READ: ROMANS 5:1-11; 15:13; HEBREWS 11 Hope is a four-letter word. Yet, between those four letters is a tremendous range of nuance. People can use hope to convey an innocent wish. “I hope it doesn’t rain on the picnic.” Or hope can be used to reveal an unrivaled desire. “I hope my grandma lives through [...]

READ: DEUTERONOMY 8:2-18; PSALM 13; MATTHEW 11:28-30 What are deserts? Many people think of places like the Sahara—rolling dunes of hot sand with no signs of life. Some consider parts of the Arctic to be a desert. It makes sense—rolling dunes of snow with no signs of life. In either case, deserts are big, empty, [...]

In most crime shows there is at least one episode involving something counterfeit: currency, artwork, even identities. While many of these shows depict the criminals using state-of-the-art technology to create their fakes, they are really just using the newest toys to commit the oldest crimes. People have needed a way to spot forgeries for ages. [...]

Do you get frustrated with the amount of stuff accumulating in your space? For some of us, it's easy to get things but not as easy to get rid of those items when they are no longer being used. Although the Israelites in the Bible did not necessarily have the issue of accumulating too many [...]

I swam to an old sea cave before the battle. Our odds of winning were beyond scary. Soon my kingdom could be enslaved to the Sinades again. There was already talk of surrender. Once inside, I removed my helmet and wept the salt into the water. My armor clanked as I fell to the sea [...]

Does silence ever make you uncomfortable? It makes me uncomfortable sometimes. Especially when I am trying to get to know a new friend. I often feel nervous when there is a lull in the conversation, leaving an awkward silence. And although it is not a sin, we probably all know someone who talks like silence [...]

I examined the scroll. The instructions were clear, but sometimes hard to interpret. I nodded my head confidently as I rolled up the scroll and stuffed it into my satchel. I would need to make my way through the Whispering Forest, cross Chelsey's Chasm on the second bridge, then travel through the Ash Trenches. Simple [...]