By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Heb 11:8-10).
            I have heard it said, and even, I am afraid, thought that way myself at least a little bit, what was the big sacrifice Abraham and Sarah made when they left Ur?  They lived in ancient times with no modern conveniences, and in a primitive culture where things like architecture and the arts were not important at all.  There's that intellectual snobbery raising its ugly head.
            Go online.  Look in books like the Zondervan Bible Encyclopedia or the Holman Bible Atlas.  In the first place, the Sumerian culture was an alliance of city states of which Ur was just one.  Each had its own king who ruled the surrounding lands and villages.  A ziggarut sat at the city center with a shrine to the patron deity of the city.  And now you see one reason God wanted Abraham and Sarah out of there.
            In addition we have found in the tombs gold jewelry, daggers, helmets, and lyres—art and music did exist in that culture.  Among the many ruins archaeologists have found economic documents, medical treatises, law codes, agricultural manuals, a writing about a Great Flood, and philosophical writings.  They have found canals used for irrigating crops.  They have discovered that Ur had an educational system, some form of both hot and cold municipal running water, a sewer system, and paved roads.  So much for primitive, huh?
I also found a couple of artists' renditions of the typical upper class home—based on the ruins.  Have you ever been to the Columbia Restaurant in Tampa?  Go to www.opentable.com/Columbia-restaurant-ybor-city.  Look for the room with the fountain in the middle, with balconies overlooking a central room below, and that is similar to the picture of the house in Ur that I found.  Make no mistake, Abraham was a wealthy man.  This home could quite easily have been the one he left.  Now tell me it was no big deal for him to leave all that behind and live in tents for the rest of his life!  As an experienced camper, I know for certain that Sarah put up with sand in her sandals, in her blankets, and in her food!  They left a life of relative luxury to wander for decades in a hot, dirty land.
           Abraham and Sarah most certainly did sacrifice in order to follow God, even from the beginning, far more than most of us have ever been called to sacrifice, or maybe ever will.  Think hard today about your commitment to God and what you are willing to sacrifice for Him.  Even the best of us are far too materialistic and addicted to convenience and ease.  Perhaps we need a wake-up call.
 
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things make it manifest that they are seeking after a country of their own. And if indeed they had been mindful of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city (Heb 11:13-16).
 
