Sometimes the Best Response to God is to Make Haste We are all quite familiar with the fact that we can find rest and peace in Jesus. He promises us that. Words we use are abide in Him, stand firm, be steadfast. However, sometimes God has a different message, a different plan, and a different method. Sometimes the best response to God is to Go! Hurry! Make haste! Don’t Make Haste … Sometimes There are scriptures that warn... Read more
I confess: I am Evangelical, but I am not your enemy. e·van·gel·i·cal /ˌēˌvanˈjelək(ə)l,ˌevənˈjelək(ə)l/ adjective of or according to the teaching of the gospel or the Christian religion. Similar: scriptural biblical Bible-believing fundamentalist orthodox noun a member of the evangelical tradition in the Christian Church. These days, Evangelical has become nearly a curse word in some arenas, particularly on social media. Recently, I was in a face-to-face conversation with a close family member who was belittling the “ignorant Evangelicals” who... Read more
Happy Valentine’s Day, Abba Dear Abba, Happy Valentine’s Day. I have come to realize that, although You are truly the love of my life, I have never sent You a Valentine. I know about love, because You have been writing me Valentines for a long time. You told me:: “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the... Read more
Kerygma: an Evangelical Study On Sunday I was watching one of my favorite television preachers, Fr. Cedric Pisegna. During his Live With Passion message, he introduced a new word to me: kerygma. I was fascinated by what I heard and decided to study it a bit. I thought there may be others who would be interested, as well. What is the Kerygma? From the lexicon: “Kerygma (from Ancient Greek: κήρυγμα, kḗrygma) is a Greek word used in the New Testament... Read more
Whatcha Gonna Do With Those Stones, Hon? My first real teaching assignment was in a Kindergarten class in rural Georgia. The first year was challenging in a number of ways, and one of the biggest challenges was a small boy who always seemed to be getting into something he was not supposed to. Once in a while, he became aggressive toward other children, though I don’t think he realized it was aggressive. Throwing things at other children while smiling... Read more
Love That Bears Fruit I believe we all want our love to bear fruit. A Little Context for Love 1 John 4:7-21 says, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might... Read more
The Daniel Fast: What? Why? How? Many churches and families make it a January tradition to participate in the Daniel Fast. The Daniel Fast is a partial fast based on Daniel 1: Daniel’s Story “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he... Read more
The Sacred Harp: fa-sol-la: What is this music? One very odd and amazing experience I had when I lived in Alabama involved church hymns. An elderly gentleman for whom I held much respect invited me to “a singin’” at his church, and since I enjoy music, I went. I was not prepared for what “a singin’” actually was, but after I got over the shock, I really liked it. It was one of the most transcending, worshipful services I can... Read more
This story deeply touched my heart. It was written by my son, a U.S. Army veteran diagnosed with PTSD: Perspective By Joseph Haynes From the Perspective of the 7-Year-Old Daddy is like two different people. Sometimes he’s the fun Daddy who builds forts in the living room and lets me help him fix stuff. I like that Daddy the best because he laughs, and his laugh makes me laugh too. He teaches me things, like how to hold... Read more
A Snowy Day with a Happy Ending Today school was canceled because of snow and icy roads. It sent me back to a similar day, probably 35 years ago. The roads were bad, but as always, God was good. True story: It was an unusual morning in Anniston, Alabama with steel gray clouds dumping inches of snow on top of icy roads. Getting to school wasn’t a problem because it was Sunday. I lived about three blocks from the... Read more
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