A Needed Change Today’s scripture selection: Ezra 6-10 Key verse: Ezra 10:22 “For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the LORD had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the… Continue reading Week 47 Tuesday
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 47 Monday
Giving Our Best Today’s scripture selection: Deuteronomy 16-19 Key verse: Deuteronomy 17:1 “Do not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable.” I’m glad that my faith doesn’t require animal sacrifice – really glad. The idea of taking a… Continue reading Week 47 Monday
Week 47 Sunday
Getting to Know God Today’s scripture selection: Acts 17-18 Key Verses: Acts 17:23b “Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.” It was more than an intellectual game; an esoteric pastime. It was more than just a way to show off how much he knew. For the apostle Paul… Continue reading Week 47 Sunday
Week 46 Saturday
A Clear Head Today’s scripture selection: First Peter 4-5 Key verse: First Peter 4:7b “Be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” I hear a lot of excuses when it comes to people’s prayer life – or lack of it. Things like I know I should pray, but it just seems like things get… Continue reading Week 46 Saturday
Week 46 Friday
A New Look Today’s scripture selection: Zechariah 1-7 Key Verses: Zechariah 3:1-4 “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, ‘The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you!… Continue reading Week 46 Friday
Week 46 Thursday
Let It Go Today’s scripture selection: Ecclesiastes 7-8 Key verse: Ecclesiastes 7:9 The wisdom we find in the book of Ecclesiastes covers a lot of territory; much of it goes right to the heart of some very “vexing” problems. In fact, that’s how one translation addresses one particularly pesky problem: “Be not hasty in thy… Continue reading Week 46 Thursday
Week 46 Wednesday
Like Precious Ointment Today’s scripture selection: Psalms 131-133 Key verses: Psalm 133:2-3 It’s a lovely passage; full of rich symbolism. “It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the… Continue reading Week 46 Wednesday
Week 46 Tuesday
Beyond the Obstacles Today’s scripture selection: Ezra 1-5 Key verse: Ezra 4:4 “Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.” Long ago, during the time when those who had been exiled returned to Jerusalem to build their temple, not surprisingly opposition arose.… Continue reading Week 46 Tuesday
Week 46 Monday
Routine Giving Today’s scripture selection: Deuteronomy 13-15 Key verses: Deuteronomy 14:28-29 “At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live… Continue reading Week 46 Monday
Week 46 Sunday
Preaching in Prison Today’s scripture selection: Acts 15-16 Key Verses: Acts 16:22-31 The apostle Paul never missed a chance to preach. He never overlooked an opportunity to share something – either in word or action – that would communicate something important about God. One great example of this was the night that Paul and one… Continue reading Week 46 Sunday