Dene Ward
 

Lines of wooden tables covered with red checked cloths, yellowed cotton cloths, handmade crocheted cloths, loaded till sagging, every square inch laden with stoneware bowls full of red potato salad, yellow with mustard, and studded with chopped celery, sweet pickle nuggets, and chunks of hard-boiled egg; bright orange carrot salad polka-dotted with black raisins; clear glass bowls of layered salads, various shades of green, orange, white, and yellow; finely chopped slaws, pale green with orange and purple flecks and dressed in a white dressing or a sweet vinegar; chipped china platters of golden-eyed deviled eggs, some bloodshot with paprika; luscious pink ham slices, and piles of fried chicken covered with a homemade breading redolent with spices and herbs, the chicken itself tangy and moist from a buttermilk brine; club aluminum Dutch ovens filled with pole beans, green beans, speckled butterbeans, and white acres, mustard, turnip and collard greens, all sporting a sheen of bacon drippings and shreds of pork; cast iron pots of bubbling baked beans spiked with molasses and the contents of every bottle in the refrigerator; others loaded with fall apart pot roast, pork roast, or chicken and bright yellow rice; others still steaming with chicken and slicker style dumplings; spoons sticking up akimbo from mason jars full of the jewel colors of various pickles, everything from deep red to chartreuse to layers of emerald green, canary yellow, and white; baskets of fluffy, tan buttermilk biscuits, soft yeast rolls, and black skillets of cornbread wedges; pies billowing with meringue, dense with pecans, or fruit bubbling from a vented golden crust; moist cake layers enrobed in swirls of chocolate or cream cheese or clouds of seven minute frosting, some cloaked in coconut, others with nuts peeking out from the coating—none of them exactly perfect because everything is homemade.
            That’s what potluck was like when I was a child.  It was far superior to today’s offerings, at least half of which are purchased on the way—fold-up boxes of fried chicken and take-out pizza, plastic containers of salads and slaws, and bakery boxes of cakes and pies, all entirely too perfect to be made from scratch.  Is it any wonder that everyone rushes for the obviously homemade goodies and even snatches slices of cake early, before going through the regular line, and hides them for a later dessert?
            Potluck originally referred to feeding drop-in guests or folks passing through who needed a meal whatever was in the pot that evening.  Drop-ins were not considered rude in those days.  I remember my parents thoroughly enjoying the evenings when someone just happened to stop by.  We didn’t load our lives down with extra-curricular activities back then--people were the activities.
            Potluck eventually came to mean “You bring what you have and I’ll bring what I have and we’ll eat together.”  It didn’t really involve any extra work—that was the point.  When no one has enough of one thing but you pool it together, there is plenty for everyone, and plenty of time left to visit.
            We often speak of “feasting on the word of God.”  I wonder what would happen if we had a potluck?  What would I have to offer?  Anything at all?  Do I spend enough time in the word of God to have thoughts on it readily at hand?  Most of us are too embarrassed to show up at a real potluck with nothing in our hands, but think nothing of showing up to a Bible study with nothing to share.
            Would my spiritual table be loaded down with good food or store-bought, processed, preservative-laden grub because I had no time left in my day to cook something up?  Would my offering be fresh and nutritious or calorie-laden and fatty?  Would it be a gracious plenty mounded high in the bowl or spooned into a plastic cup barely big enough to feed one?  Would it be piping hot or lukewarm?  Would people go away satisfied or determined to avoid my table at all costs in the future?
            Think about it tonight when you look at the meal you feed your family. What’s in that spiritual pot of yours should someone happen by?  Would they be "lucky" or not? 
 
"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David, Isaiah 55:1-3.
 
Dene Ward
 

Today’s post is by guest writer, Lucas Ward.
           
            In 1 Kings 17:1-7 Elijah, at the command of God, forecast no rain "except by my command."  As one would expect, a famine followed.  During those years, God sent Elijah to hide by a certain brook where "I have commanded the ravens to feed you." So Elijah hid out there "and the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening and he drank of the brook."  We usually read this passage and think 'Wow, look how God takes care of His people! He even commands the birds to bring Elijah food!"  Which is true, and we should be comforted by the thought that God took care of His servant, and He has promised to continue to take care of His servants (Mt. 6:33).  Truly He is a loving God.
            I do want you to notice one thing, though. Elijah wasn't eating 5 star meals. Twice a day birds brought little pieces of bread and little pieces of meat to him. Bite sized pieces that were CARRIED IN BIRDS’ BEAKS!  It seems unlikely that Elijah gained much weight during this time.  God promised to take care of him, not to provide sumptuous feasts, and Elijah didn’t complain about the manner of transport and its possible contaminants.
            God promises to take care of us. In Matt. 6 we are promised food and clothing if we "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness".  He doesn't promise us big houses or nice cars.  He doesn't promise the latest fashions or the coolest electronics.  He promises to give us our necessities (actual, real necessities, not wants) so we can live to serve Him not so we can live a life of luxury and constant entertainment. If we ever endure difficult times, during which we go from eating out a couple of times a month to eating less so our kids can have more, we ought to not fret over what we don't have but praise Him for what we do.  Elijah didn't have a house or even the few comforts most people in the Iron Age could expect.  But God did make sure that he could eat.
            We can’t let economic hard times weaken our faith.  God will take care of us but God only promises to provide for His people, not pamper them.  We should take nothing for granted and give Him thanks for all things.
 
Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content, 1 Timothy 6:6-8.
 
