The Daily Memo

I set my phone down, weary of the constant bombardment of images, ideas, and notifications that the little screen broadcasted. Then, I picked it up and turned it on again. Why? In his book The Shallows, Nicholas Carr describes how the internet has shaped our relationship with stillness: “What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. Whether I’m online or not, my mind now expects to take in information the way…

It stars Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando. Set in the Vietnam War, Apocalypse Now is a 1979 epic war film. The use of the word ‘apocalypse’ is based on the popular misunderstanding of the word as ‘destruction’. The Greek word apokalupsis, translated ‘revelation’ (Revelation 1:1), is made up of two Greek words – apo (out of) and kalupsis (‘hiding’). The word actually means ‘disclosure’. In the book of,…

When we forget (and oh, how we forget), our senses can trigger an awakening of remembrance and place, and suddenly we are back as though it were yesterday. Sense-memory is such an exquisite gift from God, especially our sense of smell; the olfactory system is the one most laden with memory. You’ve experienced this I’m sure — one whiff of cut grass, canned peaches, salt air or pine bark, and you are back in your dearest places and memories. For me, the,…

Satan calls God's intentions and character into question. Doubt is a common human experience, and giving our doubts and fears to God can be a great way to worship Him.Question: Imagine you were nearby in the garden, and you overheard this conversation. What would you say to the serpent and the woman? Have you heard the enemy say, "Did God really say...." about things in your own life? Did you doubt what God had spoken to you because you heard this doubtful?…

Scientists now believe that the Earth may have had all the elements needed for life within it all along, contrary to prior theories that these elements came from meteorites. For many years, scientists have predicted that many of the elements that are crucial ingredients for life, like sulfur and nitrogen, first came to Earth when asteroid-type objects carrying them crashed into our planet’s surface. I have a different theory. God created the heavens and the earth with…

Whenever you’re feeling down, the Psalms are an excellent source of comfort and encouragement. In Psalm 42:5-11, the psalmist shares how God offers comfort to you, His child, in hard times. To receive it, you should … •  Look within. Before you can deal with despair, you need to know what is causing it. If you’re not sure, ask the Lord to help you figure out what’s going on. •  Look up. The next step is to lift your eyes to…

The person we know as Saint Nicholas (Saint Nick) was born around ad 270 to a wealthy Grecian family. Tragically, his parents died when he was a boy, and he lived with his uncle who loved him and taught him to follow God. When Nicholas was a young man, legend says that he heard of three sisters who didn’t have a dowry for marriage and would soon be destitute. Wanting to follow Jesus’ teaching about giving to those in need, he took his inheritance and gave each…

David Whyte, the Welsh Poet, wrote, “When we discover what seems like a clear path, what we're really discovering is our place in that gravitational field, in that trajectory, from the deep, intimate sense of origin in our body that lies below the horizon of our understanding, out to as far a horizon as we can understand and then - beyond it.” Spiritually speaking it’s not obvious where David Whyte lands, but in his writing there’s an element of.…

We need God to help us understand his Word. We can’t separate a walk with God from our reading of Scripture. The two go hand in hand. Like having a tour guide as you wander the halls of the Louvre. “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives…