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Danny pointed me toward Karen Sudduth’s wonderful site today. If you subscribe to our church’s daily devotional, you’re familiar with some of Karen’s writing. When I read the devotional that our church emailed us today, I knew who the author was within the first few sentences. There’s not many people that I can recognize through [...]

I was talking with a friend earlier this evening and he said, in essence, that he didn’t want to study scripture, and dissect the word and debate what this or that verse might mean.  He wanted his faith to be simple – just belief.  He didn’t want to be worried with the logic or theology [...]

Today’s lesson scripture includes one of our favorite verses of all – Micah 6:8.  Just google “the Lord require of you” and see how many hits you get.  And yet, beautiful as the words are – how do we understand them?
Start at the “verie height” – the King James Version: “He hath shewed thee, O man, [...]

In response to complaints and doubts, we are to strengthen our own faith, reach out in love to others and have mercy on them as we ask God to have mercy on us.  Today’s lesson scripture is from Jude:

14 It was also about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “See, the [...]

A post earlier today concerned Pope Benedict’s encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate” (Charity in Truth), which addresses social issues involved in economic development and recovery.  When I checked my mailbox (the real one – out by the road) I found that this month’s issue of The Advocate, the monthly newsletter of the Mississippi Annual Conference had arrived [...]

Today, Pope Benedict released his encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth), the first social encyclical since Pope John Paul II wrote Centesimus Annus in 1991.  Signed last week on the feast day of St. Peter and St. Paul (June 29th), its public release was obviously timed to coincide with the beginning tomorrow of the [...]

Today’s lesson scripture is from the 10th chapter of the Book of Zechariah.  Zechariah was a prophet of the post-exilic period and there is debate as to whether the whole book was written by Zechariah or just the first eight chapters, with the later chapters being written by his followers.  Most scholars and theologians agree [...]

Today’s scripture is part of the re-telling of the history of God’s covenant by Stephen in the Acts of the Apostles.  As he explains how Moses was misunderstood, he makes the point that God’s people misunderstood what God was trying to do beginning with his covenant with Abraham.  And the tragedy is that God’s prophets [...]

We had pretty good attendance for a holiday – maybe it was the rain.  The lesson scripture for this week was drawn from the 5th and 6th chapters of Ephesians.  Here it is:

21 Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord.
23 For the husband [...]

With today’s scripture we start off with some of Paul’s most beautiful language, specifically five virtues: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience (verse 12) and then add the greatest of these – love (verse 14).  So far, so good.  No one can (or at least no one should) argue with these virtues/goals.  But . . . [...]