Courage Today’s Scripture Selection: Exodus 5:4 “After this Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival in the wilderness.’” How did they do it? Where did they find the courage? The only answer I… Continue reading Courage
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
Fear
Fear Today’s Scripture Selection: Psalm 27:1-2 So what stops us? What stops us from learning, growing, reaching out, reaching in, testing, loving, answering God’s call – or a thousand other things we might imagine? Often, too often, I think it is fear. None of us is immune, though some try to pretend they are. Fear… Continue reading Fear
Holiness
Holiness Today’s Scripture Selection: Ephesians 1:4 “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” Are you perfect? Are you blameless? Are you a particularly holy person? You might not think so. Yet Scripture says those who would follow Christ are called to do… Continue reading Holiness
Growth
Growth Today’s Scripture Selection: Genesis 12:10 “Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to live in Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.” It must have been awful. It must have brought much pain and hardship. Many were probably losing hope. Many probably wondered where… Continue reading Growth
Comfort
Comfort Today’s Scripture Selection: Isaiah 40:1 Another passage that comes immediately to mind as we think of the “Balm of Gilead” – the healing that comes from God – is this one from Isaiah: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been… Continue reading Comfort
Peace
Peace Today’s Scripture Selection: Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” I know. It’s easier said than done, especially the part… Continue reading Peace
Zion
Zion Today’s Scripture Selection: Revelation 14:1-3 (Note to Faithful Readers: With today’s post we come to our second run through our alphabetical study of the scriptures. I hope you have enjoyed picking out a few significant words related to the faith – and maybe found a few more of your own. Tomorrow, we will move… Continue reading Zion
Yielding
Yielding Today’s Scripture Selection: Mark 10:35-39 It can get the best of us – yielding to temptation. Even Jesus’ hand-picked disciples struggled with it. Take, for example, James and John who came to Jesus with a rather startling request one day: “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” “What… Continue reading Yielding
Example
Example Today’s Scripture Selection: Matthew 11:29 (Note to faithful readers: Please excuse the bit of hedging on our alphabetical search through the scriptures. X is a pesky little letter so I’m afraid we’ll have to settle for using words that have x somewhere in them!) Jesus Christ was – and is – many things. Prophet… Continue reading Example
Walking
Walking Today’s Scripture Selection: Genesis 5:24 “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” The theologians talk about God in very specific terms: God is omniscient God is omnipresent God is omnipotent And all this adds up to a concept of God as being beyond our limited ability to… Continue reading Walking