“Follow Me.” (Matthew 9:9) “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” (Matthew 8:22) “You still lack one thing: sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” (Luke 18:22) “If I want him to remain until I come,” Jesus answered, “what is that to you? As for you, follow Me.” (John 21:22) “You have […]
Monthly Archives: July 2017
Sorting the Instructions 5
If I were a soldier in a nation’s army, I would have been taught the basic tenants of how to act as a soldier in boot camp and other early training. When an event arose that thrust me into a situation of my nation being at war, I would need those basic teachings to be well memorized, so that I moved in unity with the rest of the army as […]
Sorting the Instructions 4
Once upon a time I was debt-free. I had been in debt, having borrowed money for a home and a car, but I made sacrifices and wise choices for a while, eliminating the debt. I was in the process of shopping for my first keyboard at that time. I had looked at a few, tried a few, and considered how much to spend. A friend who sold electronic equipment came to me […]
Sorting the Instructions 3
I have trouble not being surprised at the number of people who are frequently complaining about Scripture being taken out of context, yet who insist on yoking all of the family of God to a code of rules that includes every “command of Scripture,” with no regard for what a particular commandment’s context was in terms of the hearer’s location, issues unique to the congregation or believer to whom it was spoken, […]
Sorting the Instructions 2
Recently a strong believer was visiting my home when another believer happened to be present, casting demons out of a woman. I had given the man permission use my home to cast out the demons, but I was in my workshop, not realizing that he had arrived, and that the work was in progress. The believer who happened by at the time of the exorcism came out to where I was, very […]
Sorting the Instructions 1
If you have listened to me very long, you have, by now, heard me suggest many times that the Bible is not a book of rules, but revelation of a Ruler. One of the most powerful ways to prevent unity from emerging in the relationships of believers is to be more interested in rules than in the Ruler. In Walmart recently I encountered a friendly woman who surprised me by being […]
How to be Part of the Body
And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. Then we will no longer be little children, tossed […]
Jealous or Envious?
Partly because of the popular American practice of using words wrongly, there is a debate over how exactly to define the words jealousy and envy. The argument includes what the difference between them really is. Most people have no intention of changing their minds on the matter, and just use them each as they like, including interchangeably in some cases. The discussion is not really very heated. Most don’t care… […]
The Power to be Kind
Why is kindness so against our natures that it takes the power of the Spirit of God to have it in our hearts? Kindness is listed in Galatians 5:22 & 23 as a fruit of the Spirit. Kindness is part of Yahweh’s nature. It is His kindness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). It was His kindness toward Nineveh that made Jonah most angry against Him: after having sent […]
The Lord is Kind
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to this worldly age, according to the ruler of the atmospheric domain, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and by nature we were children under wrath, as the others were also. But God, who […]