Author: David Takle

I just finished reading Exodus by Leon Uris, which is a historically-based fictional account of the founding of Israel. It was riveting. It was also sobering. More than anything, it highlighted major themes: (1) The world-wide anti-Semitism and preference for oil that almost made the state of Israel an...

Reading the Psalms, I noticed over and over the phrase steadfast love (NRSV) that kept jumping off the page. It seems like the psalmist really liked to use this word (ches-ed) as it shows up over 120 times in the Psalms. Something about the word keeps drawing me into...

“Our life here is not a test of our resolve to see if we will do the right things, but an invitation to become part of what God wants to restore” (Forming: A Work of Grace, p.50). Most of my early Christian life was characterized by my efforts to...

What a beautiful tribute to God! This Psalm tells how God delivers and rescues us no matter where we are. The writer recounts four separate situations where people needed God’s help, and how He delivered them. “Some wanted in desert wastes … hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within...

About 30 years ago while working with some friends in a recovery group, we hit on the idea that process is more important than outcome. That is, we realized that we actually had relatively little control over the outcome of any given situation or relationship. Much of what we...

This might well be Lewis’ most profoundly disturbing work of art — terrifying in its portrayal of evil and compelling in its portrayal of Good. I never felt any desire to read this book before, primarily because it is usually described as a bus ride from hell to heaven...

In Psalm 42 David says, “My soul thirsts for God,” and then he adds, “For the Living God!” He does not long for an idea of God or an uninvolved God. He wants the God who is living and active and presently involved with him. Connected and loving, in...

“When you voluntarily give yourself away, you will be left with nothing to lose. When you have nothing to lose, you will have nothing to hide.” — James B. Smith, Room of Marvels...

See how great a love the Father has shown — that we should be called children of God! And not just in name only. We really are His children! And we do not quite know what it will look like when we are all grown up. But we do...

“Anytime somebody does something great for God, it always begins with a vision. But the vision isn’t of what I’m going to do. It’s not of what we’re going to do. The vision is a vision of God and how good God is and how fortunate I am to...