The fish blinked her long lashes and helped you climb into a kuphar that the babbler birds wove just for you. You climbed in, and the wind blew you here. Who would have guessed that navigating the Euphrates and the Tigris would look essentially the same for 27 centuries? In Nebuchadnezzar’s day, willow roundboats covered with leather were the primary mode of transportation down the river. Herodotus says they paddled with the current, and tradesmen would sell their wares as they moved downstream. When they were ready to go north again, they sold the leather and willow and went north overland.   By American Colony (Jerusalem). Photo Department – Library…

My novel is set in 1917, and my heroine has a certain love-hate relationship with fashion. She loves looking feminine, but she loves digging in the dirt more. Tonneau sounded more fashionable than barrel, but a barrel by any other name. . . Who determined making your figure look like a barrel was attractive? At least wearing a cloth barrel would make mounting a camel easier than if she had to wear a slim skirt. One of the trends in 1917 was the tonneau skirt. It’s not as outrageous as a Louis XV, to be sure. I mean, you couldn’t hide a piano under a tonneau. But who thought this style was…

Pashhur is not the name the LORD has called you, but rather Magor-missabib, Terror on Every Side. – Jer 20:3ff The American government has failed to protect American citizens, Afghanis who supported our efforts, and millions of innocents who will suffer under the Taliban regime. Families who just wanted a better life for their children are being slaughtered. Underground church leaders, their congregations, and missionaries chose to stay, knowing they would be killed. I have cried over the reports of the Taliban’s savagery and duplicity, begging God to do something. I have felt crippled by shame over the actions of my government. But El Roi, the God Who Sees, is sovereign.  In…

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around Daniel’s life for a few years now, and one of his job titles has me stumped. Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon, and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel 2:48 That term “wise men” is a catch all for conjurers, sorcerers, astrologers, diviners, and magicians. The occult was a big deal in Babylon.  Temples dotted the landscape like Subway restaurants.   I can think of no one more opposed to the institution of Babylonian wise men than Daniel the prophet.  And yet,…