by someone with up-to-date knowledge about the situation in the DRC: WHAT IS HAPPENING: About 1.3 million people are currently internal refugees in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Many of these people, mostly women and children, have fled from...

Eph. 1: 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of...

Ephesians 1: 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In...

Acts 1: 1) In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.3 After his suffering, he presented himself to...

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your...

(based on the visit of the magi in Matthew 2: 1-12) You’ve likely heard about how church tradition has named the magi in today’s text as the three wise men, Belshazar, Melchior and Caspar, even though the Gospel account doesn’t give their names nor tell how many there...

  Monday, January 1: Psalm 72: 1-7; 10-14, A “Royal Psalm,” this is ancient Israel’s prayer for a certain kind of king and kingdom. Compare this prayer with Samuel’s warning about what their kings and kingdoms would actually be like, in I Samuel 8: 10-22. Israel...

Luke 2: 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s...

Luke 2: 1-20                                               When you read or hear an old familiar Bible passage like today's Christmas story, it’s easy to drift into a mental auto-pilot as the old familiar words work their ways through old familiar mental pathways....

“...for he has been mindful  of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,  for the Mighty One has done great things for me.” Luke 1:48 One day, doing some channel surfing, I caught this preacher on TV boasting of how greatly...