A Life Full of Praise Today’s scripture selection: Psalms 69-71 Key verses: Psalm 71:17-18 Over the years I have come to appreciate the difference between religious people and people of faith. While it may seem like they are one and the same, in my experience, often they aren’t. Religious piety and adherence to… Continue reading Week 24 Wednesday
Author: Paul Simrell
The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. Elpis is the Greek word meaning “expectant hope.” He also serves on the associate clinical staff of the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, Richmond, Virginia, both as a pastoral counselor and a ministerial assessment specialist, specializing in executive, clergy and relationship coaching. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
Week 24 Tuesday
Even the Wise Can Be Fools Today’s scripture selection: First Kings 10-13 Key verse: First Kings 11:4 “As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.” Nobody’s perfect. That old adage… Continue reading Week 24 Tuesday
Week 24 Monday
A Life of Sacrifice Today’s scripture selection: Leviticus 1-3 Key verses: Leviticus 1:2 If you are a sensitive soul, it makes for difficult reading: chapter after chapter, book after book, about bloody sacrifice. Although scholars disagree about the exact meaning and purpose of all the various sacrifices in the religion of the Hebrew… Continue reading Week 24 Monday
Week 24 Sunday
When You Pray Today’s scripture selection: Luke 11-12 Key Verse: Luke 11:2 I’ve always loved the fact that it is recorded in the scriptures that Jesus’ disciples came to Him and made a simple but profound request: “Lord, teach us to pray.” In response, we have what has long been known as… Continue reading Week 24 Sunday
Week 23 Saturday
A Light Burden Today’s scripture selection: Galatians 4-6 Key verse: Galatians 6:2 A long time ago; what seems a hundred years ago, really – I learned to play a piece on the piano. It was about a long, winding road, leading to who knows where…and about how the one I might carry “ain’t heavy, he’s… Continue reading Week 23 Saturday
Week 23 Friday
Fallen Jewels Today’s scripture selection: Lamentations Key verse: Lamentations 4:1 It seemed it was all over except for the tears. As one commentator in the LIFE APPLICATION BIBLE puts it: “Jeremiah’s two books focus on one event – the destruction of Jerusalem. The book of Jeremiah predicts it, and Lamentations looks back on… Continue reading Week 23 Friday
Week 23 Thursday
Written on the Heart Today’s scripture selection: Proverbs 2-3 Key verse: Proverbs 3:3 Love and faithfulness; written on the tablet of the heart. That’s what the book of Proverbs advises. It’s good advice. There are many ways in life to build a reputation, good or otherwise. When young, some want to be… Continue reading Week 23 Thursday
Week 23 Wednesday
A Gracious and Known God Today’s scripture selection: Psalms 66-69 Key verses: Psalm 67:1-2 There is a lovely benediction of sorts at the beginning of Psalm 67: “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us – so that your ways may be known on earth,… Continue reading Week 23 Wednesday
Week 23 Tuesday
A Throne Forever Today’s scripture selection: First Kings 5-9 Key verses: First Kings 9:4-5 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness…and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne…forever.” Solomon was a very wise, and a very… Continue reading Week 23 Tuesday
Week 23 Monday
Space For Worship Today’s scripture selection: Exodus 37-40 Key verses: Exodus 40:1-2 “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month.’” When God instructed Moses on setting up a place for worship – a tent of meeting – for His… Continue reading Week 23 Monday