With loved ones living in Florida, I listened intently to the weather channel for the duration of Hurricane Irma. Days ahead the meteorologists were plotting the path of the hurricane and describing the potential for destruction, warning residents to prepare. I was struck by these words announced by what I presumed to be a brilliant meteorologist “This is all we know, now we have to keep our fingers crossed.” Really? A few days later … 
Now is a good time to check in with the memorizers in our community. Memorizing Scripture can be compared to bicycling. Learning a new passage is like pedaling hard, exploring new territory, and enjoying the beauty of the experience. Coasting is more like reviewing your passage, going at a slower pace. Both pedaling and coasting are part of the process. With summer fading and fall soon upon us, it might be time to … 
For 27 years I’ve been memorizing from the NIV 1984. On occasion someone will say something like, “That’s the one with errors in it.” When I ask what those errors are, very few can back up their position. Yes, I’ve read the critiques and debates over various translations. When I went to seminary 2006-2011, I learned more about the translation process that put my mind at ease. The ONLY accurate translations are the … 
Many years ago, when I lived in Mississippi, my church was the designated place for a welcome home reception for soldiers from Camp Shelby returning from Iraq. The women in my church cooked up a feast worthy of hero’s welcome. I volunteered to be a greeter, and I’ve never forgot that experience. The families of these soldiers spent weeks getting ready for their reunion, no doubt telling everyone that their loved one was coming … 
This week I’m teaching Psalm 51 at our women’s Bible study at church. This paradigm of prayers was recorded and preserved for us so that we’d know what to do with our sins—big and small. It’s a two-fold process: seek forgiveness and seek restoration. The psalm reaches its climax with these words: “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The … |