In her recent opinion piece, Mallory Challis reminded us of the importance of saying grace over a meal. Singing grace is another fulfilling way to express our gratitude for food and other blessings. The ritual and spiritual discipline of singing…
What if grace is more amazing than we thought?
I once thought grace was pretty amazing — Jesus dying on the cross, all my sins forgiven, a guaranteed place in heaven after I died. But what if grace is even more amazing? As a child I learned about “Amazing…
Four reasons saying grace is important
As we enter October, the holiday season is coming up quickly. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Most of these holidays entail some sort of celebration that involves food. Even if you are not celebrating a specific holiday, this is the time of…
‘Listen before you preach,’ Godsey says at McAfee Founders Day
The power of preaching lies not in how well one speaks but in how well one listens, Kirby Godsey told students, faculty and staff at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology Aug. 23. Godsey, former Mercer president, delivered the annual…
Judging the stripper and the carouser in ourselves at the Communion table
“The Bible says not to judge,” my Sunday school classmate says to me. I reply, “So, you’re making a judgment that my position on judgment is wrong?” I smile. “You see the irony here, right?” The person stares. Perplexed. I…
Grace and peace to you — at the tip of a sword
For weeks now, I’ve been teaching verse by verse through the book of 1 Thessalonians on Sunday mornings. Last week and this week, we hit the hinge between the last verse of 1 Thessalonians and the opening lines of 2…
One of America’s favorite Christian authors finally tells his own story
If there was a look to being a New York Times best-selling author for the last several decades, Philip Yancey wouldn’t be it. Which is why even he is surprised at what his life has become looking back. Yancey, whose…
‘Tangibilifying Grace’: When the manna runs out, what then?
Manna means “What is it?” — at least that is one interpretation of the word. In the Exodus accounts, manna becomes a tangible indication of God’s presence, a poignant, funny, strange, ironic and temporary sign of grace. The children of…
Why I see COVID-19 vaccines as a sign of God’s grace
I used to tell the Hardin-Simmons University students in my freshman biology class that scientific knowledge is a gift from God, but we have to do the hard work of discovering it and learning how to use it. For example,…