NASHVILLE (BP) – Everyone knows the biblical Christmas story, with Mary riding on a donkey, an innkeeper turning away Mary and Joseph, animals surrounding the Christ child and three wise men visiting Jesus on the night of His birth. Or do they? It may come as a surprise to some that none of these elements are included in the two scriptural accounts of Jesus’ birth in Matthew and Luke -- though they commonly are featured in Christmas pageants. In The First Days of Jesus, published this … [Read more...]
Now is the time
Merry Christmas! Sharon and I pray you and yours have a glorious celebration of Jesus’ first coming. He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we by faith can be inheritors of His righteousness. What joy!! With a humble heart, Sharon and I are blessed to be fellow heirs and fellow servants of the Most High with Missouri Baptists. You are a great people through whom the Lord is working His wonders. In 2015, while we dealt with Sharon’s cancer and the home going of both of our moms … [Read more...]
Are men, women equal?
By complementarianism, I mean the view that men and women are equal as God’s fellow image bearers, but nonetheless have some differences of role in the church and in the home. The way I like to put it is equal, but not interchangeable. In other words, you cannot simply swap male and female in and out of different roles without any consequence; nor are the differences between male and female mere matters of anatomy. There are some fundamental, structural, psychological differences as well … [Read more...]
Forgive your relatives
I was chatting with a friend who was fretting over all the stress at Thanksgiving. I said something like, “At least you’ll have that big family get-together.” Then she told me that was the reason she was stressing. She popped a couple of Tums as she told me about her Uncle Bob. She said she had to fight rather felonious thoughts related to the man. In the course of our conversation, I told her several times, “Yes, it would be that bad to set fire to your uncle’s barn.” And “No, it doesn’t … [Read more...]
Quick tears
Right after I make the coffee each morning, I journey to my study to pray and read the Word of God. I noticed this week how quickly tears were running down my face. I thought, “What’s with this?” It doesn’t take much these days for tears to flood my eyes. Maybe, I realize more now than ever how much a sinner I am and how deep is the grace of God. Maybe it’s the realization that every day of life is more precious than the day before. Maybe it’s the hole in my heart left by the loss of … [Read more...]
To-do-listing His love for us
I’m a list person. Big time. I’ve been known to actually make lists of my lists. I think that means I have a problem. There’s probably a 12-step program. I’m intrigued that they’ll probably need to list the steps. Until there’s an intervention, I’ll just tell you that I’ll keep on listing. My lists help me sort out all the “have to do’s” from the “should have dones” and the “wish I had time to do’s.” One of my favorite things about lists is the sheer pleasure of the checking. Checkmarks … [Read more...]
To-do-listing His love for us
I’m a list person. Big time. I’ve been known to actually make lists of my lists. I think that means I have a problem. There’s probably a 12-step program. I’m intrigued that they’ll probably need to list the steps. Until there’s an intervention, I’ll just tell you that I’ll keep on listing. My lists help me sort out all the “have to do’s” from the “should have dones” and the “wish I had time to do’s.” One of my favorite things about lists is the sheer pleasure of the checking. Checkmarks … [Read more...]
All-consuming praise, not all-consumed pastry
The other morning I woke up thinking…donuts. All thought processes were pretty much completely consumed with all things donutty, sugar-coated, fat-filled and mmmmm. So much so that when I got to the coffee shop, I contemplated eating the top three rows of pastries. Also there were only three rows of pastries. Yes, I wanted all the pastries. All of them. I think I’d just about convinced myself at that point that I could speak fluent Danish. Danish? Get it? And while I’m on the topic (excuse … [Read more...]
Soul-survivors are worth the risk
Have you seen any of those survival skills reality shows? They usually involve one or two wilderness survival experts. I guess survivalists are basically people who are skilled in not dying. The experts get dropped into various hostile wilderness environments with little or no supplies and have to survive off the land and their smarts. If that were me? Oh my. How many ways could I die? The survivalists have to beat off jaguars and snakes, poisonous insects and a vicious foot fungus or two. … [Read more...]
Mount up with wings as horseflies?
Unbelievable. First of all, it was the biggest horsefly-looking thing I’d ever seen. Was it a bird? A pterodactyl maybe? More horse than fly, really. I think I could’ve saddled it. We’re talking about a horrifyingly large horsefly here. I read somewhere that the lifespan of the average horsefly is only a few days. If that’s true then this one had been alive for about four years. But in addition to being huge, it was scary-strong. The thing stayed on the windshield of my moving vehicle for … [Read more...]
Broken pencils, burned clothes
“…this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” – 2 Thessalonians 3:10 How sad to see a child show up at school in the fall with little to work with and inadequate clothing! How good it feels when we can do something to prevent this from happening. It is heartening to see so many things being done to “help” children succeed in school, but perhaps we should take a closer look at the results of our efforts. Many times I have seen pencils in classrooms that … [Read more...]
Bear-slayers, blanket-bearers and not going it alone
Anytime I find myself with no electricity—no working AC or hairdryer or microwave or fridge—I call that a catastrophic event. Some other people call that “camping.” Same thing, right? My friends—many of you—know that I’m an extremely indoorsy kind of gal. My spirit animal is a Snuggie. Someone once told me that enjoying the outdoors is really about having the right tools. Like maybe a Swiss Army knife. I should make it clear here that if a Swiss Army knife would ever be wasted on … [Read more...]
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