Category: Jesus

5/21/2022 0 Comments

Kingdom of God

Pastor Mike tells the story of how as a child, he and his siblings would eat through an entire large box of Kellogg’s Pep cereal to get the prize—a submarine. Mike’s goal was to get the prize; he didn’t care for the product.

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5/14/2022 0 Comments

Your Faith has Healed You!

Life is full of challenges. As you read that what challenge comes to mind that you are facing? For some of us, it is financial, for others relationships, and still others health, the need for work, etc. What is unhealthy is when we let the problem(s) we face dominate our thinking because we flounder in fear and uncertainty. In his book Brave, Strong & Tender, Phil Downer asked, “Do you ever find yourself spending more time thinking about the size of your problems than thinking about the size of your God? Do you feel locked up because of fear?”

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4/30/2022 1 Comment

The Purpose of Religion

Cassandra was baptized in church on Easter in front of hundreds of cheering people. Her testimony was amazing. She spoke of getting pregnant as a young teenager. She shared her struggles with shame, feelings of inferiority, and rejection. Then she testified how a stranger introduced her to Jesus but that she had not followed Him. She credited her husband with getting her involved with the right crowd of people who taught her what it means to pursue God. Now her life is on a heaven-honoring trajectory. She loves ministering to people and most importantly pursuing God.

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4/25/2022 1 Comment

The Problem with Religion

Did you know that God is offended by meaningless, false-hearted chanting?

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3/24/2022 0 Comments

Believing Gained by Reading

Erwin introduced me to Rojan* an 80-year-old doctor born in Peru. We listened to him as he explained that there is no such thing as hell and that when he dies, he will simply decompose and return to the earth—body, spirit, and soul. There is no afterlife he said. Implied in his words were his belief that there is no God and no accountability for us in how we live. He was firm in his convictions and seemingly unconcerned of a finite life.

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3/13/2022 0 Comments

Understanding Wisdom

What is the source of wisdom? Is it academic institutions? If we want to be wise is the best method to gain the highest degree and be immersed in learning institutions, listening to teachers and professors? Or is it experience? Do we agree with Confucius? “By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” Will Rogers had a more colorful adaptation, “There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves.”

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2/17/2022 0 Comments

Life

Satan shrewdly deceived Eve in the garden. Just eat the forbidden fruit and you will be like God and know the difference between good and evil (Genesis 3:5). The deeper implication behind his temptation was that Eve was somehow deprived. At this point in her existence, she had no knowledge of evil. What Satan did not tell Eve was that it was her relationship with God that was most important. Having her eyes opened would make her like him—a fallen creature out of God’s favor. His intent was to sever Adam and Eve’s relationship with their Creator by cunningly convincing them to disobey His command.

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1/6/2022 0 Comments

Tell the Righteous!

Meditation
Isaiah 3:10-11—Tell the righteous that it will go well for them, for they will eat the fruit of their labor. Woe to the wicked—it will go badly for them, for what they have done will be done to them.

God’s word to Isaiah challenged me to study the word righteous because it is in that context that things go well for people. What I found was staggering in some ways. But before we look at the signs and fruit of righteous living we should understand 14 lessons that teach:

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12/7/2021 1 Comment

A Faith of Equal Privilege

The antidote to discrimination and racism is Jesus Christ. Pastor E.V. Hill once shared his response to Black Panthers threatening his life for preaching about “that white Jesus.”
I don’t know anything about a white Christ—I know about Christ, a Savior named Jesus. I don’t know what color He is. He was born in brown Asia, He fled to black Africa, and He was in heaven before the gospel got to white Europe . . . I do know one thing: if you bow at the altar with color on your mind, and get up with color on your mind, go back again and keep going back until you no longer look at His color, but at his greatness and His power—His power to save![1]

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11/7/2021 0 Comments

God's Image

On my wall is a painting of the Old Testament prophet Daniel standing on a cement floor calmly looking out a window as seven lions to his right seemingly gaze with him. His image of courage and peace in a room meant for his consumption, inspires me. Of all the saints in the Old Testament, Daniel seems the most Christlike to me.

