Exodus 13:21-22 says: And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by […]
Marketing, Self-Promotion, and the Christian
Last week I was on a professional website where a marketer highlighted one company’s clever means of drawing readers to click on the articles. The company entices readers by posting a link titled to make visitors think one thing, but when they click and read the article the wordplay becomes clear. Readers might see a […]
We’re All Bivocational Ministers
Can you spot the bivocational minister? Whether you are a pastor who works full-time outside the church to support yourself and your family or not, this is a good verse for all of us: For this is our confidence: The testimony of our conscience is that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially […]
How to Prepare for your 95th Birthday
Editor’s Note: the “save as pending” and the “publish” button are pretty close in our set-up, and this got published this morning, by accident. I’m republishing it tonight to give you another chance to read it – not compressed around other posts. Last night a handful of folks from church went to a nursing home […]
How to Prepare for Your 95th Birthday
Last night a handful of folks from church went to a nursing home to stage a little surprise birthday party for a woman who turns 95 this week. It was a simple affair with a small cake and the sounds of “Happy Birthday” filling the corridor as she was wheeled towards us. We hit the […]
Are You Existing or Enduring?
Think over your life yesterday. Did you make it through the day because your heart kept beating or because you courageously fought your way through to its end? How about the past month or year? Are you another year older in the Lord because the calendar pages flipped or because ‘through many dangers, toils, and […]
If Christ, Why Not Us?
“Though He was God’s Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered.” – Hebrews 5:8 (HCSB) The past few months the topic of suffering has repeatedly come up around me. Interestingly, there were no devastated marriages, no loss of a child, or any of the Job-like agonies of life which “suffering” makes us immediately think […]
A Pattern for Prayer, Courtesy of O.S. Hawkins
As much as I love what E.M. Bounds wrote about the need for prayer, I have three faults with his writings on the subject. First, chapters tend to repeat the same ideas. He ends up saying the same thing over and over without actually advancing beyond his main idea for many pages. Second, he fails […]
Rainy Day Planning – Wise or Disobedient?
In his famous and wonderful devotional book My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers warns “Do Not Calculate Without God”. So often we make our plans and neglect to honestly factor God and His will first and foremost in them. By contrast Chambers lists three points in his devotional for July 5th (I was flipping […]
New Years Resolutions
Happy New Year! Have you ever noticed how, right after the holidays, all the fitness centers start advertising on television to cash in on all those who make New Year’s resolutions to get fit? For some reason the start of a new year inspires the world much more than just the start of a new […]
Don’t Forget to Send Out Your Christmas Cards
By some accounts, Christmas cards account for, well, a lot of money. That’s a less than honest way of saying I was too lazy to do the research because I’m already past deadline to get this column to Dave Miller. Anyway, it’s a lot. And so is postage. This is a topic that we need […]
Advent Reflections: Doug Hibbard Discusses His New Devotional Book
Today we break new ground here at SBC Voices as we interview one of our own. Anthony Russo recently talked with fellow SBC Voices contributor Doug Hibbard about his new book, Advent Reflections: The Gift Cycle, available here on Amazon.com’s Kindle Store for only .99 cents. Here’s what Doug had to say: Anthony Russo: For […]