For 27 years I’ve been memorizing from the NIV 1984. On occasion someone will say something like, “That’s the one with errors in it.” When I ask what those errors are, very few can back up their position. Yes, I’ve read the critiques and debates over various translations. When I went to seminary 2006-2011, I learned more about the translation process that put my mind at ease. The ONLY accurate translations are the … 
Many years ago, when I lived in Mississippi, my church was the designated place for a welcome home reception for soldiers from Camp Shelby returning from Iraq. The women in my church cooked up a feast worthy of hero’s welcome. I volunteered to be a greeter, and I’ve never forgot that experience. The families of these soldiers spent weeks getting ready for their reunion, no doubt telling everyone that their loved one was coming … 
This week I’m teaching Psalm 51 at our women’s Bible study at church. This paradigm of prayers was recorded and preserved for us so that we’d know what to do with our sins—big and small. It’s a two-fold process: seek forgiveness and seek restoration. The psalm reaches its climax with these words: “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The … 
The daily stress of 21st century life puts us in a squeeze. Job pressure, time constraints, financial limitations, relationship demands—impossible expectations at every level. Some days we feel like the walls are closing in on us, we’re backed into a corner, we have no room to breathe. I have felt this recently with decisions and deadlines hanging over me. I found a wellspring of encouragement in Psalm 4 as I dug deeper into … 
When you’re walking on the beach and come across an elaborately built sandcastle that took hours to make, what is your first thought after Wow? Too bad it will all wash away when the tide comes in. Some think they can avoid this fate by building beyond the tide line, but either way, its life is short-lived. Sandcastles do not last. Similarly every time you go to a funeral it’s a healthy reminder … |