Archive for February, 2009
« Previous EntriesOur Careful God
Saturday, February 28th, 2009Matthew 17:1 “After six days Jesus took with him, Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.”
Our faith experiences do not happen in a vacuum. We come to them through other experiences that act as building blocks towards a critical faith experience. The Transfiguration was a great faith experience for […]
More Than a Visit
Friday, February 27th, 2009Revelation 3:16 “So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
Jesus invested all that he had in giving us faith. For him he completely embraced the experience of being our Savior. Many people play at Christianity. Many people are lukewarm at really investing their faith in Christ […]
Be Careful About Prayers of Complaint!
Thursday, February 26th, 2009Numbers 11:18 “The Lord heard you when you complained, if only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!”
The Bible warns us about complaining to the Lord. Evidently, the people who left Egypt had complained to Moses about not having any meat, only manna. Moses, it seems, as the leader of […]
Sackcloth and Ashes
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009Job 42:6 “Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
The first day of the season of Lent is Ash Wednesday. We remember it because pastors apply the ashes to the foreheads of people who attend a Lenten service that day. This service probably dates from the 8th century. It is a time […]
Lent - A Time of Sacrifice
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 1 John 4:10
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Lent is a season of forty days which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on the Saturday before Easter. The season of Lent is a time of preparation for celebrating […]
From Inside of a Cloud
Monday, February 23rd, 2009Matthew 17:5 “While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them and a voice from the cloud said…”
Years ago when Caroline was a little girl I would practice the sermon on Saturday nights in the old sanctuary. Caroline would read in my office while I worked on the sermon. One Saturday night I […]
Healing Faith
Saturday, February 21st, 2009Matthew 9:21 “She said to herself, “If I could only touched his cloak I would be healed.”
Recently I found this story first printed several years ago. In 1989 Cindy was 31 years old and a mother of three small children. Cindy was stunned at the possibility of thyroid cancer. As she awaited the results […]
Cancerous Revenge
Friday, February 20th, 20092 Samuel 13:22 ”Absalom….hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister, Tamar.”
As this beautiful newborn son laid in his mother’s arms, his father, David, named him Absalom. The word meant “peaceful.” However, his life was anything but peaceful. He lived a vengeful, murderous life. His trademarks were seduction, hatred, rebellion, and war.
Absalom was the […]
The Broken Bowl
Thursday, February 19th, 2009Matthew 9:22 “Your faith has healed you.”
In brokenness we find great beauty. Sometimes when our lives are so full, we are too busy to ever really learn the truth about God. It is in the brokenness of our lives that we can produce the best fruit.
There is an old story that has been told many […]
Non-Degradable Hurt
Wednesday, February 18th, 20091 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up.”
Perhaps people are too free to share their opinions. The memory of critical words seems to be non-degradable. The speaker forgets the pain that those words may inflict on the hearer. Words like a stone thrown into the middle of a lake have […]