Christmas is the celebration of the “Withness” of God!! Jesus stepped out of heaven and off His throne to come to earth to be with us. (Philippians 2:5-8) My friend Kris Lyle, who studies biblical languages, posted something recently about the word, with. He was researching with and discovered some interesting stuff about the way…
Category: Bible
Prayer is Christmas
Christmas is the celebration of the incarnation. Jesus became a man and came to dwell on the earth as Emmanuel – “God with us.” In his book, “A Praying Life” Paul E. Miller says, “Prayer is a moment of incarnation – God with us.” ~ Paul E. Miller So here’s the breakdown: Christmas = Incarnation…
Unconditional Love
Check out this quote: David Powlison says, “I’d like to propose that God’s love is much different and better than unconditional. Unconditional love, as most of us understand it, begins and ends with sympathy and empathy, with blanket acceptance. It accepts you as you are with no expectations. You in turn can take it or…
Our Wonderful Life
Sometimes saying, “I’ll pray for you.” just isn’t enough. Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Our friends have lived out this passage and I want to tell you about it: We had an incredible experience last night!! A bunch of friends (both old…
Joppa, Jonah, and Peter
I was sitting in Sunday School the other day as we studied Jonah and learned some cool stuff. (Thanks Kurt) Check out the similarities between the story of Jonah and Acts 10 with Peter: [table id=4 /] I’m always fascinated by the way God uses certain places to speak particular things. There are certain places…
Radical: Lessons from David Platt’s book
David Platt’s book “Radical” has been a great book for me! As Miranda and I have struggled this past year with our finances, (I’m still looking for a full-time job) we’ve learned much about what it means to trust in the LORD for our needs. We’ve learned new spending habits (well…non-spending habits). And we’ve both…
Feast of Tabernacles
I’ve been studying up on the Feast of Tabernacles lately ’cause I was leading a small group through John 7 and into chapter 8. It’s good stuff. You don’t really realize how dramatic Jesus was unless you understand the cultural practices of the Feast of Tabernacles. Let me explain: The Feast of Tabernacles was a…
The Adultery Passage – John 7:53-8:11
It’s a famous story: The Pharisees bring a woman caught in adultery to Jesus and ask if they should stone her. He answers by saying, “Let him without sin cast the first stone.” One by one, they all leave. This is one of the most highly debated texts in the Bible. Many pastors actually skip…
Spiritual Gifts Inventory
I just wanted to post some of the tools that I use when I teach about spiritual gifts. My favorite assessment is the “Motivational Gifts” Assessment. It focuses on only 7 of the spiritual gifts and so it’s a little less rigorous to understand. It’s also not a “blind” test and so you’re able to…