Déjà vu moments occur at times in our lives, but we do not usually have them when reading a daily devotional! We may feel like we have already been in a “love passage,” which we encountered in 12:9-13, but this one widens the focus beyond the church to include government and society at large (13:1-7). We have been together in these devotionals long enough for me to earn your trust, so I hope that ...  Read More

In times past, parents would send their children off into the world with an exhortation to make something of themselves. Did your parents exhort you in a somewhat similar fashion when you were launching into adulthood? I read somewhere of a parent saying something like, “God has given you two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with.” Paul, a spiritual father to the many churches he p...  Read More

“It’s as plain as the nose on your face” means that something is obvious. Sometimes it is so apparent we may overlook it! Paul wraps up the letter to the Corinthians with a powerful benediction, providing us with obvious ways to revive a church in distress. His message is as plain as the nose on our face, but do we see it? Benedictions that inspire healthy church fellowship The context in 2 Corint...  Read More

Both this issue [of the Center's E-News] and the year 2024 mark the anniversaries of two important events in US history: the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), and the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act (1964). These monumental events, with their deep theological and civic-responsibility roots, radically changed American life for the better. This article highlights the p...  Read More

[Photo credit: "A Public Witness" -- Word & Way] This article was originally published in the Center's E-News on Oct. 31, 2024 I arrived prior to sun-up on Tuesday of this week at a designated early-voting site in my city. My hope, as I walked across the pitch-dark parking lot toward a light at the front door, was that all voters would be enlightened to the responsibilities of citizenship. Perhaps...  Read More

Let’s argue! One of Paul’s wonderful attributes, and there were many, was his use of argument. No, not the hair-pulling, veins-popping-out kind that we too often encounter in our current culture. I mean rhetoric! If you want to know where Paul is going with an idea, then all you must do is see from whence the idea was flowing. I follow the verbs. In our focal context, he reaches back to 1 Corinthi...  Read More

We are at war! No, a rogue nation has not crossed a “red line,” but we are engaged in daily conflict. As the comic strip Pogo once famously stated, “We have met the enemy and it is us.” I opened my social media threads this morning and was hit with a barrage of venomous rhetoric in what are often claimed to be trusted news sources. The psalmist reminds us that war does not take place solely on bat...  Read More

“The person who broke you can’t be the one who fixes you” is a popular meme. It holds some truth, but I wish it were as simple as that quote suggests. Sin cripples and leaves us in such disrepair that we have no hope of ever “fixing” ourselves. Gloriously, we meet Hope, who is Jesus Christ, and He changes our hearts forever. We are His from then on, regardless of who we once were. Our value is for...  Read More

Suffering is unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and with you” (Keller, Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering, 58). Job vents his frustration over the pain and suffering he is experiencing, his confusion about God’s place in all of it, and his anger at the meaningless words of his “comforters.” Sometimes we cannot see the forest for the trees when we suffer because our pain ...  Read More

Humans can live for quite some time without food and shelter, but water is essential for survival. Finding, preserving, and using water factored largely into how ancient Israel lived life. Without this life-giving source, their existence would have been impossible. The psalmist reminds us that our chosen way of life is like water. What an amazing metaphor that speaks clearly to our minds. Choose t...  Read More

“Fall on your knees and grow there. There is no burden of the [human] spirit but is lighter by kneeling under it. Prayer means not always talking to Him, but waiting before Him till the dust settles and the stream runs clear” (F.B. Meyer). What a wonderful description of the practice of prayer! The disciples model in this passage the oft-overlooked pathway to making clear choices that bring God’s ...  Read More

Despite the great length of time between Christ’s ministry on earth and His imminent return, we all must be aware that we live within the boundaries of His mercy. Upon His return, those who have not received His forgiveness will face judgment. His teaching in this passage helps us to recognize the moral urgency when we encounter evil and suffering (13:1). We should notice immediately that He embod...  Read More