Welcome, Rahab!
We don’t know who embraced Rahab and insisted the other women welcome her as well. What we do know is that just as Rahab provided a…
A Safe Place for Rahab
In keeping with their promise to Rahab, after winning the battle of Jericho, "the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, and her…
The Scarlet Cord
Rahab helped the Israeli spies on one condition. She asked them to promise to save her family. The spies agreed with their…
Rahab the Harlot
As we journey to Christmas with the Midwives of the Messiah, Rahab the Harlot joins us. Surprised to know that a woman of such “ill repute” shows up in the…
I Take Your Hand
Grace flows through Tamar’s story. God includes Tamar, a Canaanite woman whose moral judgment appears deeply flawed, in the legal bloodline of…
I Will Help You
After God killed Er and Onan, Judah feared giving his youngest son to Tamar. Instead of looking inward or recognizing God’s sovereignty over the deaths of his…
Two Unchangeable Things
For years Tamar lived with the knowledge that Canaanite and Jewish law required Judah to care for her. When her mother-in-law died, Tamar concluded she had no hope…
The God Who Cannot Lie
Soap operas have nothing on Scripture and Tamar's story is no exception (Genesis 38). Through his father, Jacob, God promised Judah that the…
God Will Make a Way
At the last minute, my friend couldn’t accompany me to the event where I was speaking but the two hours passed quickly as I drove and listened…
Tamar – Don’t Forget Me
The pastor asked the elderly, childless widow, “What can I do for you?” Her simple response: “Don’t forget me.” I heard the same cry in…
Do the Next Thing
What should we do while we are waiting for the Lord to “make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the…
Unlikely Role Models
“I was sitting behind you at the Thanksgiving Eve service and I am so glad I got to see how ornery your boys are! It gives me hope as I…
God is Always Up to Something
Throughout the Psalms, we read the lament, “How long, oh Lord, how long?” Many of you whisper or shout that…
Unwrapping the Gift
Our kids call Chuck’s mother, Situ, Lebanese for grandmother. Situ is with Jesus but laughter often fills the room when family gathers and we share Situ memories. Every Christmas, someone…
More Abundantly Than All That We Ask
Between now and Christmas, we are pulling back the curtains on the lives of five women: a wounded widow, a professional prostitute, an indomitable immigrant, a bathing beauty and a terrified teenager. Each…
All I Want for Christmas
I was about fifteen years old when my very talented, artistic mother coached me to sing All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth for a holiday talent contest. Seconds before I…
Christmas in Coming!
So what is a “midwife of the Messiah”? The Apostle Paul challenged Pastor Titus to “teach the older women so that they could teach the younger women” how to walk by faith in their own personal lives. Each o…
The Treasures of Holiday Presence
On Christmas Eve and day, our first Christmas without Mark, I wrote in my journal: Well, Lord, here I am. Christmas Eve. Running until I drop. Trying not to think…