How do we read Scripture?  Where do we place the emphasis as we read?  Is it on a place, an experience, an event or a person?  Perhaps if we think about it a little bit we might see the way we read, the emphasis we put on a word or phrase, reveals a lot about what we treasure the…

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“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland (Is.43:18-20 NIV).”

 …

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 “Faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being certain of what we do not see. That is what the people of long ago were praised for (Heb.11:1-2 NIRV).”

 At Christmas we have a lot of…

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The best word definition of faith we have is in the Word, Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (KJV).”  The Message puts it like this; “The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see.”

 

What we need to say right at the start is that all people have faith because they are created in the…

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If you want a clear picture of what true, complete and ultimate faith looks like, think Jesus.  Everyday of His life, His mind, His heart and Spirit was living for His Father.  His heart, mind and Spirit were in His Father.   He was the temple of faith for His Father.  His mind, His heart and His Spirit were submitted in obedience to His Father’s will.  His mind was the Holy Place and His heart was the Holy of Holies.  His Spirit moved within to energize the Word in Him. 

 

It…

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Recently a famous pro quarterback accused of bad behavior in a nightclub was interviewed on TV and asked the question as to what really happened at the club.  He admitted to the behavior but then amended it by saying, “That really wasn’t me.”  He said that several times wanting to convince the interviewer and the audience that he was really not a ‘bad guy,’ that he was really above that kind of behavior and now that it was in the open he would never act like that again.  The interviewer…

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It takes bulldozers to clear trees, boulders and level mounds of dirt in order to build a highway. If we continue to think spiritually about highways like the one we talked about in describing the construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway it takes spiritual bulldozers to clear the dark obstructions lying in the unseen dimension. We are blazing a trail, a spiritual trail through the wilderness of sin and evil to the highest peak called the Kingdom of God. However bulldozers work against hard…

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“And a highway will be there;

it will be called the Way of Holiness;

it will be for those who walk on that Way.

The unclean will not journey on it;

wicked fools will not go about on it (Is.35:8 NIV).”



It’s the highway that needs to be built. It’s a holy highway. It’s a highway paved with faith. It’s highway dedicated to moving across the ridges and peaks where the air is pure and rarified and that air is the fruit of the Spirit as He connects each toward God and… Continue

Preserving the beauty of Creation, putting people to work and building an accessible road through the mountains. The parallel? God’s vista, God’s plan and God’s journey. It is the invisible made visible, the unseen seen and the eternal God present.



The first, God’s vista, is to experience the God who made all existence by seeing all things in the spiritual context of Jesus Christ and His endless reality from which they came.

The second, God’s plan, is to work in that Creation… Continue

The third part of the Blue Ridge parallel was building an accessible highway through the mountains. Here is where the vision and the planning became a reality. Here is where the idea, the organizing for the idea, the gathering of all the skills and equipment necessary actualized the idea. Here is where the idea became a hands-on day-to-day combination of all the administrative, leadership, engineering, supervising and specific tasks. Everything from project management to that guy with axe in… Continue

The second part of the Blue Ridge parallel was putting people to work during the Great Depression. Having the vision for a highway needed planning, surveying, contractors, skilled artisans and a labor force to do the actual clearing and paving. It’s a massive wilderness to overcome. Facing seasonal changes, gathering the machinery, accommodating the needs for food, clothing and medical supplies presented an…

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Let’s look again at the three-fold purpose of the Blue Ridge Parkway, preserving a way to behold the beauty of Creation for all future generations, putting people to work during the Great Depression and building an accessible road through the mountains.



Right now we will look at the first one, preserving a way to behold the beauty of Creation for all generations. The parallel here is to return humanity to its source, our Creator God. It’s interesting to note that the plan was not… Continue

“In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him (Mt.3:1-3 TNIV).’”



When the Blue Ridge Parkway was built in the 1930’s in Virginia and North Carolina through the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains, the forests, mountains and valleys were… Continue

Advent 2010 He’s On His Way Back



Matt.12:6 Jesus said, “But I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple (KJV).”



Which is really greater? Is it the building, the people, the leaders, the institutional forms and rules under which they operate, or the One for whom the building, the institution and the people exist? Another way of putting it, are the forms more important than the substance? Are the structures superior to the One who initiated them? ““The… Continue