Absolute.

This Sunday my pastor, John Velsor, of North Star Community Church preached a sermon on prayer and fasting.   Specifically, he talked about persisting in prayer and fasting even in the face of opposition, hopelessness, and despair.   The sermon was great, you can check it out here ( “Deep Change” ).   Pastor John also made a quick reference to the story of The Wall of Jericho.   I heard this story countless times as a child and know it well.   But lately every time I hear about it from the pulpit, I gain a whole new perspective.   Quick recap of the story (skip to the next paragraph if you know it): Jericho was a large and very powerful city surrounded by a wall that was an engineering marvel.   God commanded for Joshua to lead his army to march all of the way around the city once a day for six days and seven times on the seventh day.   After completing the seventh lap they were to blow the horns and shout a loud shout. The messenger from t...

This week I had the privilege of going to the movies to watch “Hidden Figures,” the true story of the contributions three African-American women ( Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson) made to the NASA program in primarily the 1960s.   I LOVED this movie, and would highly recommend seeing it.   It had everything you look for in a “good” movie- excellent cast, compelling story line, one-liners, drama, and situational humor, but it also had SO much more than that.   What made this movie truly exceptional to me?   This movie had a purpose, a cause, a message.   It is a message that our nation could greatly benefit from- a message of unity.   Everything about this movie pointed to the fact that all of the characters, black, white, foreign, young and old, where unified and motivated by a common goal.   That is inspiring! The movie did an excellent job of recognizing and honoring the contributions each of the three women made to each...