Today we lightly esteem blessing. We blurt out “God bless you” when anyone sneezes with a sort of–this is my ministry–attitude. But blessing is no small commodity. Think with me about the first recorded blessing. Genesis 1:28 (NASB) God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and [...]
God revealed something really special to me recently out of Genesis 3. It’s in God’s initial reaction to Adam and Eve’s sin. They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God [...]
Will you allow me one more note from Colossians 4:2? Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; - Colossians 4:2 NASB I commented briefly about being devoted to prayer, but Paul gives further instructions regarding our prayer that needs our attention. keeping alert in it. It’s far too easy [...]
There’s a bit of rhetoric going around these days that goes like this. You can tell how popular your church is by how many show up on Sunday morning. You can see how popular your pastor is by how many show up on Sunday night. You can find out how popular God is by now [...]
In Colossians 4 Paul asks the folks in Colossae to pray for him. He finds himself in prison, and like any of us, he calls on those men and women of faith in his life to pray. He prays, as I surely would, for an open door. But I’d be asking the church to rally [...]
I just want to throw down a quick thought for the day. Unity is NOT built on agreement. It’s natural to come to the conclusion that if we gather with people of the same mind, there will be unity. But that is more like conformity, and honestly, it’s not healthy. Paul tells us in Colossians, [...]
There is a chunk of Colossians 2 I used to think went too far. I thought it was giving people a license to sin. It was just too much freedom. (I kind of felt that way about the entire book of Galatians too, if the truth be told.) But reading through it today, I’m seeing [...]
At first I thought it was my time of month. Blood in my sheets. I am so tired of blood in my sheets, but now I am too weak to even care. My little one was only three then; now she is a young woman, and she is probably finding her own blood in the [...]
I’ve heard folks say… “I read the end of the book and…God wins!” True enough, but there is some other stuff in the end of the book that is a little mind blowing. If you know me, you know I’m pretty jazzed about the fact that God takes up residnece in the believe’s life. Jesus [...]
Today, I want to talk to you from the back end of Ephesians 2. Paul’s talking to the gentile believers in Ephesus about how God, by the blood of Jesus, has taken down the dividing walls that separated them from the Jews. If you can believe this, there were divisions in the Church! I know, [...]