Simplify

You can learn a lot from a license plate. In Ohio you can learn what county someone lives in, their birthday, even more from a personalized plate. But Steve Jobs didn't share my enthusiasm for that metal, rectangular storyteller on the back of a car, so he found a loophole in the law to keep him from having to fasten a license plate. But as we will hear, some responsibilities have no loophole. We...

Interest is a great idea for making money but not a great idea for making credit card payments. But interest was God's idea because according to Leviticus 5, anyone who sinned unintentionally had to restore what they had taken, plus interest. God often restores much more than we lost. 

For nearly half a day, I had taken the wrong highway on our honeymoon. It took twenty-seven hours to drive eight. It is possible to think you are completely right and be completely wrong about being right. That's also possible in our walk with God. Enjoy this episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Mus...

Something feathered or furry got stuck in our chimney—again. The lovely Andrea and I reached in and tried to wrap our hands around it to help it, but it thought we were trying to hurt it. It cried. It fled. All our pulling and wrapping and reaching was trying to set it free. If only it could have known our hearts.   Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Sim...

It really doesn't matter if Mary rode a donkey or a Dodge Charger into Bethlehem, but sometimes we fill in the blanks when the Bible doesn't give us all the details. However, even the Book of Leviticus teaches us some absolutes, and it is absolutely more about us living in a way that God accepts us than us accepting Him.  Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry a...

The twelve precious stones on the priests' shoulders represented their responsibility for the people of God; the twelve precious stones over their hearts represented their relationship with the people of God. And we need both. Listen to this week's episode to hear the story.  Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provide...

I spent the weekend in historic Corinth, Mississippi. I enjoyed a sizzling cookie skillet at Vicari and some good Mexican food at El Toro. But Corinth is not home; it was only for Friday through Monday. Listen to this week's episode to hear the story.  Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided by: Positive Happy by...

I'm not a fan of dad jokes. I love dads. (I am a dad.) I love jokes. I just don't like dad jokes. Some call dad jokes—and puns—the lowest form of humor, but they're not; insults are. Listen to this week's episode to hear the story.  Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided by: Positive Happy by PeriTune https://sou...

Sometimes I wonder how long my rememberer will hold up. It has a lot of miles on it, but God knows our forgetter often lasts longer than our rememberer. That's why God called Israel—and us—to observe some holy rituals to help us remember. Listen to this week's episode to hear the story.  Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   M...

God made a deal with Moses. He and Israel could still have everything He promised them, but their blatant sin around the golden calf would cost them just one promise. Listen to this week's episode to hear the story.  Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided by: Positive Happy by PeriTune https://soundcloud.com/sei_...

I walked into a youth camp boys' dorm, and a wave of oh-my-word mixed with what-in-the-world punched me in the nose. The smell was other worldly. It smelled like thirty fourteen-year-old boys filled gym socks with sardines. There wasn't enough Axe body spray or cologne in the Western Hemisphere to mask that smell. Enjoy this week's episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and...

I love date night or date day. It's a time to go deeper than to-do lists and grocery lists and get to know each other deeper, better. The same applies to our walk with God. Enjoy this week's episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided by: Positive Happy by PeriTune https://soundcloud.com/sei...

Curb appeal sells, so they say. A freshly-mown lawn, lanterns beside the door, a lamp post in the freshly-mown lawn, help to make the house look more appealing. That works in real estate but not in Exodus. Enjoy this week's episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided by: Positive Happy by Pe...

It was the first verse I learned in Bible quizzing way back in 1997. It was a strange verse in the Bible to me because it didn't quite make sense then. It makes sense now. Enjoy this week's episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided by: Positive Happy by PeriTune https://soundcloud.com/sei_...

Mark Twain is quoted as saying, "The most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." God has a why for every one of us. Enjoy this week's episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided by: Positive Happy by PeriTune https://soundcloud.com/sei_peridot Cre...

One morning, a friend's mom poured me a bowl of all Lukcy Charms marshmallows without the oats. Heaven had kissed earth. But after a few bites, I learned that more in life is both/and, not either/or. Faith works a lot like that. Enjoy this week's episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided b...

We're finally at the tenth and final plague on Egypt. This plague would cost Egypt and Israel, just a different price. Enjoy this week's episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided by: Positive Happy by PeriTune https://soundcloud.com/sei_peridot Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported —...

We're already at the seventh plague on Egypt. But before God rained down fire and ice—literally—He offered mercy to Pharaoh and all of Egypt. Enjoy this week's episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided by: Positive Happy by PeriTune https://soundcloud.com/sei_peridot Creative Commons — Att...

Exodus 4 is one of those scary neighborhoods where you roll up the windows, lock the doors, and speed through it to keep from getting hurt. But slow down and walk door to door to discover a beautiful truth: the beauty of holiness. Enjoy this week's episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided...

I wonder how long Potiphar's wife waited and worried that one day Joseph would execute a raid on their home and execute her for falsely accusing him. As best as we know, that knock never came. Enjoy this week's episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided by: Positive Happy by PeriTune https:...

We learn a lot about people from their last words. We learn what they value when they spend precious breaths to tell us what they want us to know and remember. Enjoy this week's episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided by: Positive Happy by PeriTune https://soundcloud.com/sei_peridot Crea...

As Joseph's eleven brothers were heading back home to tell their dead ol' dad all about their favor and feast with the vice president of Egypt, they heard sirens and saw lights behind them. That's when their twenty-two-year-long sordid secret finally caught up with them. Enjoy this week's episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simp...

Joseph should have been afraid of dreams. His dreams helped land him in a dry pit to die, in a slave auction, as a servant in Potiphar's house, falsely accused, and in prison. But when a couple of his cellmates had two troubling dreams, he smiled, knowing God was going to make their dreams come to pass: and his as well. Enjoy this week's episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcast...

The difference between the wretchedness of Genesis 34 (which never mentions God one time) and the beauty of Genesis 35 (which mentions God ten times) is the presence of an altar and a heart willing to spend time there just to know God. Enjoy this week's episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music pro...

Simon and sons were just three faces in a crowd of possibly 300,000. But that day, Simon met Jesus and learned something especially special about Jesus. Enjoy this week's episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided by: Positive Happy by PeriTune https://soundcloud.com/sei_peridot Creative Co...