Calling Scripture selection: Luke 4:42-44 At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also,… Continue reading Calling
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
Authority
Authority Scripture selection: Luke 4:36-37 (With this study, we continue our walk through the scriptures picking up at the Gospel of Luke after Jesus has begun his public ministry.) “All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they… Continue reading Authority
Stages
Stages Scripture selection: Numbers 33:2 “At the LORD’s command Moses recorded the stages in their journey.” Along with all the other things Moses did “at the LORD’S command,” Moses did one other important thing: he recorded the stages of their journey. From slavery to freedom; from oppression to Promised Land – they traveled together under… Continue reading Stages
Direction
Scripture selection: Numbers 27:16-17 Moses said to the LORD, “May the LORD, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the LORD’s people will not be like sheep without a… Continue reading Direction
Mixed Motives
Mixed Motives Scripture selection: Numbers 23:11-12 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!” He answered, “Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?” The story of a fellow named Balaam is one filled with… Continue reading Mixed Motives
Lifted Up
Lifted Up Scripture selection: Numbers 21.6 The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at… Continue reading Lifted Up
Holy Mystery
Holy Mystery Scripture selection: Numbers 20:12 “But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.’” It is one of the great and bitter ironies recorded… Continue reading Holy Mystery
Quenching Our Thirst
Quenching Our Thirst Scripture selection: Numbers 20:2-11 Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD! Why did you bring the LORD’s community into this wilderness, that… Continue reading Quenching Our Thirst
Remembering
Remembering Scripture selection: Numbers 15:17-21 The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land to which I am taking you and you eat the food of the land, present a portion as an offering to the LORD. Present a loaf from the first of your ground… Continue reading Remembering
Fear and Grumbling
Fear and Grumbling Scripture selection: Numbers 14:1-4 “That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us to this… Continue reading Fear and Grumbling