Will Vaus

Helen Hayes, though she was a great actress, was not a great cook. So, on Thanksgiving Day her family would traditionally go out for dinner. Finally, after many years, her family decided that they would give Thanksgiving dinner at home a try.     The day having arrived, Helen told her husband and son, “Now, I’ve cooked a turkey for the first time and I’m going to bring it to the table. If it’s not good, I don’t want anyone to say a word. We’ll just quietly get up from the table, and without any negative comments, we’ll just go to a restaurant and have a Thanksgiving meal there.”   So, Helen went into the kitchen to get the turkey. When she came back out to the dining room, her husband and her son were both sitting at the table with their hats and coats on.   Giving thanks isn’t always easy, even on Thanksgiving Day. Perhaps that is why the Apostle Paul, writing to the church in Thessalonica, penned these words of encouragement:  “give thanks in all circumstances...

What is love, from a child’s point of view? Here are some actual definitions of love given by children... “When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.” “When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth.” “Love is when someone hurts you, and you get so mad, but you don’t yell at them because you know it would hurt their feelings.” “Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is okay.” “Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” “Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.” “Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.” “Love is when your p...

In his book   The Gospel According to Starbucks , Leonard Sweet tells the story of Ed Faubert. Faubert is what you call a “cupper”—in layman’s terms, he is a coffee-taster. The state of New York has actually certified Faubert’s perspicacious taste buds. So refined is Faubert’s sense of taste for coffee that even while blindfolded, he can take one sip of coffee and tell you “not just that it is from Guatemala, but from what state it comes, at what altitude it was grown, and on what mountain.” [1]   Just as there are many different types of coffee in the world and it requires an expert to determine where a particular coffee bean comes from, so also in the spiritual realm there are many different spirits and spiritual discernment is required to determine where each spirit comes from.   In this next section of his letter, John tells us how to discern where a particular spirit comes from, a very necessary skill in our world today. Listen for God’s word to you from 1 John 4:1-6...