Some people start the new year with resolutions—hoping that the new year will give them an opportunity for a reset. You know—new year, new me. I’ve narrowed that down to just one word—and not really an aspirational word—just a word to describe what I expect the year to hold. The year after our son died the word was “arduous.” And that year lived up to its word—every day was a painful slog. The...
If you had to guess, how many prayers do you think are included throughout the Bible? Although sources vary, in his book All the Prayers of the Bible, Herbert Lockyer listed 650. Some say there are 450 recorded answers to prayer. Depending on the translation you read, the number of times forms of the word pray/prayer are used differ as well, but the English Standard Version (ESV) has more than...
In Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge begins with a humbug attitude toward Christmas, too disinterested and miserly to invest in even a small contribution to the holiday cheer. His attitude threatens to ruin Christmas. By the end of the story, a fresh generosity overcomes his scroogie-ness, and Christmas is saved. Yay! The same kind of thing happens in The Gift of the Magi. A...
Raising children can feel overwhelming as you try to navigate the many voices telling you what to do and not to do, but God has already given you everything you need to be faithful parents. In Reaching Your Child’s Heart: A Practical Guide to Faithful Parenting, Juan and Jeanine Sanchez encourage parents from their gospel-shaped perspective that children don’t need perfect parents—they need a...
The Bible is filled with reminders to “remember.” Yet, have you noticed how many times God’s people get themselves in deep trouble because they forget? Throughout the Old Testament we see the disastrous effects of God’s people failing to remember the great works of the Lord. Read through almost any part of Israel’s story and you will see a direct link between forgetfulness and...
