Recently, some friends at Hope shared that they had received an email that looked a lot like it came from me. In the email, they were urgently asked to purchase gift cards and forward the gift card numbers (security codes and all) to me. At first glance, the email looked like it was from me – the name on the top (by the email address) and the bottom was spelled correctly. The body of the email included something that I found interesting. The person masquerading as me said, “You can keep one of the cards for yourself.” Now wasn’t it generous of “fake me” to say that?

“Awesome.” “Beautiful.” “Breathtaking.” “Frightening…” These were some of the adjectives that I heard people use to describe the experience of a total solar eclipse this past Monday. Many of us set aside our normal Monday routines and found ourselves in awe of God’s Creation. It truly was a breathtaking experience.

I wish that I could have been there when the Apostle Peter stood on Solomon’s portico and shared this wonderful statement recorded in Acts 3:19, “...turn back, so that your sins may be blotted out!” The imagery of God offering for us to have our sins “blotted out” is powerful.