The Daily Memo

Listen Hattie May Wiatt, a six-year-old girl, lived near Grace Baptist Church in Philadelphia, USA. The Sunday school was very crowded. Russell H. Conwell, the minister, told her that one day they would have buildings big enough to allow everyone to attend. She said, ‘I hope you will. It is so crowded I am afraid to go there alone.’ He replied, ‘When we get the money we will construct one large enough to get all the children in.’ Two years later, in,…

Listen When the religious (spirit) is operating, knowing about God substitutes for knowing God. And therefore, teaching is exalted. Church feels like a seminar—could be intellectual, could be motivational. Good content is what matters. Doctrine is fiercely defended. Members can explain to you theories of the atonement, or seven steps to success, but can’t name one intimate encounter they’ve had with Jesus. Not once in their lives have they heard him speak…

Listen When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 32:1 NLT) So, what’s wrong with this picture? Moses is meeting with God; Joshua is part way up Mt. Sinai and the rest of the Israelites are left in Aaron’s…

Listen According to a recent Gallup Poll, for the first time in over 20 years, there’s a spike in Americans wanting to see abortion laws less restrictive in the U.S. Many of the abortion and SCOTUS-related trends have taken sharp turns since the demise of the Roe v. Wade decision was foreshadowed in Texas. That says a lot about the “enemy’s” ability to turn the tide of thinking around subjects that were once sacrosanct in American culture. In fact, you&rsquo…

Listen Until I met my wife, Colleen (resident bird expert among other things), I couldn’t tell the difference between an eagle and an egret. Now I can spot the difference between a Goshawk and a Redtail in flight. Who knew there was so much beauty flying overhead? Certainly not me. That would explain my curiosity when I heard a quartet of crows squawking outside my office window. I looked out to discover two of the four battling it out in the branches of a nearby oak.…

Listen I don’t think we’ve admitted to ourselves just how much belief is a choice. Some mornings you wake and feel God is near; the day looks hopeful. Next morning God seems far; the day has no color to it. For years I wrote this experience off to the ins and outs of the spiritual life, clouded by the weather of my emotions. Then Jesus began to show me something. Innumerable times in the past several years, I’d be in a time of prayer, asking God’s…

Listen During a recent business trip we took by train to New York, a friend and I found ourselves meandering through the maze of humanity in Penn Station looking for a connection to our final destination on Long Island. It was a long day. The alarm went off at 3:30 in the morning to catch an Amtrak train at 5:20 that would eventually get us to Huntington around 11:00. Brilliant, right? While dodging more people in one place than imaginable, we simultaneously had the same.…

Listen Can you think of a pivotal moment that led to your relationship with Jesus? Most of us can name a special person or set of circumstances that helped us get to know Him. Or perhaps you’re reading this out of curiosity, and you don’t know Him at all. Regardless of what state your relationship with God is in, the fact remains: He loves you and will never give up on you. Paul writes, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).…

Listen The passage in Matthew where Peter is invited to walk on water is a familiar one to most of us. Every time I read it, I put myself in Peter's place for an instant. Not only physically but metaphorically. Can you imagine walking on the surface of the water to the outstretched hand of Jesus? On so many levels it would have been a monumental moment in not only Peter’s life, but in the rest of the disciples watching. But….. that was not the only miracle…