Lucas Ward

The year before had been a warm winter.  In fact, it had been unseasonably warm for several weeks, so warm the blueberries had begun to bloom.  Not good in January, for in North Florida we could be sure more frosts and freezes awaited us.  But there was nothing we could do about it, so we went on about our business, and one morning as I pulled myself along with the trekking poles, walking Chloe around the property, I suddenly came upon a yellow daisy right in the middle of a patch of green grass, another product of the warm spell.  It sat there only four inches off the ground and a little scraggly.  Still, it made me smile.
            Then I got a virus and found myself in the sickbed for over a week.  Finally, the chest congestion drained, the ears stopped aching, and the nose could suddenly breathe again, so after one more day of recovery, I took Chloe on another walk.  As I came around the blueberries I saw it again, still hanging on in spite of the now cooler temperatures--and once again I smiled.
            I suddenly wondered if we aren’t supposed to be like that lone little daisy out in the world.  Do we make anyone smile?  Or are we just like everyone else, hurrying along, consumed with ourselves and our business, impatient, or even angry, with the ones who get in our way and slow us down?  We have an obligation to others we pass along the way. 
            You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and ignore them. You shall help him to lift them up again. Deuteronomy 22:4
            That one is pretty easy, we say.  Who wouldn’t stop for a brother on the side of the road whose donkey (or car) was broken down?  Keith stood by the side of the road next to a disabled car one night, and watched brother after brother pass him on the way to the gospel meeting that was being held just a mile or two down the highway, so don’t be too sure of yourself.
            Yet the law also says this:  "If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him, Exodus 23:4-5.  How many of us feel any obligation at all to bear the burden of an enemy, or just a stranger? 
            Let’s not make it one of those situations where we excuse ourselves by talking about crime and good sense.  How about this?  Did you make the cashier’s day a little brighter or a little tougher when you went through the line this morning?  Did you stop and help the harried young mother who dropped her grocery list and sent coupons scattering across the aisle, or did you sigh loudly at the inconvenience of her, her cart, and her three rowdy children because you were in a hurry to get home?  Did you make small talk with the waitress who poured your coffee, or did you treat her like a piece of furniture?  Did you slow down and make room for the car that cut you off in traffic, or did you talk and gesticulate and lay on the horn long enough for someone to think we were in an air raid?  Did you make anyone smile this morning?
            At my first defense, no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me, Paul said in 2 Tim 4:16.  Nearly impossible to imagine, isn’t it?  Yet the night before Keith was scheduled to testify in a trial where we knew the only defense was to try to discredit him, a brother decided he needed to call him up and castigate him for an imagined slight, something that he had simply misunderstood.  When all we can think about is ourselves instead of bearing one another’s burdens, Gal 6:2, instead of helping the weak, 1 Thes 5:14, instead of comforting one another, 2 Cor 1:4, that’s exactly what happens.
            Yes, we get comfort from God, but guess how that often happens?  But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 2 Corinthians 7:6.  We are the comfort that God gives.  We are the help that He provides. It’s up to us to pay attention and think of someone besides ourselves.
            Today, be a January daisy, something lovely and unexpected in the life of someone who needs it, whether a brother, or an enemy, or just a stranger.  Make someone smile.
 
Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. Proverbs 12:25
Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. Proverbs 16:24
I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus… for they refreshed my spirit... 1 Corinthians 16:17-18
 
Dene Ward

Instead of always whining and complaining about the morals of the world about us, God's people would do better to just demonstrate, in the pulpit and the pew, the qualities that are desirable. Let us say and do, preach and live moral purity of the very highest possible degree. Let the thoughts of our minds, the words of our lips, and the deeds of our bodies be holy, godly, and righteous altogether. This would abound to the glory of God, to satisfaction in life, and usefulness to the world.

