Daily Devotionals

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 30, 2025From our friend, Rev. Dr. Terry EwingVice President of Advancement,Phillips Theological Seminary I heard it said recently, “It’s easier to be angry.”This statement doesn’t really require much explanation, because it is—it’s always easier to get angry.  What is your default response?  In everyday situations and interactions, what is your first response, what is poised below the surface, constantly tuned to any provocation, or the hint

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 29, 2025On occasion, Paula or I will receive a call from the Judge’s office next door, asking if we will do a wedding. It has provided us a wonderful opportunity to connect in a positive way with our neighbors in the Judge’s office, along with couples we would have never met. As a side note, I’m glad I do what I do. Every job has its

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 28, 2025I want to say, “Thank you!” In the last few months, I have been asking a number of folks to take on a task for me, and some of them have been a bit last minute. The number of YES’s has been a gift. There is some real excited energy around Cypress Creek Christian Church right now, but so often when new things are happening

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 27, 2025A known author by the name of John Maxwell said, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” Personally, I find his observation to be correct. I love it when I’m with a group of people and the creativity begins to inspire creativity; one person’s words are a catalyst for someone else’s imagination. What was discovered and formed in those

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 26, 2025When unexpected change happens in our daily lives, even the change that is personal and kept pretty close to the vest, the most common response is to hunker down, build a wall of protection, and push back against any other change. Sometimes the push back against other change becomes almost zealous in its outrage, in part, because it makes us feel in control of that

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 25, 2025Sunday was interesting! The sermon in which I conversed with my “Inner-Me” was something the Lenten planning team had discussed (in theory), but I was not absolutely sure what it would look like. At the Traditional Service, it felt as if my Inner-Me was 2 seconds ahead of where I thought it should be. Contemporary went a little better. Feel free to offer any critique,

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 24, 2025Prayer for the Week: Each day is an opportunity to awaken to something new, yet so often the pursuit of the expected and ordinary leaves us close-eyed to what is being stirred, roused, and set in motion by your Holy Presence. May whatever causes us to be lethargic and languish in a pursuit of spiritual slumber be exercised from our being, enabling us to be

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 23, 2025Awakening hope? Especially in a time of difficulty, when hopelessness grips us, it can appear nearly impossible to imagine hope awakening within us or around us. Yet that’s the quirky nature of hope. God’s hope exists whether or not we see it. Whether or not we embrace it. It is there waiting for us, and sometimes it begins to awaken ever so slowly—little reminders; little

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 22, 2025Some of you are waking up with excitement as your NCAA tournament brackets still look excellent. Others are finding themselves with absolutely no hope of having a single team in the Final Four, and for that reason, they’ve started counting the days until football season kicks off. And still others are wondering what I’m referencing as you do not like sports and are never happy

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMarch 21, 2025A few weeks ago, I mentioned the World Happiness Report in one of my Etchings, highlighting the United States’ consistently poor performance in the nearly 15 years of the study’s existence. The most recent findings were just released, and after a couple of years with slight improvements, the United States fell to its lowest level in the study’s history. Now, happiness has nothing to do