Sep 23
Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on September 18, 2020. Her death, while met with memorials and sadness by many, primarily has created a firestorm over who will replace her. Given the election year timing of her death, political sides quickly divided on when and who should appoint the next Supreme Court justice. While …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/a-lesson-from-rbgs-death/
Sep 16
It was a delightful spring afternoon, King David was lounging around the palace with nothing to do. Typically, he would have been with his army, because this was the time of the year when kings go out to battle, but David stayed home. His kingdom was blossoming. Everything was going so well, he could take …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/the-danger-of-idle-minds/
Sep 09
Harvest is here. Farmers are in the fields harvesting crops and will be gathering them for the next several months. One of my favorite books of the Old Testament, Ruth, is set in the context of the barley harvest. Ruth and her mother-in-law have returned back to Bethlehem, which is an agricultural area with fertile …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/responsibilities-of-harvest/
Sep 03
Our chickens have had it rough on the farm. We slowly lost our flock of birds to predators throughout the spring and summer. We got down to one rooster. He was all alone, wandering alone during the day and spending nights in the coop by himself. This rooster looked around and couldn’t find all of …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/a-chicken-living-with-pigs/
Aug 26
As our schools begin their new year, I invite you to join me in this petition to our Heavenly Father. I know there are many concerns, so let us not be “anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let [our] requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). Father we …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/a-prayer-for-our-schools/
Aug 19
2020 has been a rough year, but residents of Olten, Switzerland woke to a pleasant surprise recently–chocolate particles falling from the sky and covering the landscape. While this may sound like a scene out of the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, this really happened. The Lindt chocolate factory had a cooling ventilation defect …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/chocolate-snow-flakes/
Aug 12
The prophet Hosea wrote that Israel was sowing the wind and would reap the whirlwind (Hos. 8:7). The powerful and evocative image convicts Israel of having sown what was worthless and profitless, and thus reaping the same with interest. The harvest to follow would be one of violence and destruction! When I see the current …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/reaping-the-whirlwind/
Aug 04
Everything is being examined in our culture–from food brand names to faces on Mount Rushmore, nothing is beyond criticism. Universities are renaming buildings and statues are being placed in storage all because we are judging past heroes as unworthy of esteem. Let me offer four thoughts for us to consider as we go through this …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/be-wary-of-judging-past-heroes/
Jul 29
We teach children to let their “little Christian light” shine all around the neighborhood. Jesus said Christians are the “light of the world” (Mat. 5:14). I think we need to add an additional verse to the children’s hymn which currently speaks of hiding our light under a bushel or letting Satan blow out our light. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/has-covid-dimmed-your-light/
Jul 22
“President Theodore Roosevelt was a man of action, but he was also a good listener, and he appreciated that quality in others. Once in a gala ball, he grew tired of meeting people who returned his remarks with stiff, mindless pleasantries. So he began to greet people with a smile, saying, “I murdered my grandmother …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.joshketchum.com/the-importance-of-listening/
