Daily Devotionals

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS November 27, 2025 I am thankful this day for all those throughout Christian history, including some people I know very well, who are trying to maintain a very clear picture of a Christianity that reflects Jesus. A little over a week ago, I had an online conversation with someone (gave me permission to mention the conversation in my blog) who is absolutely captivated by the Jesus

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS November 26, 2025 Yesterday’s Etching on the topic of a green smoothie spilled everywhere in my kitchen was written early in the day on Monday, so before we experienced tornados in our area. A number of people, including a few who experienced some damage from the storm, found the message to be somewhat appropriate. Let’s be clear, a spilled smoothie should not be equated to the

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS November 25, 2025 I buy some smoothies every month from a place called Daily Harvest. I like the healthiness of the ingredients, and there is one in particular that I was looking forward to having this month. It is a chocolate mint, with spinach and banana. I made that smoothie yesterday with coconut milk, and I couldn’t wait to enjoying every drop. The problem is that

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS November 24, 2025 Prayer for the Week: This Land Belongs to No One By Hila Ratzabi This is a portion of the prayer. You can find the full prayer at:  https://ritualwell.org/ritual/land-belongs-no-one/ “The earth is God’s, and all its fullness; The world and those who dwell upon it.” ~Psalm 24 This land belongs to no one but God. The Earth was here before us and will endure

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS November 23, 2025 The British journalist, Katty Kay, said, “Everybody fails; it’s no big deal. It’s what being human is. Don’t let that stop you from taking risks.” In tomorrow’s sermon, we are going to be looking at the story of Peter walking on water. We so often focus on his failure, but there would never have been a story about Peter walking on water, or

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS November 21, 2025 What do you do as a person of faith when you experience something that is really quite offensive, yet you realize that for one reason or another, others could not see it? And still others were simply too nice to say something. How do you go from being really ticked off to a place where you can speak calmly and in a way

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS November 20, 2025 I pulled up a video of one of my former professors, Rev. Dr. Newell Williams, who went on to become President at Brite Divinity School from 2003 – 2022 (new President is Rev. Dr. Stephen Cady, who preached at CCCC during my sabbatical). I had to laugh listening to his lecture as he structured it based on three questions: What is sin? What

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS November 19, 2025 I’ve always been captivated by the simple yet profound words of Mother Teresa, including, “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” I’m certain there are examples of people who went from zero to full-speed Jesus follower in less than 60 seconds, but for most of us, it was and is gradual and incremental. We build upon

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS November 18, 2025 On Sunday morning, as I was running from my Bagels with Bruce to the office to prepare to preach at the Traditional Service, Guy Johnson Jr. came over to give me a hug just outside the office door. I know his hugs always come with prayer. But then as I was walking away from him, he quickly caught up and ever so kindly