Stephen De La Vega

We see colors when light refracts. That’s God’s design. He also designed each of us differently. Do we appreciate the colors when we look at each other? Jesus chose a Samaritan as the good neighbor in Luke 10, and He spoke to a Samaritan woman at a well in John 4. Jesus was a Jew and Jews didn’t like Samaritans, yet when He healed 10 lepers in Luke 17, only a Samaritan cared enough to thank Him. The other 9 were Jews. It’s easy to develop biases and prejudices as we walk through life. Jesus and the Samaritan leper reached beyond the trending prejudice in favor of healing, honor, and gratitude. And the Good Samaritan offered neighborly love instead of prejudice. What biases do we have? What do we tend to believe about… Men. Women. Children. Persons with Special Needs. Parents. Grandparents. In-Laws. School Teachers. Daycare Teachers. Children’s Ministry Workers. Veterans. Incarcerated Persons. Residents of Assisted Living Facilities. Government Workers. Po...

What determines our next steps? Who do we listen to? Do we follow God’s truth? Are we careful to discern and turn away from persuasive lies? We can choose truth. Even in loneliness. Depression. Addiction. Our values can align with God’s. Even in difficult situations. Fear. Disappointment. We can walk confidently. Even when people ridicule us. Turn on us. Bully us. And we can rally around the truth because that’s what God’s children do. In my previous post , I wrote about living an authentic Christian life. An authentic child of God obeys Him, loves Him, and loves His children. Simple prescription. Hard to swallow. But, if that isn’t hard enough, the letters of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John also warn us about people and things that directly oppose our authenticity.  Identity thieves try to rob us of it and replace it with anything contrary to God. Identity thieves are in our midst and they are cunning and intentional. If we’re not careful, we could adopt and even thrive...

We live in days where some people pretend to be people they are not. They do this for their own gain, often with some sophistication of stealth. “Oh, dread.  Somebody stole my identity!” We also encounter people who pretend to be something they are not. For example, they might appear to be well-to-do, only to disguise dwindling bank accounts. We see only what they allow us to see. And still others don’t really want another person’s identity at all, but they would rather discredit us and shatter the noteworthy elements in our character. I hope I have not just described any of us. On second thought, I described myself sometimes (I mean often), at least when it comes to the second example, and I’m struggling to write this article because of it. I delayed the publish date two times because I’ve written just a couple paragraphs per day, only to rewrite them later. In fact, this article didn’t really start to come together until I wrote this confession. I guess the same is...

Patrick Henry had the right idea when he stood before the Virginia Convention and said , “Give me liberty or give me death.” He wanted freedom, but not just freedom from British rule. He wanted freedom to be an American, freedom for his countrymen to write their own history. He knew that living under British rule was not really living at all. The same was true for Coco… [Note: This is Part 1 of a 3-part trilogy that includes some extraordinary but true animal stories and offers insight into some of our human tendencies, a.k.a., animal instincts. ] A true story about a dog named Coco In January 2013, 4-year-old Coco, a gray and white poodle, entered the doors of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals . His coat was so severely matted that he couldn’t lift his head. But even more shocking were 2 other problems: A 6-foot long wire was wrapped around his entire body His collar was embedded into his skin, including his name tag He was...

3 weeks ago I attended my aunt’s memorial service.  We call it a “celebration of life” because of the life she lived on earth and because Aunt Marilyn is alive and well in Heaven.  I know she’s in Heaven, not because I heard her confess Jesus as Savior and Lord of her life.  I never heard her say that.  (In fact, I didn’t know Aunt Marilyn very well because visiting with her was just not a regular thing for me.)  But I know she's in Heaven because I see her legacy – God’s hand on the beautiful children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren who remain on this earth. To illustrate her legacy… A week after Aunt Marilyn’s celebration of life, her 13-year-old great grandson described “true followers of God” as people who are “fully involved [in church], have a good time, and hold on to what they learned for life.” He wrote this for an English assignment. This is fruit of a godly legacy. He continued, “Being Christian means to have full ...