Being a People of Influence

Ezekiel 14.14 declares even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save onlyimage themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.

The end is near God told Ezekiel. He was about to destroy Jerusalem through the army of the Babylonians because His people had for so long refused to obey His commands. God’s disgust was so high that He declared even if three great saints were present and alive in that city, only they would be spared but not the city itself.

Sometimes God spares whole communities based upon the righteous deeds of one. Sometimes He doesn’t. (more…)

0 Comments

God is Tolerant but Not Religion

Romans 16.26 describes the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the imageGentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith.

Tolerance is the new desire among those who speak about world religions. The espoused perspectives are that God cannot really be known and that all the religions basically teach the same things.

This worldview leads to every person creating their own religion, their own perspective of Who God is and what God requires. The result of tolerance is ignorance, disobedience and confusion.

God is tolerant. (more…)

0 Comments

A Player’s Greatest Asset

1 Samuel 16:7 observes the Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outwardth appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

Its football season, my favorite sport and my favorite time of year. I am always amazed how fast and how big the players are in this game. The hits they deliver upon each other make me wonder if its really a good idea to play this sport. In football size and speed matter but not as much as heart. Every team has big and fast guys but not every team is filled with guys with great hearts. (more…)

4 Comments

Knowing and Doing the Will of God

1 Samuel 3.21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there He revealed Himself to Samuel imagethrough His word.

Knowing God’s will is not complicated.

The difference between the Christian God and all other gods, including Allah, is the clarity by which He makes Himself known and what He requires. This only makes sense if God is truly loving and just.

A God Who desires a relationship with humanity must by virtue of the desire reveal as clearly as possible His personality, intentions and will to those with whom He desires a relationship. (more…)

0 Comments

Blind, Deaf and Disobedient?

Acts 28.27 describes this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand imagewith their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.

Who is God describing in this quote? His religious followers.

The result of His people ignoring His word was their missing His work among them through the promised Messiah Jesus. (more…)

0 Comments

What Identifies Christian Parenting?

Luke 1.80 observes the child grew and became strong in spirit.image

The goal of Christian parenting is to raise godly children.

Its an outcome parents don’t control which means success or failure are not entirely dependent upon the parent. Children, like parents, are given the ability to choose for themselves which god they will serve.

Parents are God’s agents for moving the odds in His favor if they are faithful to obey His commands and teach them to His and their, children. (more…)

0 Comments

Who WANTS to be a Friend of God?

Jeremiah 30.21 asks who is he who will devote himself to be close to Me? declares the Lord.image

How close to God do we really want to be?

Our tradition, because of our disobedience to God, has been to run and hide from Him. This is the way we deal with most conflict in our lives: we avoid it.

We are a people who ‘hope’ things will work out in our relationships where issues are occurring. We run from rather than resolve most of our relational conflicts. Our relationship with God is no different. (more…)

0 Comments

God’s Work is in Our Hands

Judges 6:14 records, The Lord turned to him and said, Go in the strength you have and save Israel out imagesof Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?

Amazing that God does not say, go with the strength I will give you. Instead God encourages Gideon to use what little he has to accomplish the overwhelming task God has set before him.

Why? (more…)

0 Comments

What We Must Do to Change the World

Mark 4.19 explains the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other thingsimage come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

The lack of Christian vitality in the United States can be traced to the ineffective work of Christians to obey God’s command to make disciples. The Christian’s lack of effort can be traced to the three things that God warns will make us unfruitful if we pursue those things rather than the things of God.

If we are to recapture the hearts and minds of people for the things of God we must recommit ourselves to the work of God which is the implementation of His will on earth as it is in heaven. The command to make disciples, the objective of the Church, is evidenced by obedience to all the Words of God in Jesus Christ. (more…)

0 Comments

Why We Must Do Hard Things

Judges 3:2 explains He did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience.  God left people in the promised land for the Israelites to remove by imageforce.

It seems like God would simply send a plague to these inhabitants then Israel could just easily walk into the promised land and occupy it as their new country. Instead, God made Israel strap on a sword, grab a shield and go daily into battle if they were going to realize His promise for them.

Why did God do this? (more…)

0 Comments