Posts from 2022 (Page 13)

  DISCUSSION                                                             It wasn’t that long ago that you were celebrating our countries independence with hot dogs, stews and fireworks.  As we gather every year with family, we too share in some of those same traditions.  We celebrate because we feel that the United States is the greatest country in the world and that God has blessed our…

  DISCUSSION                          In recent years there seems to have been a rise of televangelists, ministers and teachers that teach the goodness and love of God.  It is hard to argue with them about God’s goodness and love.  Yes, God has been very good to us.  Yes, God loves us so much He was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for us.  However, these teachers omit a very important part of their theology of God.  Notice Paul’s…

  DISCUSSION                       The divided nation of Israel has fallen into idolatry. To pull them back, He sends them messengers to relay His will to the people. One of those messengers was Micah. He was from the town of Moresheth, a town from the kingdom of Judah.  Micah will accuse the nation of Israel and bring His judgment on all the cities that have done wickedness, specifically stealing and having corrupt prophets.  However, Micah’s message is not…

  DISCUSSION                                                                           As a product of the seventies and eighties, the phase “A New Hope” would spark images of Han Solo, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker into my imagination.  The evil Empire, lead by Darth Vader, had been winning the war against the Rebel forces to the point of extinction, that is until the New Hope arrived.  Luke Skywalker and his new-found Jedi powers offered a hope to the Rebel forces that…

  DISCUSSION                                                                                        Do you know what a plumb line is?  It’s a weighted string that hangs.  The weight on the end of the string allows the pull of gravity to stretch a string straight down.  It is considered to be a perfect vertical standard.  If you’re setting up a wall of a house or fence posts for a fence, a plumb line can be crucial…

  DISCUSSION                                                                                       Amos was an interesting “fella” (and yes, I use that term on purpose).  You see, he was a country boy in every aspect; he was a “herdsman of Tekoa” (Amos 1:1) and describes himself as being “no prophet”, no “son of a prophet”, but a “sheep breeder and a tender of sycamore fruit.” (Amos  7:14 )  Here was this country boy sent to the BIG…

  DISCUSSION                      “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” -Isaiah 6:8                 As a kid growing up in the seventies, I used to beg to stay up past my curfew to watch the sitcom “Welcome Back, Kotter”.  The show was based on a high school teacher who teaches a group of misfit kids who are growing…

  DISCUSSION                                It must have been very frustrating to God, to watch His people turn their back on Him following idols.  It must have just burned Him, to see the typical Israelite come and offer up his sacrifices to the Lord.  Although the sacrifice was full of hypocrisy and sin, it still gave them a sense of accomplishment that they had done something good.  If we know anything from our readings of the Bible, we…

  DISCUSSION                                                  Peter’s denial, Sarah’s doubt, Moses’s failure, David’s sin, and Jonah’s fleeing…all are great shortcomings in the Bible. But every one of these Bible “greats” had more than their lack of faith in common – they all had great comebacks after their fall. Jonah’s comeback starts with his prayer of penitence in chapter 2. Many times we think, “Oh I know the story of Jonah and the…

  DISCUSSION                                        A common theme from Kings, seem to have been something along the lines of this… “he did evil in the sight of the LORD and followed in the footsteps of his father”.  These kings were only following the examples of those that went before them.  The example we set for others is something that we must be constantly concerned about.  It is important that we live lives that point others in the…

  DISCUSSION                                                               In the book of Galatians, Paul is surprised that the Christians in Galatia had already turned aside to a different doctrine.  It seems that part of their problem had been they had allowed some false teacher to creep in and confuse them by saying that they had to adhere to specific aspects of the Mosaic Law; namely circumcision.  As he finishes up his letter, he makes this statement in Galatians 5.9 “A…

  DISCUSSION                                                         What a great victory Jehu must have thought he had accomplished in destroying all the prophets of Baal along with their temple in 2 Kings 10.18-27.  Not only did they destroy it, but the Bible said that they made it a “latrine” or “sewer”.  I am sure this was an event that was spoken of for months and years after the fact and considered a great accomplishment.  As it was a great…