Greetings BA Readers, This is my last “First Word” of 2023. I thank the Lord for His blessings this year, and I thank you for your continued support. According to Crosswalk.com, the two most searched Bible verses are John 3:16 and Jeremiah 29:11. I bet you can quote the first one, but do you know […]

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Yes, the struggle is real! There’s a battle going on. Let’s raise awareness, fueled by the good news that Jesus is onto this!

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“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). The bright glare of the church overhead lights prompted my youth missions’ teammate, Lauren, to slip on her sunglasses once we found our seats before the morning service began. As the worship […]

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“We know what’s best for you,” the nurse insisted. She denied my request to see my baby daughter, who had returned to her heavenly Father just hours after her birth. Yes, my husband could see her. But not me. That set my feet on a road of grief that stretched across years. Few of my […]

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Prior to a study trip to Israel in 2014, I understood it was the Promised Land, “a land flowing with milk and honey.” I was not expecting there to be so much desert, so much desolate country, or so many rocks. I’d read the story of the twelve spies coming home with a single cluster […]

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How can anyone as finite, definable, and limited as we humans are describe something as infinite, unmeasurable, and unlimited as God and His faithfulness? It’s impossible. That’s the position I find myself in. The best we can do is the best we can do. We have available to us a repertoire of fine words in […]

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My childhood memories of many sermons in church were from men who seemed angry about a lot of things. They preached long and hard about world conditions and the imminent battle of Armageddon. I greatly feared the nations of Gog and Magog! Late at night, I thought I could hear those evil armies crashing over […]

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On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge at Point Pleasant, West Virginia, collapsed, plunging many to their death. Investigation showed that the bridge was carrying far more weight than it was built to carry. That’s because cars and trucks weighed more in the ‘60s than they did in 1928 when the bridge was built. Unable […]

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“I’ve Got This!!!”  (Borrowed with permission from the Southwest District Superintendent’s Blog) Said Someone Who Was Clueless But Wait… Are things not going according to Plan? Oh, the treasures we have learned from the 2020 pandemic. Number one among those is to “Focus on Jesus and follow his plan.” Number two among those is, “We […]

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Recently while I was reading Psalm 42, verse 4 took on new meaning for me. It reads: These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. This […]

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One love can change your life. One life can change the world. From the creators of I Can Only Imagine comes an inspiring love story for the ages. Rediscover the wonder of love in I Still Believe, based on the real-life story of chart-topping singer Jeremy Camp. Starring KJ Apa, Britt Robertson, Shania Twain, and […]

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Trusting God through life’s sad endings and new beginnings.

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