Today is the official national day of mourning for former president Jimmy Carter, I think, the most outspoken Christian president we’ve had. And because he was a Democrat, there are fellow believers who don’t recognize that. A friend of mine was pastoring in rural Pennsylvania in the late 1970s, early 1980s. When Ronald Reagan was elected, one of his parishioners said, “Finally! A Christian in the White House.” You mean Jimmy Carter doesn’t count?

Reflect with me on a life well lived.

From left: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin

President Carter served as our commander in chief for four years, but he served as the beloved, unassuming Sunday school teacher at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia for 40. And his humble devotion leaves us little doubt which of those two important roles he prized the most. – Senator Mitch McConnell, R, KY.

President Carter taught all of us what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice and service. – Former President Barak Obama

President Carter always upheld the dignity and worth of everyone, even black people in the segregated South:

Growing up a racial integrationist in the Deep South, he was a theologically conservative Christian with a liberal political platform...Carter’s childhood set him up to challenge categories. By many measures, Plains, Georgia, was a typical Southern town during the Great Depression. The area was not prosperous, and Carter grew up in a home without running water, electricity, or insulation...Not long into a promising career in the US Navy as an nuclear submarine engineer, Carter defied his young wife’s wishes and his superiors’ aspirations for him. He returned to Plains as a peanut farmer...He courageously served on the Sumter County Board of Education as the civil rights movement ramped up, working to equalize and integrate the public schools...In fact, Carter was put under immense pressure to join the White Citizens’ Council in the wake of the Brown v. Board Supreme Court decision in 1955. A group of men implored Carter at his warehouse, telling him that every white male adult in the community had joined except him. Despite the threat of a boycott against his business, an angry Carter took a $5 out of his pocket and said, “I’ll take this and flush it down the toilet, but I am not going to join the White Citizens’ Council.” – David R. Schwartz, Died: President Jimmy Carter, Politician, Peanut Farmer, and Christian, Christianity Today, December 29, 2024

As President, he lived his faith out:

Carter seemed like a model of moral rectitude compared to the foul-mouthed Lyndon B. Johnson and the corrupt Richard Nixon. – David R. Schwartz

Carter possessed a sincere Christian faith that shaped his foreign policy. As just one example, in 1979, during a private meeting with South Korean leader Park Chung Hee, Carter took time to share the gospel with the befuddled military dictator. This earned him a scolding editorial from The New York Times but speaks to Carter’s genuine piety. He similarly spoke of his faith to Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping while urging the communist nation to allow Bibles, open churches, and welcome missionaries. – William Inboden, World Magazine, December 31, 2024

He was President of the United States, but his biggest impact was his 44 years of service AFTER he was president.

His post-presidential career has needed very little rehabilitation. Carter, described by biographer Randall Balmer as a “restless man, consumed by a kind of frenetic benevolence,” has been a strong supporter of Habitat for Humanity, which grew out of Koinonia Farm. The Carter Center, which he founded shortly after leaving office, has sought to confront human rights violations, eradicate disease, and reconcile warring parties in Haiti, Guyana, Ethiopia, Korea, and Serbia. His efforts won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. – David R. Schwartz

He was not just a “strong supporter” of Habitat for Humanity, he helped put it on the map. After he was president, he was actively involved, building 4,300 houses. This article from CBS News is worth the read in its entirety. He built his last Habitat house in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2019. He was 95 years old at the time.

A genuine common man, he always lived in his modest home, resisted the temptation to exploit his office for personal gain, and taught an adult Sunday school class at his local Baptist church into his final years. A friend of mine tells a touching story of visiting the Carters a few years ago at their church, followed by a simple lunch at the Carter home, where the former president made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for his guest. – William Inboden

As I wrote about Tony Campolo, I don’t have to agree with everything Jimmy Carter said and did to recognize him as a Christian brother who not only “cared” about the poor, he actually did something. A man who lived his faith in Jesus out.

Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25.34 – 40, ESV)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1.22, NIV)

We continue with our reading program. If you started on Monday, December 30, you might have read Psalm 8 today, parts of it are well known. It opens:

O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! (Psalm 8.1, NKJV)

It continues…

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? (Psalm 8.3, 4, NKJV)

If you want to sing it, try “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” on this paraphrase:

1 Lord, our Lord, majestic is Your name throughout the whole wide earth;
You display and set Your splendor o’er the heav’ns which show Your worth.
2 From the mouths of infant children, You establish strength and praise;
Make the enemy and vengeful cease before Your wondrous ways.

3 When I see Your glorious heavens, moon and stars which You ordain;
4 What is man that You regard him, son of man with care maintain?
5 Yet You made him slightly lower than the angels high above;
Crowning him with glory, honor, just beneath the God of love.

