Salt. It perks up my French fries, chlorinates my pool, and boosts my Gatorade when the Texas heat and humidity make my sweat glands run like faucets.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus affirmed the need for salt (and the Church) as flavor, fertilizer, and preservative. “You are the salt of the earth. But…

My husband Russell and I plan to hike Half-Dome in Yosemite in the fall. We walk each weekend to prepare for the fourteen-mile hike. God calls us to walk with Him too. Stories spill from the pages of Scripture of those who did—and didn’t—walk with Him.  Here are a few tips for walking together: 1.…

COVID-19 has brought a host of challenges. Can God—has God—hidden treasure in the chaos? Isolation. Disruption. A shift to online everything. Financial and employment changes. Lots of family time for some or, in the case of our locked-down senior adults, no time at all. Treasure? Ecclesiastes 5:19 says, “when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the…

“with your blood you purchased for God    persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.  You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,    and they will reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:9-10 NIV I’m a fan of the Enneagram—an ancient personality profile with nine distinct types. While the Enneagram has helped me understand…

How much is enough? Advertisers create demand for a product or service—and often, that serves us well.  But other times, it can feed the flesh.  Proverbs 30:15-16 reads,  “The leech has two daughters.    ‘Give! Give!’ they cry. “There are three things that are never satisfied,    four that never say, ‘Enough!’:      the grave, the barren womb,    land, which is never satisfied…

Psalm 81 begins with miracles of God’s deliverance and ends with more He longed to do—except.  Except He couldn’t. Verses 11-12 tell us why, “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.” God surrendered Israel to…

My husband and I love sports stories, stories where, in spite of great obstacles, the athlete triumphs. Netflix is full of them. However, in Deuteronomy, we find the opposite: great deeds met with distrust and rejection.  “In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 1:32 NIV “This” is the list of miracles God…

Some people like to stir it up. Add some drama, then watch the fallout.  Reality TV thrives on this kind of strife.  In real life, the entertainment value drops. Significantly. If you have stirrers in your family, you know how much prayer goes into family get-togethers. Please God, let there be peace! “For as churning cream…

Favorites. We mesh with some people like puzzle pieces snapping into place. Seamless. Easy. Click.  Others jar us, grate our rough edges, and stretch our patience. Uncomfortable. Difficult. Scraaape.  The apostle James gives no quarter, “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism . . . If you really…

If you want to teach spiritual principles to your children, look no further than the book of Proverbs. King Solomon graciously supplies us with word pictures and object lessons. Check out Proverbs 10:26 (NIV), “As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so are sluggards to those who send them.” Let’s examine Solomon’s word…