Category: Jesus

9/26/2022 0 Comments

Why We Exist

Gerry got back from Afghanistan, and he is not in good shape. Half his squad was on a mounted patrol when their vehicles were hit by an improvised explosive device (IED), killing four and badly wounding two. Unfortunately, he had to identify the bodies and could not get the images out of his head. Now between alcohol and too many medications, his life has lost meaning, and he has frequent thoughts of ending it.

9/12/2022 0 Comments

What's Your View?

Pastor Brad at Impact Church asks, “Does your view of God determine your view of life, or does your view of life determine your view of God?” How one answers that question is profoundly revealing.

9/7/2022 1 Comment

The Long Walk

Meditation
Romans 8:3-4--What the law could not do since it was limited by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son in flesh like ours under sin’s domain, and as a sin offering, in order that the law’s requirement would be accomplished in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

8/19/2022 1 Comment

Reproduction

My dad loves to teach the men he is discipling the five steps in training a man (applicable to men and women):
1. Tell them why they should follow Christ—Matthew 4:19.
2. Show them how to follow Christ—John 14:21.
3. Get them started in following Christ—Luke 9:23.
4. Keep them going as it relates to following Christ—John 15:4.
5. See that they pass it on . . . reproduce what they have learned—Mark 6:7,12.
Let’s focus on the fifth step establishing that training effectively occurred.

8/3/2022 0 Comments

Vines and Thorns

Jesus taught the parable of the sower to a large crowd assembled by the Sea of Galilee. Seed in healthy soil and free of the threat of birds, rocks, and thorns grows to produce vibrant crops. Had Jesus lived in other parts of the world, He might have added vines to His illustration. In southeast Virginia, there is a vine that produces a beautiful purple flower. It is called purple Wisteria. These vines produce a wide array of leaves in the summertime that form a cover and make for a lush, green setting. Wisteria is a beautiful addition to a lawn or garden if properly grown and maintained. But if left unrestricted, it can destroy trees and shrubs.

7/1/2022 0 Comments

Inability to See

Meditation
John 8:25-27—“Who are You?” they questioned. “Precisely what I’ve been telling you from the very beginning,” Jesus told them. I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the One who sent Me is true, and what I have heard from Him—these things I tell the world.” They did not know He was speaking to them about the Father.

5/30/2022 0 Comments

Remember the 15s

First called Decoration Day, Memorial Day was nationally observed on May 30, 1868, to honor Union soldiers who lost their lives in the Civil War.[1] In 1873, New York officially recognized this day as a holiday, and by 1890, every other state had joined them. After two world wars, the day became an official time for remembering and mourning all service members who died while serving their country.

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.

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?”

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.

4/25/2022 1 Comment

The Problem with Religion

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

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.

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.”

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.

1/6/2022 1 Comment

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:

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]

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.

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.

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.

8/16/2021 0 Comments

Blameless

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

Photo used under Creative Commons from Rachel Maxey Miles