Scripture: Zephaniah 3:19 I will deal with all your oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. Thought for the Day: On the eve of the second Sunday of Advent, I am taking a slightly different track to deal with a current issue in our neighboring community of
Scripture: Mark 6:8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts… Thought for the Day: In today’s airline travel with checked bags costing money, the disciples would have done well. I don’t know if a disciple would be allowed to carry a staff on the plane, but if so, there would be very little need
Scripture: Matthew 3:3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” Thought for the Day: Dietrich Bonheoffer, the wonderful pastor and theologian, wrote, “A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes – and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom
Scripture: Isaiah 9:7 His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. Thought for the Day: I have always loved the hymn, Come, O Long-expected Jesus, especially the 2nd verse. The
Scripture: Isaiah 42:6-7 I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. Thought for the Day: This is one
Scripture: Matthew 1:1-2 An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers… Thought for the Day: One of the beloved pastors in our denomination, William Nichols (he died this past year), described this passage as a dirty trick. When
Scripture: Matthew 17:20 Jesus said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” Thought for the Day: The disciples had just failed in one of their first solo experiences, and Jesus chastised
Scripture: Isaiah 45:13 I have aroused Cyrus in righteousness, and I will make all his paths straight; he shall build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward, says the Lord of hosts. Thought for the Day: I was reading about the slave ship, Fredensborg, that sank on this day in 1768. In reading the accounts of the human beings who were transported from
Scripture: James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. Thought for the Day: Yesterday morning, I made the drive downtown to the medical center. As a Houstonian newbie, that experience is crazy. As I entered the hospital from the parking garage, I had no idea where an information desk could be found. I walked down a long hallway, and then noticed an information sign.
Scripture: Luke 10:8-9 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” Thought for the Day: Just how close is ‘come near’? Are we talking on a cosmic level? If that’s the case, a few hundred light years away is pretty close. Are we talking about the close proximity of