Jody Vickery

A few years ago, I spent a week in Russia working with YouthReach International mentors. Hands down one of the richest experiences of my life. If you are looking for a group to pray for or contribute to, you will not find a better candidate than Youth Reach. They look after orphans which, according to James (1:27), is what pure and undefiled religion is all about. We flew from Atlanta to New York to Frankfurt to Moscow, then to our final destination – Novosibirsk, Siberia. Each time we changed planes, the condition of the equipment we were flying . . … Read more…

If you had to pick a coffee to describe how last week was, which one most closely matches your last seven days? Decaf – I had a few responsibilities and I got all of them done with plenty of margin to spare. Great week. Half Decaf/Half Caf – My schedule was pretty full for a couple of days, but for the most part, it was a reasonably calm week. Fully Caffeinated – My schedule was full every day. I got it all done, but I had to hit the floor running and then collapsed into bed at the end of the … Read more…

Toward the end of his gospel, in the penultimate scene where Jesus is arrested in the garden, Mark includes an oddly out-of-place incident, one that seems more appropriate to an Adam Sandler or Melissa MaCarthy movie. Jesus and his disciples have retreated to the Garden of Gethsemane. His earnest prayers to be delivered from the cross have been answered with silence. The three disciples closest to him, Peter, James and John, have slumbered through his struggle. As he awakens them the third time, another disciple, Judas, appears, followed closely by an armed squad of the Temple guard. It is dark … Read more…

On April 14, 1912 at 11:40 p.m., the largest, most luxurious ocean liner to ever sail slipped beneath the surface of the northern Atlantic. Survivors of the Titanic remembered the ice-cold water, the gasps of the dying, the darkness. And music. They say the band played Nearer My God to Thee to the very end. In 1944, a group of American POWs spent the last year of the war in a Japanese prison camp. Conditions were brutal, degrading and inhumane. One morning, as the prisoners were being led out to work in the fields, a fellow from Illinois started humming … Read more…

In Exodus 32, God is more than a little miffed. He is door-slamming, wall-punching, foot-stomping furious. His eyes are red and bulging. The veins in His forehead are a blood-pressure point away from bursting. And though there are no textual hints about the tone He uses when He speaks, I bet His voice is deep, tense and terrifying. “Go down,” he says to Moses, “because your people whom you brought up out of Egypt have become corrupt.” Your people? Whom you brought? It sounds like God is finished with Israel. They are no longer “My people.” He is no longer … Read more…

Years ago, I asked a friend, in his 70’s at the time, “At what age did you finally outgrow the temptation to lust?” “I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll let you know when it happens.” He hasn’t gotten back to me on that one yet. I’ve lived long enough now to know that he won’t. So let’s acknowledge two things. God expects us to be sexually pure. First Thessalonians 4:3 puts it bluntly: It is God’s will that you should be sanctified; that you should avoid sexual immorality. On this matter, the Bible is unequivocal, exceptionless and clear. The other … Read more…

You shall love the Lord your God. That is the greatest command. Jesus said so. The silver medal mandate, he added, is to love others. Get those two right and everything else falls into place. He said love is what drives obedience, marks a disciple and identifies us as children of God. And he’s not the only one to put love on a pedestal. Paul celebrated faith and hope, but the crowning virtue, he said, is love. You don’t need a theology degree, though, to appreciate the importance of love. On this point, even John Lennon agreed with Jesus – … Read more…

Moments before he rose from his seat and made his way to the stage, the rafters in that ancient auditorium had been shaken by our singing. Three-hundred of us had been making a joyful noise unto the Lord on a Friday night. I’d like to tell you we were there because of our deeply held faith. That was part of it, I’m sure, but we were also broke college students who couldn’t afford a real date. And even if we’d had money, there was nowhere to spend it in a town that rolled up the sidewalks at 9:00 p.m. But … Read more…

Some years ago, a church member asked me to visit a friend of hers – a used car salesman – who had been diagnosed with cancer. It was a bad cancer, too. She warned me that “Bill” was not easy to talk to and had a bad attitude toward church and religion. In fact, she said, he was one of the toughest, least spiritual people she’d ever met, but she loved him and wanted very badly for him to get to know Jesus. So I went to see him. When we sat down to talk, the first thing Bill said … Read more…

Isaiah 57:17 is almost too good to believe. God says, “I live in a high and holy place, but also with those who are contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.” Revival. The promise that what is old can be made young. What is tired can be made fresh. What is broken can be mended. If it has been lost, it can be regained. If it is dry and barren as a desert, it can become as alive and full of possibility as a fertile field. What is … Read more…