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9/14/2021 0 Comments

Disruptive Innovation

Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, coined the term disruptive innovation.[1] Essentially it describes how a product or service begins at market bottom and then inexorably rises in the market until it at some point, displaces well-established competitors. A small, new company that is weak on resources successfully overcomes proven incumbent businesses by offering what the incumbents overlook in providing their more established clientele. An example of this is Microsoft and Apple moving into the computer industry and turning it upside down by providing affordable desktop and laptop computers.

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8/28/2021 0 Comments

Withering

The Hebrew word navel, basically means wither or lose heart. It is used twenty times in the Old Testament. The word describes Moses in Exodus 18:18—warned about wearing out from trying to judge the people alone. Eleven times it refers to plants dying. Isaiah uses it to show people withering from sin (Isaiah 64:6). When you think of the condition of the world right now does it feel like it is withering? Such a thought should not be surprising for God warned us that this would happen.

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8/16/2021 0 Comments

Blameless

Meditation
Deuteronomy 18:13—You must be blameless before the LORD your God.

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7/18/2021 0 Comments

Moving Past Crisis

Meditation
Matthew 14:12-14—Then his disciples came, removed the corpse, buried it, and went and reported to Jesus. When Jesus heard about it, He withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed Him on foot from the towns. As He stepped ashore, He saw a huge crowd, felt compassion for them, and healed their sick.

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5/21/2021 0 Comments

Cord Changes

Jonathan Cahn shared a historical piece of information that is quite fascinating.[1] In the time of the Jewish second temple, each Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), a scarlet cord was attached to the Temple doors. It represented the people’s sins in line with Isaiah 1:18, “‘Come, let us discuss this,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will be like wool.’” At the end of the day after the completion of the ordinances the scarlet cord turned white. This supernatural phenomenon occurred annually until the year Jesus Christ was crucified—then the cord remained scarlet. Why did this happen? Because Jesus was the final atonement offered for our sins. Had the rabbis in Jesus’ time truly been looking for the Messiah, that sign alone should have given them pause to consider that He was God’s Son sent for them.

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3/14/2021 0 Comments

Separated Ones

A group of people determined to separate themselves in the pursuit of holiness. They gave themselves a name—Perushim, which means separated ones. Over time as they concentrated on holy living, they became proud and self-righteous. On the outside they looked great but on the inside they rotted.[1]

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2/14/2021 0 Comments

Competition

Competition is one of my signature strengths. I don’t like losing or being wrong. By God’s grace I am mellowing with age. So, I can somewhat identify with John when he and his buddies were bothered that someone they didn’t know was taking on demons in the power of Jesus’ name yet wasn’t part of their signature team. I’m sure he felt that that it was completely inappropriate for one who was not spending time at the feet of the Master to minister as a supposed follower. But John and his fellow disciples were misguided in their thinking.

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1/23/2021 1 Comment

Fellowship: Why It Matters

Fellowship is a rich concept much deeper in meaning than we probably realize. In Hebrew the primary word for fellowship is šelem and it occurs 87 times in the New International Version (NIV). Only once is it used in the context of meeting with others (Psalm 55:13,14), in every other instance fellowship connects to God through the giving of a fellowship offering. The fellowship or peace offering in the Old Testament emphasized the opportunity the Hebrews had for close communion with God. This fellowship was consummated by eating the flesh of an animal presented as an offering to God (Leviticus 3 and 7:11-21). The peace offering meant that all was well relationally between Yahweh and His people and it was the last offering given.[1]

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12/31/2020 1 Comment

Unity Survives Tragedy

There are some years that stand out for their severity in a manner that effects the entire world and most assuredly, 2020 will be one of those signature years. But tragedies do not destroy the body of Christ when followers of Jesus stand together in unity.

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10/10/2020 0 Comments

What is Worship?

Meditation
Jonah 1:8,9--Then they said to him, “Tell us who is to blame for this trouble we’re in. What is your business and where are you from? What is your country and what people are you from?” He answered them, “I’m a Hebrew. I worship Yahweh, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.”

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