The Heart of the Covenant

And Naomi said to her two daughter-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house.  May the LORD deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me.”  Ruth 1:8 NASB Deal kindly – What is the heart of the gospel?  What lies right at the core of the good…

A Member in Good Standing

for our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:20  NASB Citizenship – Almost 100 years ago, Oswald Chambers said, “The Church ceases to be a spiritual society when it is on the look-out for the development of its own organization.”[1] It doesn’t appear…

Law And Order

So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Romans 7:12 Good – What is good?  Well, there’s the good news.  What’s good about that?  It’s the announcement that we can have peace with God.  That’s pretty good.  In the scheme of things, peace with God counts a lot. …

Leadership and Community

Here is a 50 minute lecture on Biblical leadership and community.  This lecture includes a discussion of the need for self-assessment, the role of Israel as a model, the question of measurements and the function of gifts within the Body.  There is a powerpoint that accompanies the audio file.  If you would like it, please…

Surprised?

“Our Father in heaven” Matthew 6:9 Our Father – If you spend any time with Christian commentaries on the Lord’s Prayer, you will soon discover the common assertion that this prayer is unusual because Jews did not address God as “our Father.”  This idea seems to come from the work of a Christian German theologian…

Community Affairs

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. Hebrews 3:1 Partakers – What’s the difference between “partaker” and “partner?”  The answer is crucial for understanding this verse.  You see, generally we think of partakers as those who take a part for themselves.  When I partake…

David and Eve

He lies in wait secretly, like a lion in his den; he lies in ambush to catch the poor, drawing him into his net; Psalm 10:9 Lies In Wait – The NASB does us no favors by translating this Hebrew verb “lurks.” “He lurks in a hiding place” certainly does not convey the connection to…

Bi-Polar Communities

I’ve noticed a few things over the last months.  Our community seems to have two wonderful strains going at the same time.  We have a group of serious biblical exegetes – those who are willing to turn over all the stones to find the truth.  This group follows the theological paths that I only hint…

CONNEX-ions Working

I just got this from David.  It’s so cool to see this happening!!! Skip: Thought you might like to know that the Southwest Ohio zip codes are going to be getting together for lunch at Wendy’s here locally on Friday next to get acquainted and see if the Lord takes us further as we “connect”…

CONNECTIONS Database

OK, I have hand sorted 125 people who said that they want to know who is close by.  I wish the list included everyone, but we will only reveal those who gave permission.  There were 5 who did not provide a ZIP code so I am waiting for them (I sent them each an email)….