Reveration Blog
5/3/2012 0 Comments JamesMeditation
Acts 15:13—After they stopped speaking, James responded: “Brothers, listen to me!” Does it surprise you that the leader in the church after Jesus returned to heaven was not one of the eleven apostles? Wouldn’t it seem like the requirement for membership to the Jerusalem Council would be three years of faithful service under the Master? If Jesus said He would build His church upon the rock, and that rock was Peter (Mat. 16:18), why was James the one who rendered judgment as the leader of the Council (15:19-21)?
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12/17/2011 0 Comments Spiritual WorshipWhat Christian is not frustrated in trying to live a godly life? Why is it so hard? For starters, we are flawed. We enter the world dripping wet with a sin nature and from the very outset need God’s grace. A baby’s temper tantrum was not learned behavior it was already ingrained. We grow up enamored with the world’s offerings—what man is not drawn to lust after a sensual woman or woman drawn to the need for security? We are stubborn, preferring to do what we want. It is completely counter-culture to pursue holiness. There is nothing easy about achieving purity and we are quickly frustrated by adversity, failure, and the clever attacks of Satan who will do all he can to disrupt us from fellowship with God.
12/14/2011 TracksKevin and I prayer walk an asphalt trail that is about 3/4ths of a mile around a church, a wooded area and large field. This morning I noticed big paw tracks from a dog that extended for quite a ways along the trail. If I was trained, I could tell by the size of the prints the approximate size of the dog that left its mark. Instead I could only see the obvious—a dog walked in a muddy field and then wandered across the path we were walking.
4/7/2011 New ThoughtRecently I finished reading a book called Key To Yourselfby Venice Bloodworth. It was recommended to me by a very nice man who felt I would find it to be inspiring. What I found was that it was immensely dangerous. The book could be summarized in a four word sentence near the beginning of the book, “Psychology is the answer.” Published in 1952, the book is a primer for New Thought. Dr. Bloodworth’s contention is that we are all part of God and “your future is entirely under your own control.”[1] What we need is to harness positive thinking which will then reap positive outcome. The reason we suffer ill fortune is because of the negative energy and thoughts we generate in our minds. “If the state of your health or finances is not all you desire, you must look within yourself for the cause.”[2] Later she writes, “Ignorance of the existence and power of the subconscious mind is the cause of all failures and near failures in the world.”[3]
2/12/2010 0 Comments The Lord SpokeKathleen and I are trying to find the right company to help us refinance our home. Each of the four brokers we spoke with gave us compelling reasons to refinance with his or her particular company. We were uncertain as to who was really giving us the best option. Finally, we sat down with a broker in his office and listened as he explained why his option was the best for us. Before he went into his pitch he told us about his family and about a solar energy project he was working to help people bring their energy costs down. At some point in the meeting, I distinctly in my heart “heard” the Lord tell me that this was the man who would help us refinance. It was sort of a surreal moment. Yet, I instantly had peace about our choice and course of action.
12/31/2009 0 Comments More TruthIn reading through the Bible in 2009, my selected theme was truth. Earlier this week, Chris primed our pumps asking us what truth is. I am going to finish off the year sharing what I learned from this vital Biblical topic hoping that it encourages and challenges you as much as it did me.
Meditation Psalm 85:11—Truth will spring up from the earth, and righteousness will look down from heaven. 8/1/2009 0 Comments ScandalHe jumped in too early. A white policeman arrested a prominent black professor, and eager journalists needled President Obama to answer before he knew all the facts. He misspoke. Perhaps a lingering frustration gave birth to an unfortunate vetting. That silence can be golden is an understatement for a man besieged by microphones. Our society is sensitive to racial harmony—and should we be surprised, given that our melting pot is a degree away from a boiling kettle!
8/25/2008 0 Comments EthicsA home improvement con artist swindled a 100 year-old blind woman. He rang the woman's bell, unsolicited, to offer to do any repair work needed. The woman told him that for years she had struggled with a door that was difficult to open because it rubbed against the rug. To fix the problem, she agreed to pay the man $8,000, to jack up her house.[1]
7/7/2008 0 Comments Branches of the VineMeditation
John 15:5-I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me. 4/8/2008 0 Comments Truth IIMeditation
2 John 1-4--The Elder: To the elect lady and her children: I love all of you in the truth—and not only I, but also all who have come to know the truth—because of the truth that remains in us and will be with us forever. Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I was very glad to find some of your children walking in the truth, in keeping with a command we have received from the Father. 1/1/2008 0 Comments Two TrapsIn an age of relativism the roar of the crowd is to tame God’s Word. Two traps await Christians in this hostile environment.
7/12/2007 GenuineThe doorbell rang and I answered it to find two young men well dressed and eager to speak with me. They wanted to see if they could visit with us. So I invited them in and Kathleen provided them something to drink.
6/17/2006 0 Comments EmpoweredMeditation
Acts 1:8--But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the endsof the earth. 4/21/2006 ParablesOnce there was a man who talked incessantly on the cell phone wherever he drove. Once in the phone zone he was oblivious to his surroundings. So on February 29 he missed his wife waving from her red car with a flat tire. Nor did he realize the bump on the road was a Siamese cat he ran over, the favorite pet of an autistic child. He nodded “yes” to the words of his backseat son who told him he thought he should turn right at the light. Not really listening he continued straight ahead. Later he broke his boy’s heart when he yelled at him for letting him get lost. He won a coveted contract but missed the ballgame.
3/17/2006 0 Comments DuplicityRecently I needed to set up DSL over a phone line for a ministry I serve. When I called the phone company, (which will go unnamed), to set up the service, the line was answered by a voice-automated machine. The options I was presented did not help me so I repeatedly stated that I wanted to speak with an operator. Finally, the emotionless computer relented and patched me to a real voice. I set up the service thinking I would receive the special discount the company offered. But the price quoted to me was different and much higher. The salesperson explained that we would receive a substantial rebate, but in fact, we would over time lose much money because the contractual cost was too high.
7/23/2005 GospelTim graduated from High School with no sense of purpose or ambition so he joined the Army. While at the reception station where new soldiers are in-processed, a chaplain handed out Bibles. Tim remembered the New Testament his dad kept from World War II and decided to take one he could keep as his own memento.
11/25/2004 0 Comments FoodThe Thanksgiving holiday is supposed to be about remembering how blessed we are by our Almighty Father in heaven. If gratitude is the point, food is the reminder. In truth, a hearty feast is a wonderful custom for celebrating our blessings. Not a Thanksgiving goes by for me that I don’t think back to traveling to Newburgh, NY with my roommate and best friend, Dave Mead. We would totally stuff ourselves at his grandmother’s house—eating was a competitive sport for two young cadets.
7/29/2004 EssentialsWhat in life truly matters? Imagine if God placed you in a huge glass pot in the middle of a giant plaza where hundreds of thousands of people walk by you. He turns a dial that sets in motion transforming heat from coils underneath the container on which you stand. All that you have and represent on earth, as a Christian, is about to be melted down into the pure essentials which define and determine your worth. What crystalline object will the world see? All you have lived for and what characterizes you is about to emerge in some distinctive shape.
8/7/2003 0 Comments ImitationMeditation
Ephesians 5:1,2--Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children. And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. 7/18/2002 0 Comments MartyrsWhen I wake up each morning, my first task is to let out the dogs and retrieve the newspaper. Before I read the headlines I wonder what new tragedy has rocked people from their illusive peace. In Israel, yet another Palestinian has blown himself up and taken the lives of bystanders. What propels these martyrs to so willingly die?
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Photo from Rachel Maxey Miles