Vicki Hinze: Mind Whispers

As an historian, it has not escaped my notice that two nations are celebrating their birthdays in the same week. Canada celebrates on July 1 and the United States on July 4, which is somewhat surprising since Americans generally like to be first. The US was actually born first, in 1776, and is now 250 years old. Canada was born in 1967 and is 159 years old. You would think that at that age,…

In writing to the Colossians, Paul indirectly provided to us a model for how to pray for others. The first thing he did was to thank God for the Colossians and their faith: “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you” (Colossians 1:3 NIV). This is something many of us do not do often enough. In our eagerness to “fix” people (especially our relatives and…

a girl’s mountain biking really fast down hill. Please check out my other images 🙂 Sometimes life is like being 11- or 12-years-old and bikeriding down our town’s dreaded 39th Street hill as a rite of passage. Those brave enough to try stayed on and rode down the steep hill at top speed or joined the ranks of those who crashed and sported broken arms or legs. We all knew we needed to try. It’s…

My father was a man of few words. He had attended and supported churches all his life. He lived a moral life. He was a good husband and father and a kind and gentle man. He said grace before meals. But economic circumstances had limited his formal education, and he was hesitant to articulate his faith. I do remember that once he heard some children in our neighborhood mocking another child for…

Photo by Alexandru Zdrobău on Unsplash A few weeks ago, my pastor incorporated Proverbs 6: 16 – 19 in his message.             “There are six things that the Lord hates,  seven that are an abomination to him:              haughty eyes, a lying tongue,  and hands that shed innocent blood,              a heart that devises wicked plans,  feet that make haste to run to evil,              a…

There is an interesting image in Colossians 3:1-4. Paul said, “Since you have been raised with Christ…” (3:1). This refers to what Paul said previously in Colossians 2:11-12, that our “whole self” was “buried with [Christ] in baptism” and that we “were also raised with him through…faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Jesus was crucified, died, was resurrected, walked again…

Twice during my many years of teaching in Christian university classrooms, a U.S. Federal Reserve Bank employee took different classes from me. She was delightful and we enjoyed insightful conversations. The other students loved asking her questions. Our favorite was the day one asked how Federal Reserve employees are trained to recognizing counterfeit money. My students were sure she and her…

Twice during many years of teaching in Christian university classrooms, a U.S. Federal Reserve Bank employee took two different classes from me. She was delightful and we enjoyed insightful conversations. The other students loved asking her questions. Our favorite was the day one asked how Federal Reserve employees are trained to recognizing counterfeit money. My students were sure she and her…

Twice during many years of teaching in Christian university classrooms and online, a U.S. Federal Reserve Bank employee took two different classes from me. She was delightful and we enjoyed insightful conversations. The other students loved asking her questions. Our favorite was the day one asked how Federal Reserve employees are trained to recognizing counterfeit money. My students were sure she…

Some members of our church go to the local street mission once a month to serve food. One month a while ago, the regulars were not available, and our care group was asked to fill in. It was not the first time I have been involved in a social outreach, but it did lead to some reflections. The people we were serving were homeless, people living on the street. When the doors opened at 6:00 p.m.,…

There are two sets of admonitions in Colossians 3:1-15. Together, they offer useful guidance to Christians. Colossians 3:5 commands that a list of sins be eliminated (put to death): “sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” These are very obvious sins, and Christians often have no problem condemning them and avoiding them—at least, the physical ones such as…

I miss Buster. He was my faithful companion in early childhood. Buster was my teddy bear. My brother also had a teddy bear. His was named Fuzzy Wuzzy. The bear, not my brother. My teddy bear was black and white, while my brother’s was a golden brown. I was born at the end of the 1940s, just after the Great Depression and two world wars, when everything was bleak and black and white. My brother…

Having declared the supremacy of Jesus in the opening chapter of the book of Colossians, Paul turned to the false beliefs that were endangering the Colossian church. There were three aspects to these beliefs. First, Paul said: “Do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day” (Colossians 2:16 NIV). It is not…

Happy Mother’s Day! I hope you have a beautiful day with family and friends. I’m excited to share my new book release! The Hometown Cop’s Forever Family is a Harlequin Heartwarming release, set in my beloved mountain town of Golden, Georgia. This is the third book in the series featuring the Connelly sisters, this book focusing on Briana. If you love books set in small towns, this is for you.…

Last year, I published a collection of devotional meditations written and delivered by my mother in the previous century. She was a devout Christian and a devoted Bible teacher. Her meditations offer a window into a former era but continue to be relevant today. The following  meditation is excerpted from that book. Spring seems to be a joyous time of year when all around us we see evidences of…

Photo by Billie on Unsplash A few weeks ago I was discussing the war in Iran with another Christian. We were talking about the people there and the hardship this places on them and their country. This was at the outbreak of the war and before the bombing of the school where so many children died. Still, there were many people adversely affected. The person I was talking with finally said…