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Teaching the Young by Lane Jordan Burday
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up (Deuteronomy 6: 5-7) My husband and I just got back from spending ten days with our precious two-year-old grandson, our daughter, and our son-in-law. She is very pregnant with baby number two, a little girl, due in about a…
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Angels Among Us by Lisa Burkhardt Worley, D.Min.
Last night, at church, we had the opportunity to watch the first episode of Season Six of The Chosen. It was incredible, but I was perplexed early on when I saw people with gold skin running at hyper-speed and scaling walls. Who were they? I didn’t put it together until I saw them surrounding the High Priest Caiaphas’ house, where Jesus was being tried. They were angels guarding Jesus! When Peter tried to stop Jesus’s arrest by cutting off the ear of Malchus, the servant of the High Priest, Jesus rebuked Peter, saying, “Put your sword back in its place,” …
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Want to Live Longer? Here is One Easy Habit. By Lane Jordan Burday
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones (Proverbs 17:22). (I saw this on a news feed and felt it was so important that I wanted to share it with you. Ashley Fike wrote it, and it was posted on the New York Post on August 29, 2026.) Did you know that research links social connections to lower mortality, while loneliness is associated with chronic stress, inflammation, and earlier death? Most cosmetic companies are trying to sell longer life with creams and lotions. But Bryan Johnson has turned his entire existence into a longevity…
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A Word about Patriotism and Faith by Lisa Burkhardt Worley, D.Min.
Yesterday, we remembered the events of September 11, 2001, twenty-five years later. I still vividly remember what happened because I was the spokeswoman for the airport in San Antonio, Texas. On 9/11, I was preparing for the day when someone from the airport staff raced into my office, frantically yelling, “Turn on your TV! Turn on your TV!” That’s when I saw the first plane hit the World Trade Center tower. 1-1/2 hours later, we held a press conference to explain what we were doing to secure the airport. For the next year, my job was to assure the community…
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All Nations Will Hear It by Lane Jordan Burday
And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come (Matthew 24:14). Since I am in Christian ministry, I receive a good bit of information from many ministries, and lately many of them have been talking about the End Times. When is Jesus coming back? Is He coming back before the Tribulation, during the Tribulation, or after? There are countless books, blogs, radio/TV broadcasts, and articles about this subject, and truthfully, I am ready! I’m ready to see Jesus because I know I…
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Do You Miss the Good ‘Ol Days? By Lisa Burkhardt Worley, D.Min.
We are spending Labor Day Weekend with our oldest son, daughter-in-law, and grandson in my hometown of San Antonio. The San Antonio days in the 80s and 90s were exciting during my sportscasting days at the local CBS affiliate, KENS-TV. I was even recognized this weekend by a salesperson, almost 30 years after I retired from secular television It would be easy to say, “I miss the good ol’ days,” but Ecclesiastes 7:10 warns us against that mindset: “Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’ For it is not wise to ask such questions.” Instead, I…
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Better Get to Living by Onyx Conklin
“It’s hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.” That line was written by the (can I even type these words?) the late great Dolly Parton. If somehow you ended up sleeping through this month, let me let you in on a sad truth—Dolly has departed earth and gone to Heaven. Y’all (that’s the word we use in the south), this loss has messed me up. One of my music heroes has gone to be with Jesus and I’m not okay about it right now. I have been playing song after song for days just grieving the loss of this…
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Are You Like Pinocchio? By Dr. Lisa Burkhardt Worley
Do you remember the childhood story of Pinocchio? Every time he told a lie, his nose grew. It’s a story I’ve never forgotten, and I wonder if it had an early impact on my life because I have always been a truth-teller and feel betrayed when someone is less than honest with me. Just like Pinocchio’s nose, when we lie, are deceitful, or omit part of the truth, the lie grows and becomes far worse than it would have been if we had just told the truth in the first place. And lying goes against God’s holy standard for our…
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A Salty Soliloquy by Onyx Conklin
Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips (Psalm 141:3). Duct tape. Yup, duct tape. If you don’t think God as Creator is brilliant, you’ve never been at the mercy of a crazy emergency in the middle of a snow storm and used duct tape to patch, seal, and hold together something you can’t go and get the proper parts for. I’m a single woman who has to resort to playing Ms. Fix-It on a regular basis. I’m telling you, duct tape fixes many things. But one thing I wish it could fix is people’s…
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It’s Not in the Bible! By Lisa Burkhardt Worley, D.Min.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “God helps those who help themselves? I’ve heard it numerous times over my lifetime, and guess what? It’s not in the Bible. God did not design us to be self-sufficient and to travel through life without community. He created marriage so two people can share life. He invented friendship so we can support each other in both the good and the bad. And God Himself should always be our go-to when we feel helpless. He is our “refuge and strength, and ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Even Jesus needed support when approaching the…
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Deep Calls Unto Deep by Lane Jordan Burday
Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and bellows have gone over me. The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me – a prayer to the God of my life (Psalm 42:7-8 NKJV). As I am writing this blog, I look out the long windows and see the beach. Yes, I am on vacation in one of my favorite places, where the glistening white sand goes for miles, and the foam of the waves crashes in a beautiful rhythm. The day started out…
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A Legacy of Faith by Lisa Burkhardt Worley, D.Min.
