Year: 2007

  • Resident Reluctance

    Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ   Romans 16:25 Is Able – God is the power.  If I am in His will, then He directs that power through me, not to me.  God is in the power distribution business.  He gives in order…

  • May The Force Be With You

    Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ   Romans 16:25 Is Able – Star Wars is Greek.  The idea of an impersonal cosmic force presiding over life and death is as old as Pythagoras.  George Lukas might have been enthralled by the concept, but…

  • Wilderness Politics

    I just can’t stand it anymore.  Aren’t you sick and tired of the constant accusations, lies, finger pointing and platitudes in this election?  I can’t remember when it was so vitriolic and so insistent.  Maybe there is a point to it all, but as far as I can see, the only purpose is power.  And…

  • Prayer and Consequences

    because having known God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful   Romans 1:21 Glorify – Thankful – Some ancient Jewish scholars translate Genesis 2:7 about the creation of Man with the words, “and Man became a speaking being”, rather than our common, “and Man became a living being.”  If Paul was…

  • Family Prayer

    Yet not as I will, but as you will  Matthew 26:39 Yet Not – These two tiny Greek words (plen ouk) contain everything you need to know about prayer in God’s family.  You might object, “Wait!  Haven’t we just spent days looking at all the nuances of Hebrew and Greek words for prayer?  How can…

  • Three-A-Day

    Evening and morning and noon, I will pray and cry aloud and He shall hear my voice.   Psalm 55:17 Cry Aloud – I am not an emotional person.  It’s just the way I’m wired.  My struggles occur inside my head.  By the time I reach tears and crying aloud, things have got to be pretty…

  • Open Answers

    So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.  Ezra 8:23 (NIV) Petitioned . . Answered – Ezra’s statement shows us the proper protocol for answered prayer.  It does not guarantee that the answer we receive is the answer we hope to receive, but it tells us that answers do…

  • Hide and Seek (2)

    But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul.   Deuteronomy 4:29 (NIV) Seek – Did you think that “seek” and “look for” are the same thing?  Not in Hebrew.  Yesterday we discovered that “look for” is…

  • Hide and Seek (1)

    But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul.   Deuteronomy 4:29 (NIV) Look – Have you ever played the game “Hide and Seek?”  What is the purpose of this game?  It’s simple – do not be…

  • Unbearable Lightness

    And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.  John 1:5 Light – In a recent message, John Rankin posed an interesting question.  “How often do members of the covenant community make it a policy to tell pagans or other outsiders that what they believe is wrong?”  The answer, says…