On June 14, 1777 (249 years ago today) the Continental Congress approved a new flag—thirteen stars, thirteen stripes—meant to give a young, fragile nation a symbol to gather beneath. A banner reveals it what a people claim, what they trust, and what they hope to become. Scripture paints banners in a far richer light—not as […]
A few weeks ago, I stepped out of the house and headed toward town, not expecting much more than an ordinary errand. But as I reached the car, something caught my attention. You see, alongside our driveway runs a ditch that, after a good rain, turns into a small creek. Standing beside that is a […]
Through most of the month of May we have considered the significance of Sunday, the Lord’s Day, the First Day of the Week. The First Day of the week is the weekly observance of the Lord’s Resurrection; it is the day that the church gathers to break bread and remember the victory of Christ. It […]
When we speak of Pentecost, we often think immediately of Acts 2—the sound like a rushing mighty wind, the tongues as of fire, and the apostles proclaiming the risen Christ in languages they had never studied. But Pentecost did not originate in Jerusalem. Its roots run deep through Israel’s story. Long before the Holy Spirit […]
When John begins the book of Revelation, he does not start with beasts or trumpets or visions of glory. He begins with a simple statement that tells us where he was, what he was enduring, and when the risen Christ came to him: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” An interesting detail […]
Mother’s Day is one of those Sundays that arrives each year with a mixture of joy and tenderness. For many, it is a day of gratitude—a day to remember the steady hands that held us, the prayers whispered over us, the sacrifices made quietly and without applause. For others, it is a day touched with […]
When we think of the first day of the week in the New Testament, our minds naturally go to the Resurrection and to Pentecost. One marks the victory of Christ over death, and the other denotes the outpouring of the Spirit as well as the birth of the church. These are the reasons that the […]
John tells us that on the evening of the first day of the week, the risen Christ stepped into a locked room and stood among His disciples. Fear was still thick in the air. The doors were shut. The world had shifted, but their hearts had not yet caught up. Jesus spoke peace into that […]
When the Bible speaks about prayer, its starting point is not the technique, but rather the heart. Long before we ask anything of God, the Bible calls us to become a certain kind of people—people whose inner posture makes prayer not just possible, but powerful.Moses says in Deuteronomy 4.29, “You will seek the Lord your […]
April Fool’s Day has already come and gone by the time you read this. The pranks have been played, the laughter has settled, and most of us have moved on. But the day itself gives us a chance to think about a deeper kind of foolishness—one that Scripture takes far more seriously than any harmless […]