Leslie Diestelkamp • Think, Vol. 2, No. 5, July 1971

Our culture gets in the way of our Bible study far too often.  It is a lesson taught to me by a younger woman about twenty years ago.  During that class we were discussing the wives of David and the problems that might have caused—all of them being wives of the same man.  Naturally the idea of jealousy and resentment came up first, and we discussed that for several minutes. Finally this young woman spoke up and said, "I don't think we have any idea how those women felt.  They grew up with the idea of polygamy.  It was all around them, especially in the neighboring countries, and even among the richer Israelites.  They knew from the beginning that they might find themselves in this situation.  Their own mothers might have been in that situation.  How can we who are used to monogamy even imagine what they were feeling?"
            I knew immediately that she was correct.  We carry our cultural baggage into our Bible study when we need to be dropping it off at the study door.  The only way to know how these women might have felt is to talk to a woman who has experienced it since none of us have.
            And because of our cultural baggage we miss a lot of other examples in the Biblical text.  Lately, I find lessons in passages I have studied for years, even decades, without ever seeing before.  I suppose that some of these things just take age and experience to realize, as well as hour after hour of study. 
            And there are other problems as well.  When you have studied something for years, it is difficult to enter into it again without remembering all the things you have already discovered or thought about.  It is especially difficult if you have them written all over your Bible.  It will be practically impossible to see anything new.  My husband and a couple of the Florida College Bible faculty have openly recommended that you only write in one Bible and leave your study Bible blank for exactly that reason.  You may think those little squiggles won't influence you as you study the passage anew, but you are wrong.  It's like the elephant in the room—they are there and you can't help but think about them, even if you try to make a point not to read them.  And if you are young and absolutely sure that such is not the case with you, please take a step back and think about the arrogance of chucking advice from older, wiser, and far more knowledgeable heads.
            And then there is the old intellectual snobbery problem.  We think we are so much smarter than those "primitive" people back then, and that our culture is so much more enlightened.  And that effectively wipes out some of the more important lessons they can teach us.  And so I plan to present a series of lessons we might have missed.  I really do not know how long this series will last.  It might stop and then start again when I find other lessons I have not yet thought of.  For now, most of these will revolve around Abraham and Sarah.
            We will begin next week, one lesson a week to give you time to absorb something new, but in the meantime, let me challenge you to start reading all those old Bible narratives, look again at those characters, and see if you can find something new yourself.  Perhaps you can share your discoveries with me as we go along.  I would love to hear them.
 
Wherefore also it was reckoned unto [Abraham] for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was reckoned unto him; but for our sake also, unto whom it shall be reckoned, who believe on him that raised Jesus our Lord from the dead (Rom 4:22-24).
 
Dene Ward

I had heard of it happening before, washing machines walking across a room during a spin cycle because they were out of balance.  The washers of our day must be more attuned to the problem.  In fact, several years back when I put something large and heavy in the washer, as it began to spin, it simply cut itself off—some sort of failsafe, I suppose.  I rearranged the heavy bedspread and it spun just fine, finishing the load as programmed.
            Yet a couple of months ago, I went to move the towel load from the washer to the dryer, and found my machine sitting cockeyed from the wall.  In fact, if the back corner of the machine hadn’t hit the sidewall of the nook where it sat, it might have done a complete 360, water spewing everywhere when the hose pulled out of the wall.
            Ever since then, any sort of semi-heavy load sets the machine to walking—towels, jeans, sheets—and I have numerous dings in my laundry nook wall where that back corner always slams into the wall.  The washer man gave us some instructions, but nothing works.  Somehow my washing machine has become out of balance, and it appears it will stay that way.  On our recently slashed retirement budget, it isn’t worth the money to fix.
            Some of us have the same problem.  We can’t seem to find the balance.  Some stress obedience to the neglect of sincerity; others say, “The heart is all that matters.”  Some emphasize purity and truth to the point that compassion is all but lost, while others view mercy and compassion as the be-all-and-end-all.  A good many believe that wisdom and common sense will solve all matters, avoiding sacrifice for others and unquestioning faith in a God who controls all.
            “It isn’t good stewardship of my money.”
            “God would never expect…”
            “He meant well, and that’s what counts.”
            “They have family.  Let them do it.”
            “At least they attend a sound church.”
            “I thought we’d never get him baptized.”
            “This isn’t wrong but it might lead to…”
            All of these statements are a sign of a washing machine out of balance, banging against the wall as it pits one scripture against another, wresting the Word of God to make it fit what I want, instead of weighing the spirit of the law, and making a righteous decision based upon an appropriate balance of faith and wisdom, purity and compassion, obedience and sincerity.
            I know a man who had to study to make an important decision in his life.  He said, “I studied it knowing the wrong decision would send me to Hell.”  He’s the same man who will reach into his pocket the moment he hears of a need.  If you have that kind of balance in your life, none of this will be as difficult as the contentious always want to make it.
             
