Recently, I have noted people saying they were glad to see the coming new year and the end of 2020. Yesterday, I listened to a friend tell the congregation, “Never before have I thought that I was really glad a whole year was over…but if I am honest…I am glad 2020 in is the rearview mirror.”\
We would never wish another world pandemic on anyone. Vast changes in […]
December of 2020 is not only a time to eagerly await turning the calendar, this is the opportunity to take our final exam. How have we conducted our lives, and how will we prepare for the coming days ahead?
It is worth noting Rodgers and Hammerstein didn’t include final exams in the lyrics of “My Favorite Things.” I endured examinations as a student, often murmuring along with fellow […]
If you are an elder or staff leader in a local church, this blog post is intended for you. If you serve on the board of a mission work, I hope this reaches your desk. Likewise, if your service includes the responsibility for directing a Christian camp, campus ministry, or nonprofit organization, I hope you will carefully think about the important issue of the future of those […]
Forty-eight years ago, my new bride and I moved onto a college campus outside Knoxville, Tennessee. Set among the hills along the banks of the French Broad River, the beauty of the area and the clarity of the blue sky easily awakened the mind and excited the senses. It was a seemingly ideal location to study and prepare for a life of Christian ministry. Nearly thirty years […]
One of the famous segments of the 1987 play and 1989 movie Driving Miss Daisy is the trip to Mobile to celebrate Miss Daisy’s brother’s birthday. Holding firmly to the map in the back seat, Miss Daisy became confused, told Hoke to make a wrong turn, and they found themselves far off the planned route. Even now, with GPS units built into a phone or automobile, we […]
Does MY life matter? This question is obviously on the minds of many across the USA and around the world. We can, without equivocation say, “Yes, YOUR life matters to God…and subsequently to many others.” Still, that is getting ahead of ourselves just a bit.
As the Passover celebration in Jerusalem drew closer during the Biblical era, Hebrew people from across the Levante would gather for the celebration. […]
If you feel like you are living at the corner of Discouraged and Hopeless today, this post is for you. If you are discouraged, troubled, concerned, confused about life in 2020, this post is for you.
Living at the corner of Discouraged Street and Hopeless Avenue is standing room only when it comes to US politics. Describing Christians as harshly politically divided is an understatement of epic proportions. […]