Today’s Text: Ezekiel 25-30 Key Text: Ezekiel 28:25-26 The judgment goes on and on, against nation after nation. The prophet speaks with bold authority: against Ammon, Moab and Seir, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, and Egypt. History can attest to how these nations came under divine condemnation. Then, nestled there in the midst of judgment and wrath,… Continue reading Week 28: True Security
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 28: Righteous Words
Week 28: Righteous Words Today’s Text: Proverbs 10 Key Text: Proverbs 10:32 “The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.” Sometimes we forget what powerful things words are. It is so easy – too easy – to Make that thoughtless, flippant remark to get a… Continue reading Week 28: Righteous Words
Week 28: Crystal Clear
Today’s Text: Psalms 81-83 Key Text: Psalm 82:1-3 God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the “gods”: “How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?” Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and… Continue reading Week 28: Crystal Clear
Small Miracles
Week 28: Small Miracles Today’s Text: Second Kings 6-10 Key Text: Second Kings 6:1-7 It’s a strange little story. A man loses a borrowed tool – an iron axhead – in the waters of the Jordon, and a prophet of God – Elisha – performs a miracle that allows him to fish it from the… Continue reading Small Miracles
Sacrifice
Week 28: Sacrifice Today’s Text: Leviticus 13-15 Key Text: Leviticus 14:21 “But if he is poor, and his means are insufficient, then he is to take one male lamb for a guilt offering…” The words come from a long list of ritual requirements – they are how the priest and the people are to atone… Continue reading Sacrifice
Week 28: Roots
Week 28: Roots Today’s Text: Colossians 1-2 Key Text: Colossians 2:6-7 “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Do you remember the hugely popular TV miniseries called… Continue reading Week 28: Roots
Week 27: The Kingdom Among You
Today’s Text: Luke 17-18 Key Text: Luke 17:20-21 “Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!” For, in fact, the kingdom… Continue reading Week 27: The Kingdom Among You
Week 27: With A Mighty Hand
Today’s Text: Ezekiel 19-24 Key Text: Ezekiel 20:33 “As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will be king over you.” The prophet Ezekiel’s writings are not for the faint of heart. Chapter after chapter, it is fire and brimstone all… Continue reading Week 27: With A Mighty Hand
Find Wisdom, Find Life
Week 27: Find Wisdom, Find Life Today’s Text: Proverbs 8-9 Key Text: Proverbs 8:34-36 “Happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD; but those who miss me injure themselves, all who hate me love… Continue reading Find Wisdom, Find Life
Tell Them
Week 27: Tell Them Today’s Text: Psalm 78-80 Key Text: Psalm 78:1-8 My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old— things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told… Continue reading Tell Them