We had a wonderful visit with our son, Kyle, his wife, Bailey, and our four-year-old grandson, William, this week. It was William’s first day of Pre-K school, and we wanted to celebrate that milestone with him. To William, I am “Lele,” and my husband is “Papa.” The first night we were there, we sat down to eat, and William said, “Lele, can we pray to Jesus?” “Of course!” I responded, and we thanked Jesus for the food. Later that week, my friend Sonny Gann, an author and counselor, spoke to our 55+ Abraham and Sarah group at church about “Legacy”…
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Are Our Words Important? By Lane Jordan Burday
Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing (Proverbs 12:18). I am sure you could reflect over your life and remember times when words were thrown at you that hurt, as if a sword had cut into your heart. We can remember these times because they really do hurt. We’ve all heard the expression, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” This traditional children’s rhyme was used as a defense when others were mean. But words can cause real damage. Cruel words can leave deep emotional scars. But…
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Is AI Ethical? By Lisa Burkhardt Worley, D.Min.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now a part of our lives. When do we use it? Should we embrace it totally? As a Christian content producer, is it right to use AI to do my work, or does that take the creativity and inspiration from God out of it? I have asked these questions lately, and what I have determined is that we should never use AI to replace the Holy Spirit or God’s divine wisdom, whether it is in writing blogs like this one, Christian books, sermons, or Christian music. These works should be Holy Spirit-inspired, and we should not…
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Do You Love Life? By Lane Jordan Burday
You make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand (Psalm 16:11) There is a famous saying about life’s desperation: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation,” written by Henry David Thoreau in his 1854 book Walden. Another common idiom is “Desperate times call for desperate measures.” When I read these, I want to cry. These thoughts make life seem so sad! It sounds like people hide their pain behind daily routines and work, and most accept a boring or hard life instead…
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God Meets Us in the Valley by Lisa Burkhardt Worley, D.Min.
Ending up in an emotional valley is never desired, but it occasionally happens, and when we find ourselves in the pit, we might think we will never get out. However, be assured the LORD meets us in the valley and does not leave us alone there. Psalm 84: 5-7 says, Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. What is the…
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No Electricity! By Lane Jordan Burday
My husband and I had just driven the four-and-a-half hours for our monthly visit with our precious grandson, who is two. Our son-in-law cooked a great dinner, and after the baby was in bed, we relaxed in the family room talking and catching up. Then my daughter informed us that they received a message from their HOA that the electricity would be cut off the next day for 6-7 hours. What? For those of you who do not live in Texas, the July and August heat is rough. How would we endure with no air conditioning? How would we prepare…
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Three Ways to Stay Calm and Focused by Lisa Burkhardt Worley, D.Min.
Yikes! I am teaching a college class for the first time in my life, and my completed syllabus was due on Monday. Adding to the difficulty was learning the school’s online system before uploading the syllabus. With the clock ticking and other scenarios hovering, I had to figure out how to stay calm and focused on this task. Isaiah 26:3 promises, You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You (NKJV). So the first way to stay calm and focused is to give the project to God. And that’s what I did. I knew that the LORD had…
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Holy Frustration by Onyx Conklin
“But if I say, “I will not mention his wordor speak anymore in his name,”his word is in my heart like a fire,a fire shut up in my bones.I am weary of holding it in;indeed, I cannot.” (Jeremiah 20:9) AAAAAAAHHHH!!!! I bet you didn’t think this blog was going to start out with a markedly loud sound of frustration but hey, you likely have your moments too. One thing I always want to bring to the table is authenticity. If you meet me in person, you’ll notice right away that I am extroverted, excited all the time, I love people,…
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What a Creator We Have! By Lane Jordan Burday
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s mind…” (Ecclesiastes 3:11) I just got home from a two-week vacation to Alaska. It is so beautiful; there are no words to fully describe it. I have lived in Colorado, so I already know how fabulous mountains are. But in Alaska, there are so many mountains and so much space! It goes on and on, beauty upon beauty. There also aren’t very many towns, and the ones we visited are very small. A good part of the summer workforce is just seasonal, but I talked…