It happened again in this week’s ladies’ Bible class. We were reading from Genesis 17 when God reaffirms His covenant with Abram, changing his name to Abraham. This is also where God institutes the sign of the covenant – circumcision. The focus of our lesson was on the underlying meaning of circumcision as it is used throughout scripture. It represents a choice to obey and make ourselves more sensitive to God’s will over our own. But what I noticed (as I often do) was a side note. It’s found in verses 24-27: “Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old…

The one who calls himself “the preacher” in Ecclesiastes 1:1 stated, “It is better to go the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting” (7:2). Often, when we hear that verse quoted, we wonder how it can possibly be true. Yet, in the rest of that same verse, a reason is given for this statement: “For this [the house of mourning, ADF] is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” We live in a world where feasting (or, as we might say it, living it up) is seen as the end-all-be-all. We just want to be happy and think about…

A recent edition of The Wall Street Journal contained an article that I found fascinating. The title of the article was the same as the title of this post: “How to Lead like George Washington.” The article contained a great amount of information about leadership. The focus seemed to be on how present-day leaders in various fields could learn some lessons from “the father of our country.” The author, Sam Walker, mentioned some leadership models and philosophies advocated by some and apparently practiced by many today that are not working. After discussing some of these models, the author turned his attention to the leadership qualities possessed and exhibited by Mr. Washington as…

Starvation is no laughing matter. Close to a billion people go hungry annually. Statistics say a child dies of hunger in our world every five seconds. Hunger is understood to be the most extreme form of poverty, as individuals or families cannot afford to meet their most basic need for food. Our son Daniel has always been a picky eater. One night years ago when he was just a toddler he refused to eat even two bites of grilled chicken at suppertime. I remember this epic battle of parents versus child. My wife and I decided to go the distance. For more than 24 hours he refused to eat the…

Please do not stop reading. This post is not intended to be political. It is not intended as a commentary on the moral condition of our society. It is not written because I have an “ax to grind” about anybody involved in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings which were (are) intended to determine whether or not a particular individual is qualified to serve on the highest court in our nation.  Like most who may read these words, I have some opinions about all of those things.  However, I would like for all of us (yes including me) to think of some things that I learned. It might be more appropriate to say that I…

It has been an interesting beginning to this school year. Our town is growing and that means our school population is growing as well. One thing I keep hearing from teachers and school officials across the county is that we have more students this year from families with more challenges. That leads to challenges at school. In light of all these challenges, teachers are stretching themselves to meet the social and emotional needs of their students before we can try to work on academics. In light of that, I need to repent because of something I have said this year. Multiple times I have made the statement, “I just want…