6 You made him to rule creation, put all things beneath his feet—
7/8 Sheep and oxen, beasts and cattle, birds of heav’n and fish of sea;
All that swim within the pathways of the sea declare Your worth.
9 Lord, our Lord, majestic is Your name throughout the whole wide earth.

The writer of the Hebrews uses this passage to point to Jesus:

For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place, saying:

“What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”

For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2.5 – 9, NKJV)

So Psalm 8 appears to have several layers of meaning. God did put creation under Adam in Genesis 1 and 2. And God has put all things under Jesus:

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2.5 – 11, NKJV)

As we’ve just started our 2025 reading plan, beginning with Book 1 of the Psalms, here’s a timely word, courtesy of NavPress.

Here are ten reasons why it’s good to sing from the Psalms when you are alone before the Lord:

1. It’s good because the Bible says it’s “good to sing praises to our God” (Psalm 147:1).
2. It’s good because it helps you to “sing to Him a new song,” which the Bible commands in verses such as Psalm 33:3 (see also Psalm 96:1; 98:1; 149:1).
3. It’s good because the Bible says to sing “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16).
4. It’s good because it nourishes your soul as only the words God inspired for us to sing can do.
5. It’s good because it expresses to the Lord what’s in your heart in a divinely appointed way.
6. It’s good because singing God’s Word reinforces His truth in your heart and mind.
7. It’s good because along with your mind it involves your body and soul, making for a more whole-person worship of God.
8. It’s good because you learn to express yourself biblically.
9. It’s good because it’s enlivening to your soul to sing words that are “living and powerful” (Hebrews 4:12).
10. It’s good because you unite with what the people of God throughout the world have sung for thousands of years.

It really is “good to sing praises to our God.” Enjoy the goodness.

But, Bob, I don’t know the tunes! Fret not: https://psalms.seedbed.com/

For example, here’s the beginning of today’s psalm, Psalm 7, which can be sung to the tune of “God of Our Fathers.”

1 O Lord, my God, in You I refuge take;
Save me from those who would pursue my life.
2 Like a strong lion they would tear and shake,
Leaving no help in all my painful strife. (https://psalms.seedbed.com/psalm-7/)

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. (Psalm 100.1, 2, NKJV)

Good morning! It’s January 6th, the 12th day of Christmas, the commemoration of the visit of the wise men, and I’m reprising what I wrote first in 2023…

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” …[after Herod told them to go to Bethlehem as prophesied by Micah], they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2.1, 2, 9 – 11, ESV)

Here’s a brief summary of what we know and don’t know:

• We don’t know there were three. The text mentions three kinds of gifts. The gifts, by the way, could have been used to fund Mary, Joseph, and Jesus’ trip to Egypt.
• We do know the wise men were NOT at the manger. Jesus is referred to as a “child,” and the place they visited him was a “house.”
• We don’t know exactly what the star was: a comet, a conjunction of planets, or some other phenomenon.
• We can presume that these “wise men” were descendants of men who were contemporaries of Daniel in Babylon. (See, for example, Daniel 2.17, 18)

So many lessons!

• Jesus was visited by shepherds (the uneducated poor) and wise men (the educated wealthy)
• We can say that…
  • The wise men at the beginning of the story were inspired (by the star) but not informed (by scripture)
  • The Jerusalem religious leaders and scholars were informed but not inspired. I have written about this before.
  • Finally, the wise men were informed AND inspired, and they worshiped.

I leave you with the song that nicely captures this beautiful verse – well worth the three minutes. (Update: you may have to poke around to find the song. The link sometimes goes to some long ads first.)

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. (Matthew 2.10, NKJV)

P.S. We live in Monument, Colorado, and a smaller town just to our northwest is Palmer Lake. In 1935, the town laid out the Palmer Lake Star on a small mountain as a symbol of hope in the middle of the depression. One can see it from I-25 driving north from Colorado Springs and from many other places, too. Every year it’s on from Saturday after Thanksgiving through December. On Christmas Evening, 2022, we had a glorious sunset. Loralyn Kokes posted this picture on NextDoor:

Today, January 5, 2025, marks the end of six years of daily blogging which began on January 6, 2019. By God’s grace, as of today, I’ve published 2,197 blogs on 2,192 consecutive days. How? One day at a time!

There’s a lesson there: no matter what we have in front of us, we can get through it…one day at a time. If you had asked me back in 2019, “Bob, do you have ideas for even one year of blogs? 365 ideas?” The answer would have been, no. But the ideas come a day at a time, a blog at a time.

June’s injury from December 7 will require three months to heal completely. There are times when June thinks, “I can’t live like this for (as of this writing) 8 more weeks!” But she can, and she will…one day at a time.

When I first starting daily blogging, a friend said, “Wow. There will be a book in there before long!” And there is: That’s Not Church! And Other Essays about Disciplemaking in the Local Church, available on Amazon.

