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When I first read this small section, I loved it! Stories in the Old Testament can be thrilling but often dark, so occasional slivers of joy like this seem especially meaningful and beautiful. I loved it so much because—though far from an Old Testament scholar—I am familiar with how much the Israelites endure through the history it details, so reading about how the exiled Israelites finally return to rebuild the house of the Lord was like sharing in a huge victory with them.

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What constitutes worth in our society?  Perhaps it’s the ability to contribute to a lesser or greater degree. Sometimes it’s measured by wealth or social standing, but we know that this is not supposed to be the Christian’s perspective of worth.

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The angel of the Lord also spoke a blessing over Hagar and the child in her womb. In response, she called out to the Lord, essentially naming Him El-roi, meaning You are a God who sees, or literally—You, God, see. She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’” (16:13-NIV). The well where the encounter took place became a memorial known as “Beer-lahai-roi,” meaning the well of the living One who sees me (16:14). Hagar’s words had been heeded by God. She saw the living Lord and was SEEN by Him.

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Our cat has a hashtag. It all started when we noticed him laying flat on his back, completely relaxed, in all sorts of random and odd places: the middle of the kitchen floor, at the foot of the stairs, up against a hallway wall, next to the freestanding oven range, under the dining room table…just about anywhere.

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By the time you’re reading this, I hope we’re transitioning back to a sense of normalcy. The start of 2020 is something that will go down in history as unprecedented–a global pandemic, social (and physical) distancing, schools closed, vacations and travel plans cancelled, online church services, zoom happy hours, and working from home becoming the new norm. However we return to socialization, I think at this point, we can all agree that it will likely look and feel different.

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 “The New Normal” is a phrase we hear often in the media these days. These words refer, of course, to the new habits we have undertaken because of the corona virus. Many of us are sheltering in our homes, practicing social distancing, frequently washing hands, sanitizing everything we touch, and attending meetings by Zoom and other electronic means.

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This pandemic is–enter any adjective you want here, like crazy, scary, lonely & isolating, to name just a few. Don’t get me wrong, of course we often look at the good side of this… many of us have been able to paint rooms, clean out closets or basements, worked out a little longer or actually just worked out, played games with our kids and had extra time to do something we’ve been wanting to do that we just could never find the time for. But many of us are lonely.

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I’d hate to try and think how many sermons I’ve listened to in my life. It would easily be in the thousands! But there is one sermon that tops the list. It is the most famous sermon in the Bible, preached by Jesus as He began His public ministry, the Sermon on the Mount. You […]

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We had crossed the country for a wedding. When the radiant bride walked down the aisle, with our daughter as her flower girl, I was in the operating room. The disappointment of missing that family event was, at the time, eclipsed by what was happening to us.

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Someone posed this provocative question in a social media post recently: “What if we took sin as seriously as we take COVID-19?” I can’t stop thinking about the irony here. What if sin took hold of the world’s conscience and provoked an international reaction on par with COVID-19?

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