Author: web_cicb

I need to take the tram to work more often…you just never know when you might come across something valuable!

We are two weeks into the New Year and I thought I’d ask you: how are those New Year’s resolutions going? Maybe that’s an unfair question. While most of us have dreams and desires for the future, we find it hard to stick with goals and resolutions. Researchers at the University of Scranton say that only about 8% of people achieve the goals they set for the New Year. Maybe that’s because most of us don’t really like setting goals. … Continue reading “Goal-Setter Or Problem-Solver?”

Shortly before Christmas I entered an electronics store in France and was searched by a security guard before I could go in. It wasn’t that I looked suspicions or anything; they were doing that to everyone. Safety and security has become a big issue in this part of the world. So much of our lives now deal with issues of protection in one way or another. Living next door to two other countries I am never without my identification cards. … Continue reading “Who Are You Trusting?”

I don’t know what kind of year 2015 was for you. It might have been one of your best years ever. Or, you could be glad it’s on its way out.  Certainly this was a challenging year for the world in general. We saw continued threats from terrorism, danger from deadly disease and risk from various weather patterns. A prayerful posture is needed as we head into 2016. While thing around us may look dim, we don’t need to be … Continue reading “Arise, Shine”

Mary did you know, that your baby boy Is Lord of all creation? Mary did you know, that your baby boy Will one day rule the nations? The song, Mary Did You Know, has become very popular at Christmas time. The song asks Mary, the mother of Jesus, if she understood the importance of the child she was carrying.  Whenever I hear this song I want to stop it and say, “Yes, she knew, she knew!” She knew because the angel … Continue reading “Mary Did Know”

One doesn’t normally think about Sherlock Holmes stories at Christmas time. But Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Holmes obviously loved a great mystery.  Set at Christmas time The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle involves the theft a rare blue carbuncle (a type of semi-precious stone). While investigating a scuffle a policeman finds an old hat and a goose. He takes the goose home for Christmas but his wife finds the carbuncle in the bird’s throat. Holmes can’t resist getting … Continue reading “The Christmas Mystery”

When people set up their Christmas nativity scene or crèche, they don’t usually have a dragon among the animals. Yet the Bible tells us of a dragon that sought to ruin Christmas and our future. One verse you’ll probably never see on a Christmas card is found in Revelation 12:4, “And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born”. You can see why this doesn’t fit … Continue reading “The Christmas Dragon”

This past Sunday was the first week of Advent. Advent is that period of time during which we are to prepare ourselves for Christmas and the coming of Christ. We aren’t preparing for the Christmas that is celebrated in malls and public spaces which focuses on Santa and winter festivities. Rather, we focus on the Christmas of history – the one that celebrates the coming of the Lord Jesus in human flesh to redeem us from our sins. I thought … Continue reading “A Christmas Example”

A farmer in the Swiss canton of Aargau made a profitable find recently. In July, he decided to remove a mole hill on his property. In the process, he found a bunch of old coins. In September, a group of volunteer archaeologists did some more searching and found even more loot: 4,166 coins to be exact. They were made of bronze and silver and constitute one of the largest such finds ever. The coins were from the Romans in the … Continue reading “Treasure In A Field”