Tag: Hebrews 10:32-38

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” Good advice to hear when you’re struggling with sticking to a discipline or trying to push through a difficult task. It’s even good advice for relationships. Usually, we humans give up too soon! And when we do, we usually regret it later. Or, sometimes, we stay too long, and we usually regret that later as well! So, what’s the answer? The Faith invites us to the…

American fantasy author Jeaniene Frost said, “Some things are worth the cost of their consequences.” And looking back in history and even in my own life, I can attest to the truthfulness of this statement. The challenge is knowing when to pay the price for what you value. All of our lives are filled with trading what we do for what we receive. And many times we want to live our lives…

It seems we Southerners have an “old saying” for everything. When I was in Boston for seminary, a young man from another part of the country asked me “Barnabas, is there a book I can buy with all these Southern sayings in them?” I laughed and told him “No, son, we Southerners guard these sayings very closely!” Of course, there are tons of books out there that recount all our “old sayings.”…

In 1861 Robert E. Lee wrote, “With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home.” In the end, he simply couldn’t raise his sword against his home state of Virginia, even though President Lincoln had offered him the command of the whole…

In 1861 Robert E. Lee wrote, “With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home.” In the end, he simply couldn’t raise his sword against his home state of Virginia, even though President Lincoln had offered him the command of the whole…

In 1861 Robert E. Lee wrote “With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home.” In the end, he simply couldn’t raise his sword against his home state of Virginia, even though President Lincoln had offered him the command of the whole…

It seems we Southerners have an “old saying” for everything. When I was in Boston for seminary, a young man from another part of the country asked me “Barnabas, is there a book I can buy with all these Southern sayings in them?” I laughed and told him “No, son, we Southerners guard these sayings very closely!” Of course, there are tons of books out there that recount all our “old sayings.”…

One of the most powerful prayers and hymns I’ve ever sung says “…For behold, through the cross joy has come into all the world. Ever blessing the Lord, we praise his Resurrection: for by enduring the cross, he has destroyed death by death.” Imagine that something as horrible as the cross producing such joy as a renewal of all the universe and the undoing of death! And yet, that message is at…

Platitudes can be absolutely infuriating when you’re suffering. And, usually, a person in pain hears things like “Oh, just trust God” or “into each life a little rain must fall” as uncaring dismissals of their very real heartache. To be sure, most folks mean well, but deep in their own hearts they are afraid of getting too close to pain lest it capture them. Let’s face it, folks avoid pain. And for…