The Passion Week has begun. Yesterday we recognized the glorious entry into the city by the ultimate of Passover Lambs. Quickly the attitude of the week shifts as we fast approach the gruesome, yet necessary, Friday evening. It’s unavoidable. Victory must come through the pain and sorrow of Friday’s misery. The sacrifice was no less than ultimate. It is unfathomable to think about the experience that He went through, but there was no other way. It could not have been any less painful, any less horrific. Over the weekend, I was captivated by the thought of what it was like for those that lived and walked with him prior to that week. They welcomed Him in on Palm Sunday like a newly arriving King, but called for His death just 4 days later. Where was the shift in attitude? It is commonly held that the Jewish people believed that their …
Author: Paul
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6 NKJV) The Christmas story is so simple, yet so completely divine. Our salvation and our redemption enters the world not with pomp and circumstance but as a helpless baby, born in a barn and surrounded by livestock. You could look at this from the outside and ponder the reasoning for such an entrance. After all, He is the King, the creator of Heaven and Earth, He existed before time began and His entrance to Earth is lacking showmanship. It is in that beautiful simple story that we see the true intentions of our God. He did not come to “rule” or “dominate” over us, but rather to be with us and form relationship with us. Jesus …
I am one of those people who is motivated by simple words of encouragement. Even in my employment, it is not the financial opportunities that drive me nearly as much as a simple acknowledgment of a job well done. The reality is, I think we are all in that same boat. Each and every day we seek acknowledgment and approval from those around us; strangers, co-workers, family and friends. We seek validation of our accomplishments, hopes and dreams. Some days, we receive it and some days not so much. The problem arrises when we rely only on what people say about us and we forget what God says – after all, it is His opinion that truly matters. So what does God say about you? He says you are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14), He says you “are the apple of His eye” (Psalm 17:8), He says you are …
“Not me Lord” or “I am not able Lord.” How many times do we see that in the Bible when God calls forth His people for a purpose or cause? I spoke about this last year in my post “No More Excuses“, but this morning I was reading in 1st Kings 18 and couldn’t help but pause and reflect on a few points in that chapter. I will give you the back story in one sentence: Elijah is a man of God, who told Ahab ( the King of Israel, evil in the sight of God) there would be a famine and Elijah has been gone for 3 years now returning. As Elijah begins his journey back in encounters Obadiah. The Bible tells us that Obadiah feared the Lord greatly and even hid and saved 150 prophets of God from Jezebel. Obadiah knows that Elijah is a man of God …
This past week we took our first out of state trip (which included a 3+ hour plane ride) with our almost 3-month old. As we approached our trip, I spent countless hours canvasing through blog after blog digesting the wisdom of brave parents who have traveled before with an infant. I will admit, I had some fear about this task (ok veteran parents, now is your time to laugh at me for dreading travel with just 1 baby). Needless to say, everything went even smoother than I could hope for. It was on this trip that a concept my wife discussed with me weeks ago came to light. On this trip we submitted our little one to numerous new encounters; planes, hotels, car rides, museums, and the worst of them all, a carnival midway. And along the way, it never mattered to him where he was – but rather, who …
We are coming off of Independence Day and with that, you are drawn to take a pause and reflect on what it all means. What is freedom? What does it mean for our country, our society, our way of life, or better yet, what does it mean for me individually? The sacrifices made by multitudes of men and women throughout the history of our nation cannot be taken in vain. They all had a core belief for the freedom of man. The founding fathers also believed firmly in religious freedom and established the laws of the land based on the doctrines of the Christian Word. I was reading a quote this weekend by Patrick Henry that really struck me: “It is when people forget God that tyrants forge their chains.” Patrick Henry could not have been more right. When you step away from the power you have in God, you …
Anticipation is an interesting state to live in. We have all experienced it in varying levels during various stages in our lives; As a child on Christmas Eve, or a young groom/bride on their wedding night, or someone just awaiting an answer on a long awaited wish. Anticipation can be a tricky path to walk. Sometimes, I believe, anticipation can cloud our “present”. We operate in a constant state of anticipation. We can live in it, exist in it, and in a sense, today passes us by unnoticed and untouched. Jesus talked so much about sowing and reaping, about seasons. Each season we exist in is a building block toward tomorrow. What we can gleam from today, will propel us into tomorrow. The Israelites never should have been wondering the desert as long as they did. They failed to exist and recognize what God was providing them today. They constantly …
Before we jump in, it is important to note there have been 2 parts to our topic already posted last week. I encourage you to read them first if you have not done so: Part 1 and Part 2. Numbers 14 starts off in a very interesting way: 1So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.” Wow. …
Earlier in the week I posted Part 1 of our discussion “Learning From Spies“. If you have not read it, I encourage you to do so now, as this post is simply a continuation of it. We left off in verse 31 of Numbers 13: 31But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” 32And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” I cannot …
In the book of Numbers we read the story about Moses sending 12 spies into the promised land. If I were to ask you to name the 10 that came back with a bad report, could you? Likely not without looking it up. But, the odds are better that you could name the 2 that did: Caleb and Joshua. Why is that? They were all named in the Bible. Quite simply, society never remembers those that don’t think big. There are countless truths that can be extracted from Numbers 13 and 14 and I am going to take a couple posts over the next few days to look at some of those. First, let’s jump right into the 2nd verse of Chapter 13 where God is speaking to Moses: 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe …
