Daily Devotionals

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJanuary 6, 2025The Magi have made the journey They’ve made their appearanceThey’ve offered their homageThey’ve shared their giftsThey return by a different route  Returned as different people  Forever changed  Unreservedly awe-struckHoly One of celestial signs and wonders  Continue to invite us onto the journey   Provide partners   Fellow travelers  Companions   EncouragersBring us into your presence   Born to a simple family  With a doting father  With a faithful motherBring us

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJanuary 5, 2025Though tomorrow is technically Epiphany, the 12th Day of Christmas, we will be celebrating it today at Cypress Creek Christian Church. As I hope all of you are aware, we have decided to cancel this year’s Camel Walk. To be honest, I’m the absolute worst at making the decision to cancel anything. I tend to be the optimist, thinking all storms will skirt around us.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJanuary 4, 2025Tomorrow, we will be celebrating Epiphany. This is a magnificent moment as travelers from the East enter a young family’s home, kneel down before this young child, and worship him. They knew very little of this child or even these people’s customs, yet they believed there was something so sacred and beautiful that their only response was to humble themselves in his presence. We’ve seen

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJanuary 3, 2025When tragedy and immense grief surround us, we can also laugh. This doesn’t mean we’re insensitive to what people are going through. Yes, the people of New Orleans are experiencing a wide range of emotions, from fear to despair. We acknowledge what they are facing this night, and for the families directly impacted, we pray for the work of healing. Yet while families were grieving,

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJanuary 2, 2025Donna and I had been traveling to visit family, and unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling well on December 31st. Consequently, we didn’t ring in the new year. Or we did, but from a wonderful deep sleep. I woke up about 4:00 a.m., and though I know it is a bad habit, I grabbed my phone to look at the news. The tragic events unfolding in New

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSJanuary 1, 2025Does anyone else feel like the date should be somewhere in mid-November? I can’t help but wonder how many times I’ll mistakenly write down 2024 in the coming weeks. I have a peculiar habit of complaining about how quickly time passes; it feels like something just started, and before I know it, it’s already over. In Colossians 4, Paul tells his readers to “make the

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 31, 2024We don’t have as much of the birth story in Matthew’s Gospel, but it’s where we find the Epiphany story. Without Matthew, we wouldn’t know anything about the star that led the wise men from the east. Yet before we delve into the significance of Epiphany, let us pause to acknowledge that we are currently immersed in the season of Christmas. In fact, we are

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 30, 2024Prayer for the WeekThe late President, Jimmy Carter, once wrote, “I have one life and one chance to make it count for something… My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.” In those moments, Holy God, when I’m standing before the possibilities

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 29, 2024A good friend and colleague, the late Rev. John Auer, preached a sermon in which he said, “…the illimitable incarnation of God in human form–the Word of Life made flesh of love… in this, God decides to take an insider’s approach, becoming one of us…” (Sermon entitled: “Hail Mary! The Beginning is Near”). John’s idea of God taking an insider’s approach has brought both comfort

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 28, 20241st John was not written until the late 90’s, maybe even around 100AD—so about 70 years after Jesus. Right at the beginning of the Epistle, we read: “… what existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have seen and our hands handled, about the word of life…” The person writing those words probably did not