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. 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.
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. 5/1/2021 0 Comments No More Work to DoOccasionally when I’m reading my Bible a statement will just jump off the pages and grab me. It happened this week while I was studying Romans chapters 13-16. Look at the two verses below and see if anything strikes you.
Meditation Romans 15:23,24—But now I no longer have any work to do in these provinces, and I have strongly desired for many years to come to you whenever I travel to Spain. For I hope to see you when I pass through, and to be assisted by you for my journey there, once I have first enjoyed your company for a while. 2/8/2021 0 Comments No RegretsStarted in 1994, the No Regrets Men’s Conference is an annual event whose purpose is to challenge men in their relationship with God at home, at work and in their ministry. Hosted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the organizers seek to create an environment over about a four-hour period that ministers in a great variety of host sites around the world. Spiritual growth is set in motion when men and boys come together to worship and to hear challenging messages. What is also encouraging is the effort by the leaders to provide ongoing Bible Studies and messages designed to stimulate men spiritually so they don’t just experience a “one and done” but have impetus to keep maturing.
1/23/2021 0 Comments Fellowship: Why It MattersFellowship is a rich concept much deeper in meaning than we probably realize!
8/8/2020 0 Comments Understanding HistoryThe people are the ultimate guardians of their own liberty. History, by apprising them of the past, will enable them to judge of the future. It will avail them of the experience of other times and other nations; it will qualify them as judges of the actions and designs of men.—Thomas Jefferson
4/16/2020 0 Comments How Will You Finish?"In the Christian life, it’s not how you start that matters. It’s how you finish".—Steve Farrar in Finishing Strong
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