did was cluck and expand her wings so they knew where to hide. Then she pulled her wings down tight, tucking every little chick safely under her. There was no way that hawk could get to those babies without going through that mother hen (Peggy Joyce Ruth, 2019). A desert is considered harsh due t...

  Augustine of Hippo was born in 354 AD in Thagaste a small town in North Africa. As a young man, the life of Augustine was characterized by drunkenness, sexual immoralities and other worldly pleasures . He followed various philosophers, only to become disillusioned with their teachings. For nine years he was associated with the Manichean sect. But he gradually became aware that Manicheism was unable to provide satisfactory answers to his probing questions. At this time, Augustine was teaching rhetoric in Milan. One day he went to hear the preaching of Ambrose the Bishop of Milan. At first he went only to hear Ambrose's eloquent style of speaking. But the Bishop's preaching led Augustine to a new understanding of the Bible and the Christian Faith. While outdoors, Augustine heard the voice of a child singing a song, the words of which were, "Pick it up and read it. Pick it up and read it." He thought at first that the song was related to some kind of children's...