If you haven’t heard of Family Promise , a national organization that supports families with children who are experiencing homelessness, I think you’d be inspired by their work. This morning I read a story from Family Promise of Irving about a family who had just “graduated” from the program. That means moving from housing insecurity into stable living. It immediately took me back to 2010, when the congregation we served there was part of a core group of thirteen churches partnering with Family Promise. The organization does many things to support families, but one of the most powerful pieces is how they work with churches in a creative, practical way. So many congregations have space that sits unused most of the week (sound familiar?). Host churches open their buildings to vetted families for a week at a time, offering a safe place to sleep. Other churches serve as “buddy churches,” providing meals, supplies, and volunteers to support those weeks of hosting. I remember that in our c...
Psalm 74:12-17 Listen to today's devotional Many of us grow up hearing the creation story as a simple fact. God made the world. End of discussion. As a result, Genesis 1 becomes something we accept rather than something we wrestle with. Reading the Bible, then, becomes like reading the fine print of a rulebook. But Scripture invites us into something deeper than memorization. It invites us into wonder, struggle, and hope. Biblical scholar Jon Levenson reminds us that creation is not only about God speaking the world into existence, but about God continually bringing order out of chaos. In Genesis, God doesn’t create in a peaceful vacuum. God speaks into darkness, confusion, and formlessness. When God does, life begins to take shape. In that sense, creation is not just a moment in the past; it is God’s ongoing work in a broken world. When you memorize Bible verses, do so as a way to give your soul language to recognize the chaos we still face. In our world, there is suffering...