Devotionals

Happy New Year!

By Jon Wren Tonight [September 29, 2019] marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah literally means a “day of shouting or blasting of horns” by the priests. The year begins anew, and according to Jewish tradition, over the next 10 days, the people’s deeds are examined and weighed by God. The culmination of the 10-day observance is Yom Kippur. Historically, on that final day, the sinful deeds of the people were symbolically placed on a literal “scapegoat” that would be sacrificed by the priests so the sins of the past year would be

September 17, 2019

When He Appears . . .

By Stuart Powell Note: This meditation uses two visual aids: fresh produce of some sort, and a canned version of the same produce. Replacing corn (the example I use) with different produce of choice delivers the same message. [Hold up an unshucked ear of sweet corn.] Fresh sweet corn is the greatest food on earth! Its popularity might partially result from its limited availability. Most of the year, we must settle for canned corn. [Hold up a can of corn.] Canned corn is OK to eat, but it is nothing like eating fresh corn on the cob. Canned corn reminds

September 10, 2019

Blood and Victory

By Stuart Powell An 8-year-old girl had tried for months to learn to ride a bicycle. Finally, while visiting her cousins one day, she succeeded. Unable to contain her excitement, she ran to her mother shouting, “I know how to ride a bike! I know how to ride a bike!” The mom beamed. And then she saw blood covering part of her daughter’s foot. The girl had cut her toe on a curb while trying to avoid a bush. The concerned mom began asking questions about the foot and the blood, but the daughter ignored the concerns. “I’m OK!” she

September 3, 2019

Better Promises

By Stuart Powell Much of Christianity is understood best through the lens of the Old Testament. The history of Israel and the Law of Moses reveal how far humanity fell from the ideal God created. The earliest believers were devout Jews who had spent their lives looking forward to the Messiah spoken about in their Hebrew Scriptures. Considering all this, this New Testament passage is striking: “But now Jesus has obtained a superior ministry, since the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6, New English Translation). How did Jesus’ sacrifice usher in

August 20, 2019

Washed, Sanctified, Justified

By Stuart Powell As Christians, we must choose how to express ourselves. We all are tempted to display the sins in our relationships with people inside and outside of the faith. Paul wrote about this battle in his letter to the believers in Corinth: Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God. Some of you once lived this way. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and

August 13, 2019

First Memories

By Stuart Powell In the second-last chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses blessed the tribes of Israel. As the old prophet prepared to ascend the mountain to view the Promised Land and then to die, he poured out his heart in prayer. He asked God to continue showing favor to his chosen people. In his prayer, Moses referred to Yahweh God as “him who resided in the burning bush.” Even at the end of his life, Moses was still awed by the memory of his first encounter with the creator God. How often did Moses’ thoughts drift back to that day in

August 6, 2019

Faith of the 21

By Stuart Powell Some images in life are so tragic, we struggle to process what we’ve seen. In early 2015, 21 young Christian Egyptian men clad in orange jumpsuits were marched single file onto a beach in Libya. The men stopped and faced the camera and were forced to their knees. Behind each Christian was a masked radical Islamist holding a knife. We all know what came next, and most of us recoil at the thought. Many people living in Western cultures that developed from Christianity’s influence are tempted to believe martyrs are people we read about only in the

July 30, 2019

On-Time Delivery

By Jon Wren Several years ago, an independent study conducted by a British research firm determined that the most efficient organization in the world was the United State Postal Service. The study found that on average, a typical Postal Service employee handles more than 268,000 pieces of a mail a year. That total amounts to almost 765 packages and letters every day! Yet despite its legendary efficiency, the typical post office still doesn’t deliver all of the mail on time . . . or sometimes at all! A 2018 report found that only 93.8 percent of all first-class mail was

July 16, 2019

A Moment

By Stuart Powell By definition, a moment is a very short span of time. The swing of a pendulum,a breath,a sigh,a yawn,a statement;all of them take only a moment. We often dismiss the moments of life as insignificant events. But sometimes such dismissals trivialize the impact those moments can have on our lives. _ _ _ A lot can happen in one moment. There was a moment when perfection and beauty were crippled by an act of pride and selfishness. It was the moment Eve stretched out her hand to receive the forbidden fruit. In a moment, the innocence of

