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I have a special affection for IHOP restaurants. Well, maybe just the one behind the seminary on Gaston Avenue. You remember that as a student, you didn’t eat out a lot—unless it was eating sandwiches out on the lawn. In my first summer at DTS, I made it my personal mission to welcome all the new women students. Being a woman student was a new thing then. We were about 20 strong in number that first year and doubled in strength by the next. And so it was in the front parking

Day #5 Jerusalem Temple             Today, our feet travel holy ground. Though the glory of Solomon and Herod’s Temples has been long gone, an intangible mystery still lingers on our path leading to this Temple site.             King David first envisioned the Temple on this mount. For most of his life, he dreamed of building the ultimate worship center—a magnificent place where God’s presence, His Sh’khinah , would dwell with His people.             But it was his son Solom

If ever I find myself full of angst, fussing over nothing, I’ve learned to question when it was the last I wrote. Not for work, but more for therapy. I process life through journals and letters, devotionals and chapters. My first audience is myself, then often the Lord. And along the way I hope to walk with you. I wonder if in fact this is just another evidence of Imago Deo . Created in His image, we are communicators. We reach out, albeit with frail and fractured chains of

(Note: This was written in August 1999—26 years ago. I still love Corrie. ) From time to time, I suppose each of us stops to think about the direction our life is taking.  If you’re like me, you never would have imagined ten, fifteen or even five years ago that you would be where you are today.  Living where you are.  Doing the job you’re now doing. Engaged in relationship with specific people.  The losses, achievements, griefs, and vision.             Some of this reflectio

This started out as a journal entry when I turned 40. But then, as I celebrate friends' birthdays, I thought these thoughts would be an encouraging gift on significant birthdays.       At 40, we understand that God’s plan is not past tense or hidden in the obscure future.     It is continuous. Current.  It is to live this day: within these circumstances, in this obedience.  Embracing the ever-unfolding plan.  At 40, isn’t it great to stretch out in the assurance of His securi

What will you remember about Israel? We’ve traveled some fantastic roads in the last 10 days. Which experience has been your favorite?             Strolling along the Caesarean aqueduct at the Mediterranean ? . . .               Meandering through the ruins of Megiddo  . . .                Marveling at the view from Mt. Arbel  . . .             Cruising across the Sea of Galilee  . . .             Trekking to that incredible cave at Caesarea Phillipi . . .             Walking

Special: Road from Jericho to Jerusalem Today, you join in a tradition that’s over three thousand years old.  As we left Jericho and traveled the steep climb to Jerusalem, we join centuries of pilgrims who have set their heart on Jerusalem.  Faithful Jews traveled this road at least three times a year for the annual feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles.  To ready their minds on what awaited them in Jerusalem (and maybe to get their minds off the steep climb beginnin

Day #8 Jerusalem and the Cross During Jesus’ last Passover week, everybody was looking for something. Religious Jews sought forgiveness from sin. Zealots searched for the revolutionary who would lead them to freedom. Rome’s representatives just wanted crowd control. And every Jew longed for the Messiah. As we enter these last week’s events, let us be looking, too. Let us, “Fix our eyes on Jesus  . . . who for the joy set before Him endured the cross . . . Sunday:  Follow Jesu

Day #7 Fr om Jerusalem to Masada, En Gedi The wind blows hot and dry on our road in the wilderness. Does this place feel familiar to you? At some point in our lives, everyone who trusts God ends up in the wilderness. After he was a shepherd but before he was king, David the fugitive found a place of refuge in this wilderness. For seven years, David, misunderstood, hunted, yet the anointed king, hid from Saul in these caves and desert hills. Discouragement blew through David’s

Day #6 Jerusalem: Mount of Olives Coupled with many other emotions, the road from the Mount of Olives to the Temple has always been paved with joy. David, the great Old Testament King, founded this glorious city. A thousand years before Jesus rode down this slope on a donkey, and three thousand before we enter today, David had established Jerusalem as Israel’s religious and political capital. He danced the day the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of God’s presence finally came

