Invention, Creation and Glory

 There is a decided difference between invention and creation.  Invention is taking pieces of what exists and putting them together in a unique way.  Creation is starting something new not out of what is there but completely new and unique out of what is not there.

Invention is envisioning a physical material need and using available material resources to construct something that will meet the need.  Distance is overcome by inventing…

Prayer the Way Jesus Did

 If there was ever a prayer lifted up for you and me, one I knew was for real, one that came from the heart of the one praying, I would want it to be how Jesus prayed so openly, so caringly, so lovingly in the last seven verses of John 17.  These are not just words out there in some printed pages.  These were words from the heart of God prayed for you and…

Persecution

The interesting thing about this word is that it is derived from a Greek word ‘dioko’ that has a double meaning.  The negative use is to put to flight, to hunt down and kill.  The positive is to pursue in order to give something.   But when it is used negatively it becomes ‘dediogmenoi’ as is the case here in the Sermon.  So how can it be a blessing when such a strong meaning is attached to it?  The…

Let’s Talk About Love 

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another (Jn.13:34).”

First, it’s a new command from a new Commander.  Of the many Greek words for love there were three standard relational ones in the time of Jesus, philadelphus (brotherly), eros (romantic) and storgei (family).  The word ‘agape’ was an obscure word meaning selfless love but elevated by Jesus to describe the spiritual love from God of which He was the…

Let’s Talk About Peace

How do you make peace?  In secular thinking it just takes agreeing that we should believe in curbing our hostility and choosing not to be in conflict.  That’s the solution.  But is that real peace?  Can we personally make peace?  Is the absence of conflict really peace?  How does an individual resolve what causes conflict?  You’ve heard the question, “Why can’t we just get along?” …

“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased (Lk.2:14).”

The angels were singing this after one of them pronounced the birth of Jesus to shepherds who were tending their sheep in the night.  There are several things that need to be brought up here.  First, angelic presence.  In our self-centered scientific age, the very thought of…

Three Gifts

 What I can surmise from Scripture based on word meaning, the magi were men of wisdom, studied in religion and representing the culmination of human wisdom in their respective cultures.  Their trip had purpose, to see a king from a culture that believed in one God.  In it a prophesied deliverer, the wisest of the wise would be born.  While they were wise men of the…

The Longest Trail Revisited

 “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning (Lk.12:35)”

 In the last session we talked about being spiritual trailblazers.   We can take a plane and in one day be in Asia.  We can go by car and reach the West Coast in a comfortable five days.  We can ‘Duo’…

Trailblazers  

In cross country skiing you have a forerunner, that is, someone who blazes a trail through new snow to make way for the next skiers.  If you are a group of people you each take a turn blazing the trail since new snow takes more effort and energy.  Each one may take a few hundred yards then the next does the same and so on.  Each skier helps the one behind.…

Why We Prepare the Way for Jesus

 Now here’s the rub---when our religious, political, economic and educational structures, the foundational support system for our whole human enterprise, are separated from God, they take His place and eventually self-destruct.  Our world, our culture, is in meltdown because of secularization, its political correctness and the de-spiritualizing of…

Advent, What Were We Made For?

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

 Which is really greater?  Is it the building, the people, the leadership, the institutional forms and rules under which they operate, or the One for whom all that exists? Another way…

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt.5:3).

This very well may be the foundational theme for the whole Gospel.  It is addressed to every human being, believer and unbeliever alike.  Jesus is making a statement that opens the door to the heart. That is, if the heart is willing to receive it.  The heart is the internal battleground where…

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt.5:3).

This very well may be the foundational theme for the whole Gospel.  It is addressed to every human being, believer and unbeliever alike.  Jesus is making a statement that opens the door to the heart. That is, if the heart is willing to receive it.  The heart is the internal battleground…

New Life, New Truth, New Way (Mt.16:21-29)

 Following up on the theme, “How Personal Does God Want to Be?” Jesus pulls no punches with Peter.  He has stated lovingly how much He cares for Peter by giving Him the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.  But there is something Jesus wants to make clear for Peter. A new and totally different attitude about life and death has to be embraced. …

How Personal Does God Want to Be?

The question is best answered by first looking at Jesus’ words to Peter in Matthew 16:17-19.  Jesus has just asked Peter, Who do you say I am?  Peter says that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.  Jesus responds, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood but by my Father in Heaven.  And I tell you that you are…

Are We Offering a Way in or a Way Out?

One of the great problems in the spiritual world called Christian is the number of denominations spanning Roman Catholic to the independent groups and all in between.  What is really happening here?  Simply this.  When a group starts by picking a verse, a passage or an event and builds an institution around it apart from the rest of…

Getting Real Through Prayer the Lord's Way

Prayer starts with us, who we are as images and children of God.  Prayer is basic and it takes place where we are and what is going on right in the present moment.  Three things to know about prayer: first it’s spiritual, second, it’s personal and third it’s relational.  All three are what happen in our minds and hearts and how we present it in our spirit.  When Jesus was…

Maturity 

A key word to Jesus being the way, truth and life is ‘maturity.’  That means how His mind thought right, how His heart had a right attitude and how His Spirit motivated Him to live every moment according to His Father’s will.  His maturity was capped by His perfect faith.   As images of God we look to Him as the perfect Image of God (Jn.1:1, Col.1:15, Heb.1:3).  His…

Policy or Personality, Election Principles

Principle 1  Personality

“There is no one righteous, no not one…(Romans 3:10).”  That disqualifies any and all personal judgments of anyone running for any political office.  Voters have no direct personal knowledge of a candidate.  Unless people have a personal relationship with a candidate, or anyone else for that matter,…

Basics 4  The Holy Trinity

        When we talk about God we are talking about the source, the purpose and the function of existence.  Note that is a threesome.  God is a threesome, Father (Mt.3:17, 16:17, 17:5), Son (Mt.28:18-20) and Holy Spirit (Jn.16:13-15, Acts 1:8).  [The way I describe Him: the architect, the manager and the labor force.]  Naturally.  When I say…