But if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless, Matt 12:7.
 
Dene Ward

I read an article in the newspaper several months ago that I wanted to stand up and applaud.  Then I wanted to sit down and cry.  Let me give you some quotes from that article written by a woman named Debra Nussbaum.
           
            “…Sometimes when I’m at Dunkin’ Donuts I think of [that] quote from Hamlet... ‘The apparel oft proclaims the man.’ 
            “What is the guy in front of me proclaiming with his pajama bottoms?  And the woman behind me in an oversize white tank top that shows every inch of her black bra, what is her proclamation?  Is the guy revealing 80 percent of his boxers sending a message?
            “We have lost the subtle internal rule that tells one not to…wear a skirt the size of a dish towel to school or a religious sanctuary; and not, not, not to feel the need to reveal one’s underwear to the public.
            “A funeral isn’t the place for a miniskirt and 5 inch heels.  A lot of cleavage is…not appropriate for a Tuesday morning at the office or in school.  In fact, it’s bad manners.”
           
            Why is it that the world knows when something is inappropriate, and the people of God make excuses for it?  Why is it that the world cares more about rudeness than we do about sin?
            I was in my neighbor’s home one day visiting.  “Did you see the movie--?  No, wait,” he interrupted himself.  “You’re a Christian.  You wouldn’t have seen that movie.”
            It seems the world knows what a Christian ought to be better than some of my brethren do.  The Corinthians had that problem too.  It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not even tolerated among the Gentiles…1 Cor 5:1.
            Maybe we should take a poll.  Ask your neighbors what a Christian would and wouldn’t do.   I understand that they are not completely informed, that there may be aspects of New Testament Christianity they miss or even categorize as hateful, mean-spirited, and ignorant.  Just stick with basic morality.  What would a Christian wear or not wear?  What movies or TV shows would he not watch?  What behaviors would he avoid?  Drinking?  Smoking?  Gambling?  Why is it they can clearly see the problems with these things while we tie ourselves in knots trying to excuse them?
            When amoral people know how a Christian ought to act, ought to dress, and ought to speak and we who call ourselves the true followers don’t, something is wrong.  The same thing happened to God’s people of old, and the words He sent then will apply to us too.  Read them and weep with me.
 
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again, Ezekiel 5:7-9.
 