Day #4 From Jericho to Jerusalem Today, we’ll travel to the oldest city on earth. Jericho’s fresh water and shade has long made it an emerald in the brown Judean foothills. Watered by the Spring of Elisha, people have found refreshment here since before the land was promised to Israel. In Joshua’s time (1400 b.c), the road that God’s people meandered for 40 years came to Jericho through the Negev Desert. When they reached the edge of the Jordan, they must have been overwhelm

Day 3 From Israel to Damascus Today’s road is older than dirt. Back when Egypt and Mesopotamia dominated the Middle East, they called this road the Via Maris, and used it predominantly as military and commercial “interstate freeways.” The Romans then developed the well-traveled routes into roads, setting up mile-markers for maintenance purposes and tolls. (Tollways have been around a long time!) For people of faith, a funny thing often happens on this road. Somewhere along t

Day 2 The Sea of Galilee    Some roads are paved with tar. Some with stone. Today’s road is made of water. For the next few days, we’ll make our home around the sea, walk its shore, cross over its breadth. We’re experiencing the road that led home for Jesus. He loved this area—even claiming Capernaum on its north shore as His adult home. Jesus taught most His sermons, performed almost all His miracles, and called all His men (except Judas) from around these shores. He travele

Day 1 From Joppa to Caesarea Our first journey on the ancient roads of Israel begins where many well-known people of the Bible have also begun. From this sea-side port, run-away Jonah set sail on his infamous Mediterranean fishing trip as he ran from God in rebellion. On the flip side, 800 years later, this road out of Joppa carried an obedient Peter to a new branch of ministry. Joppa is where Peter stayed with his friend Simon, the tanner. Peter had gone up on the roof for

You’ve traveled a long way to be here today. Here you stand in the Land, ready to travel the road of a lifetime. No matter how long your journey has been, you’re about to discover a road even longer. In the next ten days, you’ll not only visit fabulous sites, but you’ll travel ancient roads with eternal significance grounded in each path. On these actual roads we’ll travel, God has done incredible work in the lives of His people. He broadened Peter’s view of evangelism on the

Gracious God, We stand before You in gratitude on this day the way our parents did and their parents before them, thanking You for giving us life and breath, food and shelter, mercy and grace.  We join the train of the faithful and the faithless alike, looking to You. Please strengthen our hearts as we remember who You have been to us this year.   We thank you for these faces around this table, both of family and friends without whom our lives would be poorer and hearts less

The church was the most important place in the world for our family while I was growing up. Tabernacle Baptist Church, on the corner of Academy St. and Main on the edge of downtown Poughkeepsie. We were there every time the doors were open and often when they weren’t. All the people I loved most sat in their respective pew every Sunday. Giving to the needs of the church and our missionaries shaped my view of finances from my earliest days. Every Christmas, Kathy, David, and I

A passenger plane went down in a Pennsylvania field yesterday.  Flight 93.  45 people died.  Amidst all the horrors of that beautiful September day, this crash broke my heart.  I watched the reports where they searched for wreckage, not survivors, and I cried.  Not so much because of the tragedy itself—scores of people die every day all over the globe, in violent, tragic, sudden ways.  Many more died in two nearby U.S. cities.  But this crash rocked me.  I wept for their fami

In His Passion—Day 33 Our long look at Jesus’ life through the eyes of those He touched is coming to an end. It’s a story to keep reading for a lifetime—especially the Gospel of John. The disciple John wrote his gospel nearly 60 years after the events, so “that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing you may have life in His name.” Mission accomplished? As we read John 21 today, you have to wonder if John remembered this last morning around the

One on One in His Passion — Day 13 Why did I say that? Why didn’t I do something? Be honest, you’ve asked yourself this, too. Like the rest of the team, Peter ran when the soldiers arrested Jesus, but he didn’t go far. He watched everything unfold from the shadows, keeping an eye on Jesus until He disappeared behind the locked doors of the high priest’s palace. Even then, Peter stayed close. He warmed his hands around a small fire in the courtyard. Perhaps when someone poked