Dear Friends, And, besides other things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches (2 Cor 11:28). Paul is the apostle who famously wrote, “Do not worry about anything” (Phil 4:5). Yet, here he is confessing to anxiety, something that Scripture is adamant against. The most frequent command uttered by […]

Dear Friends, The Lord’s Prayer is a hearty and helpful companion in my experience. I have no idea when I first learned it, unlike Psalm 23 which I learned from my Mom when I was four and recited in our little church. Both Scripture passages have personalized, enriched and illuminated my understanding of our heavenly […]

Dear Friends, Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son” (Mark 15:37-39). Watersheds are […]

There will be no message next week due to travel. # He brought me out into a broad place;     he delivered me, because he            delighted in me . . . You gave me a wide place for my            steps under me,     and my feet did not slip. Psalm 18:19, 36 Agoraphobia […]

This is the ninth and last message in a series on Jesus’ statements called “the Beatitudes” that are found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:3-11; Luke 6:17-38). I have learned a great deal while researching and writing this series and it has renewed my faith. I hope that it has done the same […]