The book contains 65 essays, some of which combine two or more blogs. The book is designed to be read by busy pastors who may not have time to read a 300-page book on making disciples in the local church, but they might read an essay or two, and each essay will give them “a nugget.”

The essays are grouped into five sections:

• Mission: what is the mission of the local church?

• Messenger: what is the role of the pastor?

• Message: what message should the church be communicating to its members?

• Methods: how can the church communicate its message and carry out its mission?

• Measurement: what should we be counting?

Back to the Ewellogy and the daily blogs… Thank you for reading. And I don’t even know who some of you are! If you don’t want to comment on the blog site, you can write me a note anytime at bob@ewell.com.

Write what you see in a book… Write therefore the things that you have seen… (Revelation 1.11, 19, ESV)

I memorized Ephesians 4.26 years ago…

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger. (Ephesians 4.26, ESV)

…but as many times as I’ve read the Psalms, I’d never seen it there:

Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah (Psalm 4.4, ESV)

“Selah” just means, “Think about it.”

I’ve written before that we have way too much outrage in this country, and here’s the solution. How can I be angry and not sin? By pondering the issue in my heart and being silent. Silent?! Now there’s a strategy:

Don’t let it out, let it go!

I think that’s what the text is saying, especially when coupled with the very next verse:

Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD. (Psalm 4.5, ESV)

Think about it…

…the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (James 1.20, ESV)

You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4.7, 8, ESV)

As we read the Psalms, note that some of them have an introduction, an unnumbered “verse 0” in our Bibles. FYI, in the Hebrew Bibles, these introductions are “verse 1.” Here’s how Psalm 3 starts:

A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son.
¹  O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me;
²  many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah
³  But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. (ESV)

We looked at the story of Absalom’s Defeat back in May.

The obvious (and, for me, often forgotten) lesson is…PRAY:

⁴  I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill… ⁷  Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! (ESV)

And after praying, REST if you need it – David did – and TRUST:

⁵  I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
⁶  I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. (ESV)

And let’s go into the New Year with confidence:

⁸  Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people! (ESV)

Today is June’s birthday. Her January 2 birthday and my December 13 birthday often get buried in holiday hoopla, and this year was no exception, especially since mine was less than a week after June’s fall. We were able to celebrate both birthdays yesterday with three of our four adult children. (David had been here from Atlanta with his wife, Cheryl, and three boisterous boys, but they left on December 26.) Our daughter, Melody, arrived from the Cayman Islands (where she teaches in an international school) on December 28.

(at the table) Mark’s daughter, Kesley, Matt, Melody, June, Bob, Mark

Here’s how she told it as she was departing:

Today I’m traveling to Colorado to visit my parents, and two of my three brothers. (Unfortunately, I just missed my brother David and family.) My mom had a bad fall a couple weeks ago and broke some bones in her pelvis. She was in a lot of pain, and I felt so helpless being so far away. At Cayman National Choir rehearsal the day after mom’s fall, I mentioned her to my choir. There’s this piece that always reminds me of mom, and I felt quite emotional while they were singing it.

Long story short, one of my dear choir members felt compelled to give me a very special Christmas present! He bought my ticket to go and visit my parents!

I’m still shocked that this dear person would give so generous a gift!

This trip was not in our budget, but God wanted me to be able to go, and He provided a way! Angels do walk among us, dear friends! – Melody Gifford, Facebook, December 28, 2024

Well told, Melody. Another Christmas miracle.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1.17, ESV)

Our 2024 didn’t end quite the way we wanted, but we’re looking forward. Regardless of what kind of year you had, we hope you’re looking forward to God’s activity through you in 2025.

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43.18, 19, ESV)

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21.5, ESV)

PS If you’re into numbers, my son Mark reminded me of some 2025 facts:

• 2025 is a perfect square. We haven’t had a perfect square year since 1936.
• 2025 = 9-squared x 5-squared = 15-squared x 3-squared
• 2025 = 40-squared + 20-squared + 5-squared
• 2025 = the sum of cubes from 1 to 9.

I was searching for something profound to say as 2024 draws to a close, and maybe I can’t do better than our reading plan! We saw yesterday that Psalm 1 teaches us how to meditate on scripture.

Does Psalm 2 have anything to say about a world where it seems that most leaders of countries, including the US, don’t care about what the God of the Universe might want? It begins:

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” (Psalm 2.1 – 3, ESV)

God’s reaction is instructive:

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. (Psalm 2.4, ESV)

God laughs because we have a King, which we remember during this season:

“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” (Psalm 2.6 – 9, ESV)

A song we sing only at Christmas, but which ought to be sung year around, I think, captures what we should remember in the new year:

He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love
And wonders of His love
And wonders, wonders of His love. – from Joy to the World, Isaac Watts, 1719

And Psalm 2 ends with a promise:

…Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2.12, ESV)