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12/22/2021 0 Comments Four Things God HatesSt. Augustine wrote in Augustine Confessions:
"Thus they hate the truth for the sake of that other thing which they love because they take it for truth. They love truth when it enlightens them, they hate truth when it accuses them. Because they do not wish to be deceived and do wish to deceive, they love truth when it reveals itself, and hate it when it reveals them." We like genuineness when it suits or helps us, but not so much when it exposes us or shows our wrong motives or conduct. Perhaps that is why there is a Jewish parable that says, “Truth is heavy, so few men carry it.” 12/16/2021 0 Comments Nahum--Pronouncing God's VengeanceNahum, the only person with that name in the Old Testament, prophesied against the nation of Assyria particularly against its capital city Nineveh—located about 220 miles north of modern Baghdad in Iraq.[1] But unlike when Jonah brought God’s warnings against Nineveh and the city repented, Nahum’s audience was proud and perversely wicked—completely unwilling to listen to God and therefore destined to experience His wrath.
[1] Information about Nineveh, Assyria, and Nahum are taken from HCSB Study Bible, 2010, pp. 1537,1538. 12/7/2021 0 Comments A Faith of Equal PrivilegeThe 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] [1] https://www.mysoulpurpose.org/e-v-hill-and-the-black-panthers 11/24/2021 0 Comments RolesRalph went to the National Training Center (NTC) in California serving as the Fire Support Officer (FSO) for an infantry battalion scheduled to be evaluated. Ralph looked at the terrain model as the battalion staff discussed what tactics they should choose on their upcoming day of battle. He realized that it was very similar to terrain he had trained on with a Cavalry unit. As the leaders selected their preferred course of action he disagreed and felt they were heading into a trap. The battalion commander (BC) asked him to share his ideas. So Ralph passionately laid out a battle strategy that he was sure would defeat the opposition. His senior leaders agreed with him and the next day they won their battle decisively.
11/13/2021 0 Comments Why I Value TheologyOne would think that with the uncertainties of life and certainty of death, people would be intrigued, perhaps even obsessed, with knowing if there is a Creator and, if He in fact, has a plan for His creation. It amazes me how many people I meet who seem uninterested in what happens to them when they die. Yet, this is THE MOST IMPORTANT question everyone should want to know the answer to because one second after death will be too late to decide. For this reason, among many, I value theology.
10/29/2021 0 Comments God's ImageOn 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.
10/23/2021 0 Comments IndividualismJim Van Yperen wrote a terrific book on resolving conflict entitled Making Peace: A Guide to Overcoming Church Conflict. One of the topics Yperen tackles is individualism. He notes specifically that western individualism actually works against spiritual vitality and fellowship because it breeds autonomy at the cost of biblical community. Individualism results in consumerism.
10/5/2021 0 Comments TriangulationProverbs 26:20--Without wood, fire goes out; without a gossip, conflict dies down.
9/14/2021 0 Comments Disruptive InnovationHarvard 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.
[1] Christensen, C. M. (2021). Disruptive innovation. https://claytonchristensen.com/key-concepts/ 9/4/2021 0 Comments Parable of the SackOnce upon a true time, a woman was carrying a heavy sack of cereals on her head down a dusty Kenyan road. As she walked the rutted earth on that hot sunny afternoon, a man in a blue, paint-faded pickup truck pulled up alongside her and asked, “Je! Ungependa safari?” (Would you like a ride?). The woman, after wiping the sweat off her brow, smiled at him and said, “Ndio Asante” (Yes, thank you). So, he pulled over to the side of the road, put the truck in park, and got out to help the woman. She put the sack on the truck bed and the man assisted her in climbing into the back. Then he returned to his cab and continued on his journey.
8/28/2021 0 Comments WitheringThe 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.
8/21/2021 0 Comments NecessitarianismNecessitarianism is “the doctrine that all events, including acts of the will, are determined by antecedent causes; determinism.”[1] The word first came into usage in 1825.[2] The philosopher Baruch Spinoza was the most famous defender of this metaphysical principle (the key groundwork of his Ethics[3]), considered as the strongest form of hard determinism which disputes the libertarian’s concept of free will.[4]
[1] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/necessitarianism [2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/necessitarianism#h1 [3] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spinoza-modal/ [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necessitarianism 8/16/2021 0 Comments BlamelessMeditation
Deuteronomy 18:13—You must be blameless before the LORD your God. 8/7/2021 0 Comments HarmonyMay God allow us to live in harmony. We need His strength to do it; His grace to recover from dissension; His encouragement to endure; and, His wisdom to discern and root out sin.
7/18/2021 0 Comments Moving Past CrisisI like the two Oriental characters for the word crisis. In both Japanese and Chinese, they mean “threatening opportunity.”—Jack Hayford, John Killinger and Howard Stevenson in Mastering Worship
7/15/2021 0 Comments More CapacitySaul was an amazingly capable man. Educated by the brilliant Gamaliel and possessed of a keen mind and zealous spirit (22:3) he must have been utterly stunned when Jesus blinded and confronted him on the road to Damascus turning his entire world upside down. While he reached the end of his religious measure as Saul, his life was about to spiritually blossom as Paul. His example should inspire all of us.
7/7/2021 0 Comments God's Gracious HandEzra 8:21-23--I proclaimed a fast by the Ahava River, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us, our children, and all our possessions. I did this because I was ashamed to ask the king for infantry and cavalry to protect us from enemies during the journey, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who abandon Him.” So we fasted and pleaded with our God about this, and He granted our request.
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