Archive for January 2019

January 11, 2019 DAILY READING 1 Corinthians 2:1-13This weekend’s reading: Revelation 2:1-7 FIELD NOTESHave you ever tried to impress someone? Once, when I was in seminary, I had been asked to come to speak to a group of established pastors. I had about two months to get my talk together. I worked harder on that talk…

January 10, 2019 DAILY READING Ecclesiastes 1:1-11This weekend’s reading: Revelation 2:1-7 FIELD NOTESEcclesiastes 1:1-11 The Voice (VOICE)These are the words of the teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Teacher: Life is fleeting, like a passing mist.        It is like trying to catch hold of a breath;    All vanishes like a vapor; everything is a great vanity.What good does…

January 9, 2019 DAILY READING James 3:13-18This weekend’s reading: Revelation 2:1-7 FIELD NOTESWhen I was in sixth grade, it was the height of the Michael Jordan Era. I wanted a pair of Air Jordans, the most popular shoes around my middle school. They were also (and still are) super expensive, so I resigned myself to knowing…

January 8, 2019 DAILY READING Ephesians 5:15-20This weekend’s reading: Revelation 2:1-7 FIELD NOTESWhen I was sixteen years old, I was driving around in my grandmother’s car with about eight friends.  The car could safely hold five people, but we had crammed eight 16-year-old boys into the car. We decided, on a rainy night, to get into…

January 7, 2019 DAILY READING Ephesians 4:17-5:1This weekend’s reading: Revelation 2:1-7 FIELD NOTES “Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.” Here we are in the early days of the new year.  We make goals, resolutions, plans, to be better.  We want to lose weight.  We want to read our Bible from…

January 5, 2019 DAILY READING John 1:10-18This weekend’s reading: Revelation 1:9-19 FIELD NOTESTomorrow is January 6 and in the Christian calendar it is celebrated as “Epiphany” — the twelfth day following Christmas which commemorates the day the wise men from the East visited Jesus and honored him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Merriam…

January 4, 2019 DAILY READING Acts 7:44-53This weekend’s reading: Revelation 1:9-19 FIELD NOTESI’ve had the privilege of visiting several amazing and beautiful places of worship through the years — including York Minster in England; St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain. When one enters these wonders of engineering, architecture and…

January 3, 2019 DAILY READING Luke 8:16-21This weekend’s reading: Revelation 1:9-19 FIELD NOTESI like to read self-help books. Maybe the topic is time management — learning how to prioritize tasks, get things done, and achieve my highest goals. Or maybe the book is about fitness and health — “growing younger” or following a low-carb diet.…

January 2, 2019 DAILY READING Proverbs 1:1-7This weekend’s reading: Revelation 1:9-19 FIELD NOTESI took piano lessons throughout my childhood. Beginning as a first grader who could barely plunk out “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” to my graduating recital when I played Chopin’s “Military Polonaise,” I studied with the same teacher — Mrs. J. Victor Barr. Mrs.…