Luke 10:20 “… don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Please read the first 24 verses of the 10th chapter of Luke. Read it with no thought about what it might be saying about church. Meditate on every phrase to extract what it might be saying about the Kingdom. That […]
We are depending on you. But that means something different for each one of us. I’m depending on you to help me with my work. He’s depending on you to make him feel better about himself. She needs you to pay her on time so she can pay them on time. He needs $5 to get some gas because he […]
Three big feasts on Yahweh’s calendar were Passover, First Fruits, and Tabernacles. Jesus fulfilled Passover by being sacrificed as the Lamb for our household. The Holy Spirit fulfilled First Fruits (Pentecost) by anointing believers as the beginning of the time of harvest. We are tilling, planting, watering, and at some point in time will be harvesting new believers as they […]
Every time you respond to a situation that has ethical implications, if your response is in public, it can have the effect of having been posted on your facebook page: It has entered the news feed of the observers. They judge the event, may make comments, share it if they like it, share it if they don’t like it, and […]
Most of what we look for from our members of congregations or ministry teams in terms of contribution either falls into the category of money or time. Otherwise, we are usually looking only for compliance. We inform people, especially younger ones, of the rules and protocol and expect them to comply. We engineer structures and teams to maintain “normal” for […]
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He Who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the Day […]
When a ministry achieves what it defines as “success,” it arbitrarily builds a system around that success that promises to continue to feed and protect it. Find food, and fight off wolves. Repeat. If the ministry continues to exist, over time the purpose of the system of sustenance and safety becomes a hard old wine skin. It may not spend […]
Our carnal, earthly selves usually hate changes in our calendar, our environment, our list of responsibilities. But, new things bring change. Yahweh’s mercy is new every day. I think that means that we don’t always recognize His mercy. It’s not just a re-wound toy that will run again for another day. It’s new. The Roman church popularized a style of […]
Judges 13:8 (HCSB) Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, let the man of God you sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the boy who will be born.” God listened to Manoah, and the Angel of God came again to the woman. She was sitting in the field, and her husband […]
Much confusion, due to not much study, exists regarding the nature of the Kingdom of Jesus. Some useful Kingdom information was shared by Peter in his second epistle (2 Peter 1:11): “For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly supplied to you.” (Holman Christian Standard Bible) “This way” is practicing […]