This post is adapted from my newest women’s Bible study, Joy: A Study of Philippians.

If you’ve mailed me a letter, I probably still have it. I treasure handwritten words because the writer has something special to say. Maybe the letter is filled with news and updates. Or perhaps it contains humbling words of thanks. Often, it includes encouraging words and tender reminders. Sometimes it contains carefully crafted remarks that challenge or hold me accountable. One of my favorite parts of personal letters is the valediction, the complimentary close, such as “Blessings, my friend,” “With a grateful heart,” or “Yours in Christ.”

Jesus Christ is both true God and true man. He is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, as we confess in the words of the Nicene Creed. We refer to the “incarnation” of Jesus using a word that derives from two Latin words: in and carne, meaning, quite literally, “in fleshing.”

What is it about death that scares us? What causes us to ignore it, for the most part, until death stares us in the face? Our culture tells us death is just part of life, or that it is natural, but that is not how the Bible speaks about death.

It’s a known fact: most Christians have “Read the Bible every day” (or some variation thereof) on their New Year’s Resolution list.

The Christian community is imperfect. At Bible study, especially if you’ve been in an unchanging group for a while, you start to notice people’s flaws. The little annoyances that just slightly get on your nerves every Thursday evening.

Many Christians shy away from the Song of Songs. It can certainly be a little intimidating to tackle on your own, and there are a lot of elements in the Song that only add to the complex themes present there.

I’m a big believer in grace.

I believe I’m saved by grace alone and you’re saved by grace alone, through Jesus Christ. It’s a openhanded free and beautiful gift from our Savior willing to sacrifice everything for us. He values our face and our voice so much that He wants to spend eternity with both. He’d rather lose His life than lose us forever.

I have found myself using the term fearless lately to describe the women in my life. Most days I am privileged to hear women’s stories. Men have great stories too, but today I would like to celebrate the fearlessness of women in particular. I hear wide and varied stories:

I have a vocational issue.

Since 1977, athletes from around the world have gathered for a series of contests. The contestants face grueling events that challenge their minds and bodies-torturous events like the giant log lift, the carry and drag, the air­ plane pull, the pillars of Hercules, and the atlas stones.