We just returned from four days of an amazing pastoral/board retreat. The nature of our leadership retreats changed dramatically back in 2001. Through a very hard situation we were facing as a church and leadership, we abandoned our typical Spring…
It is so important to know the difference. There is a use of the word “with” in Scripture that simply refers to the occasion where people happen to be together, with each other, and there is no larger or more…
Rita's uncle Oris had farmed 300 plus acres of corn and soy beans outside of Dayton, Iowa, for most of his life. Farming being what it is uncle Oris had made life-long friends of the neighboring farmers. They shared farm…
Every so often, I like to switch translations for my devotional reading, just to get a different perspective on God’s story. When I do that, I will typically get a study Bible so that I can have some commentary on…
God’s sovereignty versus our free will. Which one determines our future? Maybe the answer is both? “Either/or” creates a dissonance none of us are comfortable with. It is an argument that has dominated the last five hundred years of church…
I know you have experienced the same thing. You can read whole passages of Scripture and have them be meaningful, but then, at a different time, have the Holy Spirit speak so powerfully in every turn of the narrative. That…
Not trying to sound super spiritual here. But the Holy Spirit is speaking so strongly to me through the life of Abraham in Genesis. I can’t tell you how many times Genesis has been in my morning reading routine, but…
I hope you don’t mind the number of posts on Abram from Genesis recently. It’s just that God seems to be speaking to me so strongly through my Genesis readings right now that I can’t help but pass on to…
Don’t assume that you know the answer. I thought I did and then was surprised when I did a little cross-referencing. I think we all assume, from what we have read in the Genesis 18-19 account of the twin OT…
It’s easy to forget they were just human. Pretty much just like you and me. Over the years of stories and sermons on their lives, we have unfortunately elevated them to a level that can render them unreachable to us.…