Posts By This Author
Voice of the Day: 'To pray is to change.'
To pray is to change. Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us.
Richard Foster
Celebration of Discipline
Verse of the Day: 'I will be with you'
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
Isaiah 43:2
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Video: Has the Religious Right Lost Its Way?
Jim Wallis talks with Tony Perkins (Family Research Council), Harry Jackson (High Impact Leadership), and Sammy Rodriguez (National Hispanic Leadership Conference) about the broadening evangelical agenda. Watch it:
Verse of the Day: 'they sing for joy'
They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;
they shout from the west over the majesty of the Lord.
Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord;
in the coastlands of the sea glorify the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,
of glory to the Righteous One.
But I say, I pine away,
I pine away. Woe is me!
For the treacherous deal treacherously,
the treacherous deal very treacherously.
Isaiah 24:14-16
Voice of the Day: On Sabbath
A great benefit of Sabbath keeping is that we learn to let God take care of us-not by becoming passive and lazy, but in the freedom of giving up our feeble attempts to be God in our own lives.
Marva J. Dawn
Keeping the Sabbath Wholly
Verse of the Day: The Mustard Seed
He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."
Matthew 13:31-32
Voice of the Day: On Power
Society dictates how power is distributed. Institutions and ideologies determine who has privilege to be dominant and who must defer. Some persons are given great power to make choices for themselves and other people and are protected from the consequences of their choices.... Religion serves to define the nature of power and its legitimate uses. Religious leaders must choose whether to collude with the dominant culture as sanctioning agents of abusive power or to be prophetic critics of the [...]
Voice of the Day: 'Power is of God'
Power is of God, but like all God's gifts, humankind has the freedom to misuse power. When this happens, it becomes corrupt, and it violates and dehumanizes others. Powerlessness limits human development and denies persons their promised fulfillment.... We have each been given the power to do what we can do, but are we willing to claim it? To accept it? Or is it safer to ignore or rationalize it away? Is claiming this kind of power worth the cost of change or the risk of [...]
Verse of the Day: The Wise and the Intelligent
At that time Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will."
Matthew 11:25-26
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Voice of the Day: "What shalt thou do?"
What shalt thou do? ... Do good. Do all the good thou canst. Let thy plenty supply thy neighbor's wants; and thou wilt never want something to do. Canst thou find none that need the necessaries of life, that are pinched with cold or hunger; none that have not raiment to put on, or a place where to lay their head; none that are wasted with pining sickness; none that are languishing in prison? If you duly considered our Lord's words, "The poor have you always with you," you would no more ask, [...]
Verse of the Day: ' wisdom is vindicated by her deeds'
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon'; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."
- Matthew 11:18-19
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Voice of the Day: Ripple on Jesus
No one left Jesus less than they were when they came to him. He spoke plainly and directly, but never destructively. Those who could hear Jesus' message left him with a greater love for themselves, with a clearer sense of direction for their lives, and with a renewed awareness of God's unfailing love. Those who could not hear the message left him angry and resentful yet confronted with the truth of their lives.
- Paula Ripple
Called to Be Friends
Verse of the Day: Two Masters
No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Matthew 6:24
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Voice of the Day: 'I will give them an everlasting name'
Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,
"The Lord will surely separate me from his people";
and do not let the eunuch say,
"I am just a dry tree."
For thus says the Lord:
To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
I will give, in my house and within my walls,
a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that shall not be cut off.
- Isaiah 56:3-5
Voice of the Day: The Gnawing In Our Guts
Most of us have to taste our need in a fierce sort of way before our hungers jar us into turning our lives over to God.... In the Divine Arms we become less demanding and more like the One who holds us. Then we experience new hungers. We hunger and thirst for justice, for goodness and holiness. We hunger for what is right. We hunger to be saints. Most of us are not nearly hungry enough for the things that really matter. That's why it is so good for us to feel a gnawing in our guts.
- [...]
Verse of the Day: A Garland of Glory
In that day the Lord of hosts will be a garland of glory,
and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people;
and a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment,
and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
- Isaiah 28:5-6
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Voice of the Day: Green on Praying
The art of praying, as we grow, is really the art of learning to waste time gracefully-to be simply the clay in the hands of the potter. This may sound easy-too easy to be true-but it is really the most difficult thing we ever learn to do.... This is the real reason why so few of us ever come, in this life, to the full experience of God's love for us.
- Thomas H. Green
When the Well Runs Dry
Voice of the Day: When We Fast
Inherent in a fast is a feast. When we fast from food, we feast on prayer and God's bountiful love. When we fast from divisive patterns of relating with others, we feast on the amazing awareness that each face we see is the face of Christ. When we fast from building social, economic, and political walls, we feast on our universal oneness with the One.
- Marilyn Brown Oden
Wilderness Wanderings
Verse of the Day: The Highest Official
If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and right, do not be amazed at the matter; for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.
- Ecclesiastes 5:8-8
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Voice of the Day: On Fasting
There is no need to push yourself to heroic effort where fasting is concerned. If you feel tempted to do so, take a hard look at your motives.... "More" is not necessarily "better" in this matter. Perhaps you are called just to be faithful in the humble practice of a short fast once a week. Do not underestimate what God can accomplish in you through the consistent offering of such a discipline.
- Marjorie J. Thompson
Soul Feast