Good morning... As my husband was brushing his teeth yesterday morning, I walked into the bathroom and said, "Happy Ash Wednesday!" "I'm not sure those words really go together," he said. "Happy." "And Ash Wednesday." So I deepened my voice and dragged down my candescence, "Dreary and dreaded Ash Wednesday to you." Later in the day, as our [...]
Good morning... When my husband was in college, he took a trip to Israel with a small group of students and his favorite professor. Something important awakened in Steve as he walked the steps of Jesus, read Bible stories in the places they actually occurred, and collaborated on the questions of faith brewing in his heart. Walking and [...]
Good morning... On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I read aloud to each class the series of Scripture verses filling yesterday's post. We opened our inner ears to notice the words touching our hearts, then we popcorn-ed out our phrases beneath the heading "Our Hidden Life." As we recorded our reflections, together we scribbled God's answer to our deepest [...]
Good morning... Teaching my favorite book on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I ponder the title, The Hidden Life Awakened. Beneath our many layers, I wonder, "God, what is this 'hidden life' secreted in our depths?" The Word of God illuminates our answer. God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our [...]
Good morning... "Many words rush along like rivers in flood, but deep wisdom flows up from artesian springs," says Proverbs 18:4 in The Message translation. "The words of the mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream," says Proverbs 18:4 in the New International Version. "The words of a man’s mouth are like deep waters [copious [...]
Good morning... "Anyone who drinks water will soon become thirsty again," Jesus said to end yesterday's post. "But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life" (John 4:13-14, NLT). I am now drawn to the Message translation of verse 14. "Anyone who drinks [...]
Good morning... Tonight is a night I have been looking forward to for a long time. At Northside Church we are hosting an important ninety minutes. ****** Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Human Sexuality Presented by Dr. Kendall Soulen, Candler School of Theology Sunday, January 26 | 5:00–6:30PM | Watson Faith & Arts Center, Northside Church, 2799 Northside Dr [...]
Good morning... Two quotes of divine wisdom creatively collided and fell into me yesterday. “There's a lovely Hasidic story," writes author Anne Lamott, "of a rabbi who always told his people that if they studied the Torah, it would put Scripture on their hearts. One of them asked, 'Why on our hearts, and not in them?' The rabbi [...]
Good morning... In the midst of my prayer time, God is growing in me a fresh thought, a new-to-me idea, the spark of the small, simple diagram pictured above. I am certain that this line of thinking has been explored by other curious brains, as Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 (CEV) reminds us: Everything that happens has happened before; nothing is new, nothing under the [...]
Good morning... I woke this morning to a pleasant surprise. Blessing my inbox at 3:00 am was the introduction to our With God Weather Life Advent devotional. After I had labored hard to deliver the heavy manuscript, I gifted to the church the baby God had conceived in my soul's womb. Our talented Creative Services department added gorgeous [...]
