Focal Passage: John 20:1-17  Surprises can be fun! When my youngest son was 16, my wife and I found a very large, tanklike, very old car for him for Christmas. He really had no idea it was coming. We purchased it. We had it worked on. Then we hid it for a few days until Christmas. His siblings hinted about it.   Christmas morning came. He opened his gift —

Focal Passage: Luke 24:1-8, 38-43  The resurrection of Jesus is where all the facts, truth and revelation come together completing the mission, ministry and identity of God’s plan for the salvation of mankind. It is where all the prophecies about His Messiah are fulfilled, verified, and validated.  It is where our hope becomes a reality. Everything we believe, everything we preach, everything we hope for rests on the truth of

Focal Passage: Genesis 28:10-22  Memorials are everywhere. When you cross over a bridge, you often find a name attached to the bridge and you can’t help but wonder about the story of that person. Perhaps when you pass a stadium and see a statue of a revered athlete, you remember a specific moment or championship. Or, when walking in a park you find a monument honoring a leader or war

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