Dene Ward

I can remember my daddy uttering those very words every time we pulled up to what was then called a “service station,” a glassed-in office with two service bays and usually two gas islands, sporting regular, premium and mid-grade pumps, the older models rounded on the top and the newer ones square-cornered and squat.  An attendant came out of one of the bays, summoned to us by the double-ding of the bell hoses we ran over with both front and rear tires, usually wiping his hands with a greasy blue rag, and did the honors while we sat in the car waiting.  He also checked the water in the radiator and battery, and cleaned the windshields.  When the pump kicked off, he carefully finished filling the tank and then bent his head to the open window to tell us the amount we owed.  If we paid cash, he brought back change.  If we used our gas company credit card, he took it and ran it, bringing back a dark blue clipboard with slip attached and a pen for a signature.
            Unlike today's self-serve stations, we never left the car, never lifted a finger.  It was all done for us.  Maybe that’s why we seem to expect God to “fill ‘er up” without having to make any effort at all ourselves.  Maybe that’s what we’re thinking when we sit in our pews on Sunday morning—we’re expecting the teachers, song leaders, and preachers to “fill ‘her up.” 
            “I didn’t get anything out of services this morning,” we say, as if that were the only purpose to our being there, to allow others to wait on us just like an attendant at an old-fashioned service station; as if that were the only possible way to fill oneself up spiritually.
            Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled, Matt 5:6.  Do we really think that righteousness can be poured in like gasoline, that we can sit passively while it happens?
            John tells us, Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, 1 John 3:7.  Being filled with righteousness has far more to do with what I do anywhere else besides a church building than it does with listening to a sermon and expecting to walk away holy because of it.
            God also expects us to fill ourselves with knowledge.  Anyone who thinks that comes from osmosis on Sunday mornings as we doze in our pews or play with the babies in front of us had better not apply for a school teaching job any time soon. You won’t keep it long.
            Paul says, And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, Colossians 1:9-10.  Becoming knowledgeable takes work far above and beyond listening to a couple hours a week of sermons and Bible classes.  Making it stick means applying what you learn, “bearing fruit” as you put that knowledge into practice.
            But others have the problem of which tank to use.  They seem satisfied with “regular.”  Since my daddy worked for Gulf, we always went to Gulf stations.  “Regular” was called “Good Gulf” and premium was called “Gulftane,” a play on the fact that the octane was higher.  A soul created in the image of God requires nothing less than premium.
            I read a book once in which the writer was at a loss to know how to refill herself after giving so much to marriage, children, and society.  Her problem was thinking she could do it herself, with things that have no eternal existence and purpose.  She was trying to fill up on “regular.”   Christians know better.
            May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope, Romans 15:13.
            “Fill ‘er up,” we used to say to the gas attendant.  Far more important, we should say it to God, and then do our part as He fills us to the brim.  It’s the only way to keep your life from running on empty.
 
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God, Philippians 1:9-11.
 
Dene Ward

If you are a regular blog reader, you know that I post book reviews about once a month.  Keith has been reading these sorts of things for nearly all our married life as part of his Bible study.  He seldom has a book out without his Bible next to it.  I decided that if he could handle this sort of reading so could I.  However, I did ask for his recommendations.  If a book is too heavily into theology and requires a dictionary as well as a Bible in order to understand it, it probably isn't meant to be helpful in a practical, daily way.  Those I wanted to avoid.  So he has passed along the ones he thought that not only I could read and benefit from, but things my readers could benefit from as well.
            In case something in you shies away from any reading except your Bible, please consider this.  The Apostle Paul quotes the poet Aratus of Cilicia in Acts 17:28.  He quotes Epimenides in Titus 1:12.  He quotes Menander, a comic poet (so he had a sense of humor, too) in 1 Cor 15:33:  "Bad company corrupts good morals," which might actually have been a quote from a play by Euripides.  These are not religious writings, but Paul was able to use them in that way and relate to people of all sorts of backgrounds with them.  Yes, we must all be careful of bad influences and things that are just plain wrong.  But it is foolish to ignore the things of our culture and somehow think we can refute them.
            So I would like to challenge you.  Go to my book reviews category.  Read through a few and pick two or three books to read this year.  I believe I have given you enough information to make a good choice.  Then go to the "Contact Dene" page and send me a thought or two about what you have read.  Beginning about August or September, I will start rerunning the reviews of the books I have received the most comments on, copying and pasting your comments at the bottom.  I hope this will encourage others to broaden their reading as well.  Please give me an identifier of your choice which I will honor when I post your comments, perhaps a first name only, a set of initials, or something like, "Susan from Dallas."  If you don't mind using your whole name, I will do that, but only if you say so.
            Believe me when I say that I am not trying to sell books.  As the author of 7 or 8, I can tell you that no one writes religious books to make money.  Generally you are lucky to break even.  I tell you in each of my reviews how to get the book, the publisher and some outlets as well, and if you have a well-read preacher in your family, perhaps you can borrow some of them.  Please help me make this an encouraging venture this year.
 
The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, bring when you come, and the books, especially the parchments. (2Tim 4:13).  Even Paul traveled with books to read!
 
Dene Ward