If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:10) When my daughter said her bedtime prayers as a child, she said the same thing every night. In fact, she repeated them so quickly I could hardly keep up. I don’t think she realized what she was saying sometimes, but my family probably wonders the same thing about me when I say table grace. I rarely change a word of it. Do you […]

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” (Psalms 37:74) On occasion, I will republish a devotion, especially when I think it helps to explains something significant that is going on in our world. This particular devotion was written just after Hurricane Floyd ravaged eastern North Carolina in September of 1999. The events of the past couple of weeks reminded me of its message. We live in a world that teaches us that we are at the center of whatever success or failure we experience. You […]

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” (Galatians 6:7) It’s second nature to wonder from time to time why God allows us to suffer the way we do – particularly now, as many Americans face the decimation from Hurricane Katrina. How many times have you heard the question asked over the last week: “How could a loving God allow such death and destruction?” Think carefully about how you respond because if you’re a Christian, your answer to […]

“When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, ‘Surely he was the Son of God!’ ” (Matthew 27:54) When you stop and think about it, there is a wonderful salvation story here because that Roman Centurion was the first man to believe that Jesus died on the Cross to save him. I am sure he felt the shame that many of us felt when our eyes were first opened to the sin […]