Welcome, friend! I’m so glad you’re here!
The Timeless Truths Bible features devotional notes and commentary from trusted theologians from the second century on, ancient creeds and confessions of the faith, plus artwork made throughout the history of Christianity
In 1970, my aunt was a freshman at Asbury University when revival broke out in Hughes Auditorium. This revival changed the lives of thousands. In light of the current outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Asbury’s campus, I asked my aunt about her experience. This is her story …
Today, in the humble town of Wilmore, KY revival is unfolding. The Asbury Revival has been ongoing for 9 days now. But you don’t have to travel to Kentucky to experience it. The same Holy Fire that is burning at Asbury is available to YOU! The Holy Spirit that is filling the Asbury worshippers can fill you. Just ask the Lord. He is faithful to answer.
As I stood there alone, one thought crossed my mind: “This is what it will be like when they’re grown. Who will I be then? I don’t know who I am without them.” This is the question I’ve been pondering the last few days. And the Lord’s gentle answer has been so gracious.
I attended the homegoing of a friend the other day, a friend who battled cancer and ultimately beat it when she walked into glory and into the presence of Jesus. And as I sat in that service and looked around at everyone she’d touched, at the sanctuary full of hundreds of people whose lives are richer because she knew Jesus and they knew her, it hit me … in the end, the only things that will matter are how we loved Jesus and how we loved others.
Throughout the last 14 years, the Lord has graciously used my children to refine me, and this situation was no different. In that moment I was keenly aware of the power of my words and my reaction. But just as quickly as the Lord convicted me, he also reminded me that His mercies are new each morning and his grace is sufficient. Because when the Lord convicts, he also comforts. It’s his kindess that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4).
Whoever she is, wherever she is, there is a woman who needs to hear this. God doesn’t call the qualified; he qualifies the called.
He called a shepherd boy to slay a giant. He called a stuttering man to command freedom for His people. He called a prisoner to interpret dreams, a young girl to save her race, a virgin to deliver His son.
Friend … He’s calling you too.
Twenty-three years ago, my dear friend Susan Kimberly Jones (Kim) was taken from us too early in a shooting at Wedgwood Baptist Church. And yet … Kim’s story doesn’t end with tragedy. Hers is a story of victory! Because through it all … through the loss and the blinding heartache and the searing pain, there is an unexplainable peace that comes with the knowledge that Kim’s departure on this earth heralded her arrival into the arms of Jesus!
Nearly 23 years ago, a man walked into a youth rally in Fort Worth and opened fire. I lost my friend that night, and I am forever changed because of it. Two decades later, I still carry around the trauma. Sometimes it is passive. Other times it comes charging back with the same anguish and fear. This week it all came roaring back with another headline, another shooting and another incomprehensible tragedy.
Dear mama … maybe you’re trying to do all the things this week. Maybe you’re trying to make the menus…
As I read this passage today, I was suddenly struck by the reality that there are many right now who feel a bit like Tabitha before her resurrection. You’ve suffered loss, defeat, discouragement, and you feel a bit like death is closing in. Maybe not literally, but indeed metaphorically. You are heartbroken and hopeless. You wonder if you will ever feel alive again. Your soul is shattered. Your spirit is broken.
To you, dear friend, I just want to say … I believe your resurrection is coming. By the power of Jesus Christ, Peter resurrected Tabitha. He brought her to new life and then presented her alive and well to those who were mourning her loss and “many people believed in the Lord” because of it.
I took the girls to one of our favorite coffee shops last week, and all around me were parents of babies and toddlers. Their little ones toddled up and down the lawn, when it suddenly hit me with perfect clarity: the sun has nearly set on this season for me. My children are getting older, and there’s sadness in this reality. But there’s also joyful anticipation, because the dawning of this new season brings with it a surprising awareness that there is so much sacred beauty ahead.