Give generously, and do not let your heart be grieved when you give, because for this act the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all your endeavors. Deuteronomy 15:10 Some years ago, Harold Bloom, one of the world’s preeminent literary scholars, authored a mammoth study of Williams Shakespeare’s plays...... Read More

I’m not saying that I have already achieved these things or that I have reached perfection. But I press on to gain that for which Christ Jesus first took hold of me. Although I have not achieved it, I focus on one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to...... Read More

Saul, however, was still at Gilgal, and all his troops were gripped with fear. 8 He waited seven days for the appointed time that Samuel had set, but Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal, and the troops were deserting him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” Then he offered the burnt offering. I Sam....... Read More

Wherever you go, I will go. Ruth 1:16b. Like all humans, I love numbers, measurements, and statistics. How did I do on the exam? What was the score of the Lions game (OK, maybe not that)? What’s the unemployment rate, my raise for this year, the percentage of people with health insurance or bald spots?...... Read More

By faith Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God tested him … even though the Lord had promised that it was through Isaac that Abraham’s descendants would be numbered. It was by faith that Isaac promised future blessings to his sons, Jacob and Esau. And It was by faith that Jacob, before his death,...... Read More

A slave does not remain in the household, but the children belong to it forever. John 8:36 In case you weren’t around, I had a cranky week to begin the month of May. Our new home is missing any semblance of landscaping, and the weather has prevented the situation from improving. Several encounters with customer...... Read More

4 The goodness and kindness of God our savior appeared to save us, not because we did anything righteous, but because he is merciful. He cleansed us, made us alive, and created us anew by the Holy Spirit, whom he gives to us without measure. This is all through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, who makes...... Read More

This is what the Lord says: “The wise should not boast in their wisdom, the powerful in their power, or the rich in their riches. Let anyone who desires to boast boast in this: that they know me and understand that I am the Lord who reveals steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth,...... Read More

In all their afflictions he was afflicted, and the angel of the Lord carried them. (Is. 63:9). I’ve spent two posts tip-toeing up to and around this question of what is real and how we can tend to escape into fantasy rather than live in reality – the reality of who we are, what we...... Read More

So we don’t look at the things that we see, but at what we don’t see, since what we see passes away, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Cor. 4:18). One of the great existential issues that humans have debated since forever is the question of what is real. I’m sure that many of...... Read More