Author: S&P

  My thrice-great grandmother was a Choctaw Native born in South Mississippi in 1845. Her name was Clementine “Thankful” Page. I’m not sure what her parents called her in the day-to-day but I’ve imagined it would be great if she went by “Thankful.” I can imagine that name echoing through a house in those antebellum years. “Thankful, it’s time for dinner” or maybe, “Thankful, what did you do?”...

While we tend to look forward to Thanksgiving because it usually means a four-day holiday, getting together with family, and eating more food than we have all year, it is my sincere desire that it be more meaningful this year. What if Thanksgiving were the one day in which we over-emphasized what should be on our hearts every day of the year: a heart of gratitude in everything? What if our Thanksg...

To help stimulate a kind of deeper gratitude, my family has adopted a Thanksgiving tradition we’ve found extremely helpful. Each year after our Thanksgiving meal we gather in our living room and simply recite the blessings of God that have touched our lives. One by one we circle the room, each one of us expressing our gratitude to God for His many physical and spiritual blessings. Allow me t...

As the earliest extra-biblical Christian confessional document, the Apostles’ Creed has stood the test of time as the preeminent testament to creedal orthodoxy.  The creed, attributed to the earliest missionary followers of Jesus, distills the basic outline of what it means to be a Christian into a short summation that belies the depth and richness of what it proclaims. The Apostles’ Creed We...

  The alarm clock beeps incessantly. Morning again. Reaching over, he fumbles with it a little before finding the snooze button. A few more minutes won’t hurt. A few more minutes to rest. But he can’t sleep. His mind already swirls with thoughts of the day ahead. So much to do. Little details, big projects, meetings. It’s going to be a busy day. And, when it’s done, what does he have to look ...

Have you ever seen Miracle on 34th Street? It’s a Christmas classic. The 1947 novel became a movie the same year, earning the author an Academy Award for the Best Original Story. The film itself was nominated for the top picture. Edmund Gwenn, who played Kris Kringle, won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. But who could ever forget the child actor, Natalie Wood, who won the hearts of v...

In Acts 20:32, the Apostle Paul declared: “And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up.” This Christmas, do something that will refresh and strengthen your soul. These 25 short, daily Bible readings highlight the birth of Jesus and the purpose for His coming. Related Old Testament passages are also featured. Make, share, and f...

Most people in the world live without fear of judgment in their lives. Some set goals without considering that there might be a Lord who rules over their planning. Many have private thoughts that run the gamut from altruism to evil without thinking there might be an Omniscient observer of their thought life. Our salvation story, however, as one of the dramatic redemption of believers from slavery ...

Today’s roles and responsibilities of the church Deacon vary widely and have morphed to meet the both the spiritual and managerial needs of our modern churches. The Need for Deacons in the Church Acts 6:1 gives us the origin of the need for Deacons: “And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because ...

  For many Christians the gospel is something for the uninitiated. It is a message of hope and forgiveness for the lost and condemned. The good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection is often laid aside by believers looking to move on to deeper, more profound, and more practical truths. I fear a majority of Christians quickly tune out when an evangelistic message is given based on the id...

Setting the Tone for Advent The first Sunday of Advent sets the tone for the season by looking forward to the second coming of Jesus Christ. Through the Scripture passages read and the spiritual practices observed, Christians are called to re-orient themselves to a mindset of watching and waiting for Christ’s return, while at the same time evaluating their lives on the basis of Christ’s first comi...

People like Proverbs. When I ask my high school students what they’d like to study, Proverbs always appears toward the top of the list (right behind Genesis and Revelation). And, when pastors preach through Proverbs, they often get more comments from people expressing how much they appreciated the sermon.  And I’m sure it’s because Proverbs has so much practical advice for daily living:...