Focal Passage: Genesis 27:18-30  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). These words of Isaiah have never been more true than when reading the account of Jacob, the heel-catcher, second-born, twin child of Isaac and Rebekah, who

Focal Passage: Genesis 24:12-20, 24-27  No one is exempt from having a moment of great uncertainty in life. Decisions need to be made that will impact the direction or even the trajectory of the future.  Unsure of a direction, a person of faith turns to prayer for guidance and direction, usually with great emotion, urgency and even a little hope. Imagine that exact moment, but this time, another person steps

Focal Passage: Genesis 22:1-14  Substitute: someone standing in the place of someone else, such as a substitute teacher or perhaps a teammate coming in off the bench in a game.  Or, maybe changing the recipe with different ingredients when you don’t have a needed item in your kitchen.  Or, perhaps getting a generic prescription filled. Substitute appears to mean second best, a fill in, or not as good. If we

Focal Passage: Genesis 19:12-26  Jesus said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). I have often found these words of Jesus compelling. It represents a forward-looking Jesus. Get to work and look ahead!  The instrument of work, the plow, is the constant element in His declaration. When studying Jesus, many have found leadership traits focused not

Focal Passage: Genesis 17:1-10;15-19  When I was born, the firstborn to my parents, my father and mother named me after the most important man in my father’s life — his father. Upon the birth of our firstborn, my wife and I named him after the man who held the utmost significance in my life — my father.  When our daughter was born, she was given the name of my deceased

Focal Passage: Genesis 15:1-6; 16:1-6  I am impatient, and, as a result, I am a work in progress. I do not like to watch commercials on TV. I do not like to wait in line at restaurants. I do not like to sit in traffic.  Waiting is an interruption into what I think my schedule ought to be. So, “waiting on the Lord” humbles me. I grow so impatient, just

Focal Passage: Genesis 12:1-5a; 13:11-18  As a minister, one of my most enjoyable moments is standing before a couple who make promises to each other as they become husband and wife. When these couples come to see me before they get married, I talk about promises each will make to the other on their marriage day.  I ask them to thoughtfully write what they promise to do for the other

Focal Passage: Genesis 11:1-9  After retirement, my dad served for a year as an interim pastor in Kowloon, Hong Kong, at an English-speaking church. My family went for a visit. Dad wanted to take us out to experience the Hong Kong culture and took us downtown in a taxi to a small “hole in the wall” restaurant for an authentic Chinese meal.  Dad had help writing down directions and ordering

Focal Passage: Genesis 9:1-15  Rebranding is a common theme in the business world. Once a product has hit the market and an initial run has met with success, a company will pull the product off the market, tweak it, repackage it, do a new sales campaign, and then re-release the rebranded product to be sold again, often at a higher price. Rebranding takes a worn-out or broken product, reshapes it,

Focal Passage: Genesis 8:10-22  While stories in Scripture detail the actions of various characters, such as Noah during the time of the Flood, these stories always reflect the nature and character of God.  Two traits of God are revealed during the time of the Flood and the faithfulness of Noah. First, the power of God to unleash the torrents of water to undo the vast Creation that He had made,