Jude 1:4-10 Spiritual Rebels In a Peanuts cartoon, Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn’t. “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus. “These five fingers,” says Lucy. “Individually they’re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.” “Which channel do you want?” asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his... Read more
Jude 1:1-3 Being Spiritually Prepared to Maintain My Faith Introduction: If you want to win football games, you have to have not one but two teams—an offensive team and a defensive team. Christianity is under attack today, and the Book of Jude reminds us that we must contend for the faith, having a good offensive and a good defensive. Key to Jude: Verse 3. When one looks at the book of Jude, one can find an interesting pattern. The book... Read more
Miley Cyrus, MTV, and Moral Authority August 28, 2013 “Oh sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, brood of evildoers, depraved children! They have abandoned the Lord; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; they have turned their backs on Him.” (Isaiah 1:4, HCSB) The Disney Darling has outdone herself this time. Instead of the usual self-absorbed diva that she has been in her own self-titled television series, Miley Cyrus has now revealed her need for attention on stage... Read more
Stretching the Universe Stretching the Universe is a simple thought reflection from Job 9:8 about the source of the universal stretching is God. August 22, 2013 “He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.” (Job 9:8, HCSB) If there was a beginning point (oddly named the “Big Bang”) and the universe continues to stretch, then the Bible reveals that the Person who did the stretching is God. “He stretches the northern skies over empty... Read more
Faith Grade System August 20, 2013 “The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,” (Galatians 3:24–25, HCSB) The Law came to us via Moses to teach us as tutor or teacher about Christ. The Law was an instructor. It taught people that they could not ultimately obey all the law. The Law taught everyone that they needed a Savior.... Read more
The Danger of People-Pleasing Preaching The Danger of People-Pleasing Preaching is a simple thought reflection on leadership from 2 Timothy 4:3 about the danger of people-pleasing preaching. August 19, 2013 “because the time will come when people will not listen to the true teaching but will find many more teachers who please them by saying the things they want to hear.” (2 Timothy 4:3, NCV) What’s bad for leadership in the corporate world is even worse in the church. The... Read more
Luke 15:11-32 Welcome Home Philip Yancey shared this in Rumours of Another World, “Living in Colorado, I climb mountains. Colorado has 54 mountains rising above 14,000 ft and every summer I climb some of them. On a summer weekend in the mountains, I see casual hikers who have no idea what they are doing. In sandals, shorts, and T-shirts, carrying a single container of water, they start up a trail at mid-morning. They have no map, no compass, and no... Read more
2 Samuel 24:1- 25 Money and Debt Money can be a test, temptation, or a treasure. God made it a test (2 Samuel 24:1) Satan made it a temptation (1 Chronicles 21:1) David made it a treasure (2 Samuel 24:2-3) In essence, David was counting his wealth. He was counting all of the “things” he had. In the Old Testament, the size of an army and the size of a king’s population was a measure of his wealth and status.... Read more
Genesis 4:3-8 Being Responsible with Our Offerings I want to challenge you to think about how responsible we need to be with our offerings. The Bible speaks of an offering as an act of worship. An offering is something that is given by the worship to express love to God. The Bible describes it in a variety of ways. We can give of our POSSESSIONS: What we have We can give of our PRAISE: What we say We can give... Read more
Matthew 18:21-35 Forgiveness If you’ve ever gotten to a concert early, you’ve probably heard the musicians tuning their instruments. It isn’t a particularly pleasant sound, but we know it is necessary for the harmony to come later. Instruments slip out of tune so easily. So do relationships. Many times harmony is missing from our relationships because our hearts are out of tune. In his book, Untwisting Twisted Relationships, William Backus wrote, “Though we expect from our relationships the sweetest moments... Read more
Select your answer to see how you score.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In