Blog
Day16
We’ve come to a point in human history where we’re a lot “smarter” than we ever have been before. I say that with ” quotes ” because the human brain size/capacity hasn’t changed in thousands of years, but along with the tech-boom, we have a great amount of data made available to us. Everything can be researched and discovered through the internet and literature, and our knowledge is augmented by standing on the shoulders of previous generations. However, does intelligence play a part in our...
read moreDay14
Hey guys, I’ve been playing around a bit with the webdesign of the site, but today I jumped into Luke 7 and I wanted to start taking a look at what I call Christ’s “ministry of faith.” I love these stories in Scripture, because as you’ll see, and as I’ll discuss, Christ’s ministry revolves completely around a basis of faith. Here in Luke 7, a very wealthy and prominent figure has a servant (a friend) who is very sick. Terminally sick. Luke writes “sick and at the point of death.” Long story...
read moreDay10&11
Seems the days are getting busier and busier! But here we go, let’s get into Matthew 14:22-33 This is where Jesus walks on the water. I thought it was interestnig here where Jesus sends his disciples on the boat, “while he dismissed the crowd.” Anyway, Jesus has just gotten done preaching and teaching, and feeding five thousand people with two loaves of bread and some fish. Really neat story. It’s funny, though, that we doubt God can do anything with what we have to give. Whether we feel like we just don’t have...
read moreDay8&9
At what point in your own life do you throw your hands up and say, “I can’t handle this! What will I do?!” I think this happens pretty often. We get bombarded with the responsibilities of life. Kids, jobs, bills, friends, and all these things that seem to attack us all at once! What’s our first reaction to the unexpected events/problems in our life? When you’re driving down the metaphorical road of life, and you get a flat tire. Do you pull over and immediately start attempting to fix things yourself? Do you curse...
read moreDay7
It seems in a world that’s struggling economically we might find ourselves questioning everything. It’s natural, I guess, to feel like everything leading up to this point might have been meaningless, and in the words of Solomon, “everything is meaningless.” In Ecclesiastes we read that what does man gain from all his labor on the earth except death? Man and his possessions pass away… but there are things that last more than my life. In John 4 we see Jesus resting from a long journey at the well Jacob dug at...
read moreDay5&6
Hope everyone had a great day yesterday, and I pray God spoke to your life during worship. Recently at church we looked at Romans 7, where Paul identifies the frustration and struggle within himself against sin. He says “the things I don’t want to do are the thing I end up doing!” and “whenever I want to do the right thing, I don’t do it!” This is something I think all of us can relate to fairly often. I want to point out, though, that in Christ, we don’t have to surrender to temptation, and in Christ...
read moreDay4
Ever wondered what it was like in the temple when Jesus cleared out the money-changers and people selling the animals? I don’t know about you, but something about making a whip and driving oxen out of their pens…. it must have been crazy! I mean, oxen are pretty big, and I’m sure if a whip cracks on their back they’re not exactly peaceful animals. But in John 2, this is the picture I get when Jesus clears the temple. He arrives at the temple and finds these people taking advantage of the the Lord’s house. The...
read moreDay3
One of the hardest things for us to battle is the inclination to feel like we’re decent enough people to be seen as “good” in God’s eyes. The problem with this is that it’s completely contrary to Scripture. I recently a Pastor share a story of a plane ride he took, and the conversation he shared with the man sitting next to him, who happened to be an atheist. The man phrased it like this: “I’m sure somebody like you (referring to the Pastor) will have no problem getting to heaven. But me, well I guess...
read moreDay2
Last night in staff meeting at church, we talked about God’s redemption through Christ. In light of that conversation, and the study I’m doing through December… I took a look at Luke 2:22-38 Here Jesus is taken to Jerusalem to the Temple as was custom for Jewish families. We often forget, I think, that Jesus followed Jewish practices without reservation. He fulfilled every prophecy concerning the Messiah, including that he was of the house of David, and followed the Jewish law. Joseph and Mary take him here to be presented in...
read moreDay1
When looking at where I’d start my 25-day study of Christ, no Scripture fits as well as John 1. The reason I wanted to do this for the days leading up to Christmas is because I think we’ve had a huge paradigm shift from what Christmas should be, and what Christmas actually is. I heard very recently on a radio talk show a woman who has strong convictions about her beliefs, make quite a profound statement. Despite her non-compassionate attitude towards others who believe differently, she has one thing relatively clear, she...
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