July 9, 2019

Godliness

By Stuart Powell Dictionary.com defines godliness as “conforming to the laws and wishes of God.” Those are demanding words. To conform, we must fully understand God’s law. To live up to God’s standards, we must comprehend all of his wishes for us. But who can know what the eternal God wants? Many times, it seems, God’s expectations are much simpler than we anticipate. One action that he made explicitly clear to his followers involves the table before us. Listen to his command: Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to

June 25, 2019

True Glory

By Jason Shreve On July 4, Americans celebrate our independence from Great Britain and the beginning of our country. George Washington was our first president, of course, but did you know he didn’t sign the Declaration of Independence? He was in New York at the time, preparing a defense against the British. As a young man, Washington’s greatest desire was for glory and honor. His father was successful but never got much glory. But glory is exactly what young George wanted, and his best path to achieving it was through military service. So, George set his focus on becoming a

June 22, 2019

Get Moving

By Stephen Brownlow I was new to the desert and didn’t know what to expect, other than what I’d always heard: “It’s a dry heat.” I parked my car at the base of the mountain and looked over my supplies: backpack (check); copious amounts of water (check); sunscreen (check). I opened the car door and stepped onto the scorching-hot pavement. I thought the soles of my boots might melt before I reached the trail. The climb was hot—very hot. I paused in the shade of a saguaro cactus, an unexpected but welcome relief. I drank water though I wasn’t thirsty.

June 18, 2019

A Reminder We Need

By Jon Wren Larry David is one of the most successful comic writers ever. The creator of TV’s Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm is a household name. Yet several years ago, in a profile in Rolling Stone magazine, a friend shared a poignant story about David’s trip to a baseball game. One night during his stay (in New York), David went to Yankee Stadium to see a game. His image went up on the big screen as Curb Your Enthusiasm’s theme song played over the big speakers. An entire stadium of fans stood and cheered for the hopeless case from

June 4, 2019

Memory: Weak Yet Powerful

By Stuart Powell Suffering and sorrow stink! Pain—whether physical, emotional, or spiritual—is seemingly ever present in our lives, and there often is no good way to deal with it. It never passes quickly enough. Some pain never diminishes. The death of a loved one gives birth to intense and enduring pain. Philip Yancey explained that God gave us memories of those who are absent from this life as a gift to help with the pain. The weakness of our memories is the best weapon we have to combat the pain of loss. Memory is limited, but memory also is a

May 28, 2019

More Than Enough

By Jon Wren Many Christ followers observe Communion as a reminder of God’s grace and goodness and as a gift we receive rather than a prize we must earn. But for many Christians and churches, the desire to show others God’s goodness in action can drift into a need to show others our own goodness. And if we are not careful, we can begin to drift toward a well-intentioned but incredibly destructive life in which we are consumed by the need to be busy or at least seem busy on behalf of Christ. Christian author Barbara Brown Taylor wrote of

May 22, 2019

A Desert Oasis

By Mel McGowan “We did not come to Las Vegas to reshuffle the deck,” says Mike Breaux, the original lead church planter of Canyon Ridge Christian Church in Las Vegas. The heartbeat of the church remains the same as when it was planted back in 1993. Canyon Ridge doesn’t seek to take from other churches, but instead goes after the unchurched. When major construction was needed on their 40-acre campus, church leaders originally worked with commercial firms rather than hiring an architect. Their intention was to develop a campus devoid of religious symbolism. The resulting unadorned concrete block and tilt-concrete

May 22, 2019

Misfitbit

From After Class Podcast It’s time Christians stop obsessing about fitness and start focusing on more important things in life—like sin. This is why we’ve developed an innovative, always-on-call spiritual healthcare consultant. The Misfitbit Sinful Activity Tracker is a technologically advanced wristband that monitors your morality 24/7. Its advanced voice-recognition software detects all verbal indiscretions, including, but not limited to, swearing, yelling in anger, and taking the Lord’s name in vain. The “Super Saint Setting” can also sense white lies and white curses like “darn,” “shoot,” and “heck.” Its übersensitive microphone detects when you are listening to inappropriate music, hanging

May 21, 2019

No Contest

By Stuart Powell One Old Testament story is familiar to almost everyone, even those with little exposure to the Bible. A young, diminutive shepherd faced a mammoth, lifelong fighter in mortal combat. Each one carried the tools of his trade. The shepherd carried a staff, sling, stones, and a few years of experience watching over a flock of sheep. The soldier bore a sword, a blood-stained javelin, and the wisdom of countless victories on the field of battle. From their respective sides, each combatant spoke with confidence regarding his presumed victory. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and

May 19, 2019