For over twenty years, I have come to a moment in the week when I had to finish pulling my thoughts and words into phrases and sentences and paragraphs and prepare an article that would appear in The Baptist Record. The article that would be known as Directions would appear in The Baptist Record week [...]
Deuteronomy 5:17; 19:4-13 January 19 is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. In churches all across America, people will be reminded that God values human life and expects His people to value it as well. Prohibition (Deut. 5:17). The Hebrews had multiple words meaning, “to kill.” The word used in Deuteronomy 5:17 and in Exodus 20:13 [...]
Isaiah 58:3-11 It’s important to understand to whom the book of Isaiah was written, and why. The Prophet Isaiah was primarily called to prophesy to the Kingdom of Judah. Judah was going through times of revival and rebellion. Threatened with destruction by Assyria and Egypt, Judah was spared because of God’s mercy. Isaiah proclaimed a [...]
In the latter weeks of 2019 and as we charge into the 2020 year, as I have been anticipating my retirement on Feb. 29 I have been going through the processes of rearranging things I want to keep, eliminating things I don’t need, and thinking and rethinking about the stuff I’ve accumulated over 56 years [...]
Numbers 32:20-32 The Israelites subdued two kings, Sihon and Og, from the regions of Gilead and Bashan. These regions were characterized by robust grasslands; thus, they were attractive to those who owned vast numbers of livestock (Num.32:1,4). Eventually half of the tribe of Manasseh and the tribes of Reuben and Gad would settle in these [...]
Gen. 3:16-19; Rom. 8:18-25 Recently I ran into one of my favorite pastors in this world, Jeff Parker. As we caught up, I shared with him the emphasis on this series of lessons on suffering. I value his Godly insight gained through his experience as a pastor and as a missionary with the International Mission [...]
I suppose for most of us, just reading the words “transition” or “transitions” calls to mind a word that may be a synonym of it: “change.” It is interesting that when you search the Scripture, the word transition never appears in the Bible but transition events and movements are seen everywhere in the Bible. It [...]
Numbers 27:12-23 Facing Death (Num. 27:12-14). The long days in the wilderness were winding down. Moses was approaching the age of 120 years old. The promised land was in reach, but Moses would never enter there. Instead, he had to settle for a longing look from atop Mt. Nebo-Pisgah. This mountain was part of the [...]
I wonder where I would be without Jesus. I think about how, as a nine-year-old girl, Jesus was beautifully introduced to me and I made my decision to trust Him as my Savior — but what if I had rejected His salvation? What if I had not trusted in His Resurrection? What if I had [...]
Numbers 22:22-35 Three Strikes (Num. 22:22-27). This passage is filled with theological ideas. First, Balaam was a pagan diviner to whom God gave a prophetic revelation. God can use anyone for His purposes, just as He used Cyrus the pagan king (Isa. 45:1). Second, the angel of the Lord is called an adversary. The Hebrew [...]
