It’s my very first reader spotlight in a new series I’m calling “Doing Good in the Neighborhood.” You can submit your own project HERE and let me know about the doing good you’re a part of, in the name of Jesus, in your own community. The work doesn’t have to be big or fancy, and it doesn’t have to fit in a traditional ministry category (but it could). I want to highlight the good and creative things people are...
Last week on the blog, I shared about a local organization I volunteered with called Bridge of Hope that addresses homelessness. I was so encouraged to think about the good that people are doing in the name of Jesus. I know that many of you are involved in all sorts of creative and helpful things in your own neighborhoods, so I’m starting a new reader spotlight series! Here’s what I’d love from you. If you’re involved in a project...
Here are three things good things to share with you this week: 1. Bridge of Hope.☀️ Today I was preparing a few words to share at a fundraising event for an organization I volunteered with the past two years called Bridge of Hope. “Bridge of Hope trains and equips local Christian faith communities (churches, Bible study groups, house churches, etc.) from a wide variety of Christian traditions to respond to homelessness in practical, tangible, and neighboring ways.” Bridge of Hope...
I was reading this week about how God’s covenant with the people of Israel was centered on the promise of His presence. Old Testament scholar, John Walton writes, “God’s purpose in making the covenant was to initiate a relationship that would eventually lead to the reestablishment of his presence on earth after humanity had lost access to his presence in Genesis 3” (Wisdom for Faithful Reading: Principles and Practices for Old Testament Interpretation). On the other side of the...
I recently started teaching Sunday School again and the lesson last month was on the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. After all I’ve been learning about faithful Bible reading, I knew better than to assume that I understood why the Biblical authors and compilers included that story! I found helpful information in this book by Old Testament scholar, John Walton: “The Bible Story Handbook: A Resource for Teaching 175 Stories from the Bible” (I got the Kindle version...
Purely for pleasure, I have been reading through Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache murder mystery series. I just finished The Beautiful Mystery (#8 in the series). I love the way the characters in the books develop over the series. The focus of her books is not so much on the murder as the motivations and emotions of the characters involved. The Beautiful Mystery is set in an aging monastery hidden deep in the Québec woods, where a group of monks...
