Our mission is to help people develop a relationship with God through the study and application of His word. We seek to be a truly welcoming and dynamic Christian community where people can connect with God, with each other, and with opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others.Wonders from the Word - Dangerous Motivations for Studying (Romans 7:14-15)
Sunday, August 29th, 2010It is dangerous, even if necessary, to study a text because of the use or misuse of that text by others. The result is that instead of reacting to the text itself, we react to a person’s use or misuse of that text. That puts a person in between us and the text. That can lead to reacting to false interpretations instead of simply understanding the text itself. And that can lead to not emphasizing the true interpretation, but mainly emphasizing the wrong interpretation.
Wonders from the Word - Plain But Misunderstood (Luke 9:44-45)
Saturday, August 21st, 2010Luke 9:44-45 - “Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” (45) But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.The apostles needed to clean out their ears so that they could Let these words sink into your ears. They needed to clean out their minds because the words needing to sink into their ears were concealed from them. Doesn’t that seem incongruous? Jesus’ words meant, “pay attention, remember and understand what I am about to say.” But then the text says the words were concealed? Who concealed them? It could not have been Jesus because His words were very plain. It could not have been the Father because Jesus would not contradict His Father. It had to be the apostles themselves.And that folks is what is scary. Can we plainly misunderstand the plain to understand?
Wonders from the Word - A Closed Society (Acts 15)
Saturday, August 14th, 2010All of a sudden, almost without warning, the church had a problem on its hands. It is new and difficult, and one they never had to deal with before, let alone even think much about it. And trust me, thinking hurts! Especially is this true when it is challenging our religious views.
Binding what God had not, their first solution was wrong. I wonder how often that is true of us. It is natural to want to be comfortable. When on edge, we reach for comfortable solutions. Being right is not always comfortable. Being spiritual is not always comfortable.
All of a sudden they are faced with the question whether the Gentile Christians must be circumcised (Acts 15). Why did circumcision cause consternation then and not before? Because up until this point, Christianity had pretty much been a “closed society.”
Is “The Sinner’s Prayer A Lie?”
Friday, August 13th, 2010Is it possible to believe a lie? Is it dangerous to believe a lie? Can we die spiritually because we believe a lie?
If anyone doubts the truth that Satan preaches lies, then they have not read the Bible with an honest heart. Jesus Himself denounces Satan as the father of lies (Jn.8:44). Jesus speaks of Satan not only as a liar, but as a murderer because Satan murders through his lies. Instead of Jesus’ words giving life (Jn.6:63,68), Satan’s words kill.Now let’s get a little closer to home, to today’s religious world. Is Satan still lying today? read more » »
Wonders from the Word - Its the Message Man
Saturday, August 7th, 2010It’s the Message Man….
Not counting Jesus, when you think of prominent preachers in the New Testament, who comes to mind? Paul? Peter? Again, not considering Jesus, when you think of recorded sermons within the New Testament who has the longest? It is not Paul, nor Peter. It is Stephen (Acts 7).
But wait…Stephen is not an apostle. He waits on tables because the apostles thought “it is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables (Acts 6:2).”
Wonders from the Word - What Shall We Do? (Acts 2:37)
Sunday, August 1st, 2010The judge reads the verdict – “Guilty.” The defendant has moved from defending himself to being judged un-defendable. Heads hang, tears are cried, anger soars, despair sets in.
On the Day of Pentecost, the judge through Peter declares – “Guilty.” After condemning the blameworthy, the condemned do not react in despair or anger. Unlike the listeners to Stephen (Acts 7), they do not stop up their ear and their hearts. Peter’s audience (Acts2) accepts their condemnation. And yet their thoughts are not “All is lost, God could not possibly love us after what we have done.” No, they respond in hope asking, “What shall we do” (Acts 2:37)?
I wonder what gave these people hope.
Wonders from the Word - Public Reading (1 Timothy 4:13)
Sunday, July 25th, 2010Reading in public is becoming a lost art. The Bible is not meant solely for reading, but for listening too – “He who has ears to hear” (Matthew 11:15). God’s word is just like music which is created to be performed, and heard. Even if the player is alone, he is hearing the sounds and being transformed by the mystery of music. Public reading should be done by reading with intent, by making the words what they are – living - read more » »
On Purpose! - The Lost Book of the Bible
Sunday, July 25th, 2010Fascination soars and interest deepens when people hear about “the lost books” of the Bible. Add to that secret codes for unlocking hidden messages and all of a sudden, the Bible is once again interesting to the dull of hearing.
“For over two thousand years the church has tried to hide from humanity the spiritually empowering Gnostic knowledge that Jesus taught to his disciples. Today this knowledge is now available to all within “the Gnostic New Testament of Jesus.”
“The … GNOSTIC NEW TESTAMENT OF JESUS …will send an irreversible shock wave throughout many of our leading religious institutions, which will inevitably relinquish their false spiritual power and enable all of humanity to follow their own individual divine path.” (http://gnosticbookspublishing.com/)
Although there are no real lost books, “lost books” cause Christianity’s critics to gleefully cast dispersion and doubt on the faithful. They insinuate that these followers cannot have all the truth, or even truth itself, if it is still hidden, lost, or even worse, banned by history’s “church.” read more » »
China Report - 2009
Sunday, July 25th, 2010Detained by the authorities from the Bureau of Religious Affairs. Interrogated by the same. Warned that if what occurred in 2008 happens again, the warning will turn into something not so kind. Six officials from the Communist regime of
China sitting in front, behind and to the side, all are speaking Chinese. None of us Americans speak the language. At first nothing is being translated and we are unaware of what is being said, what possibly will happen. Not knowing can be worse than knowing.
That was our first morning in
Dalian. Welcome to
China! read more » »
Wonders from the Word - I Need To Believe That (1 Thessalonians 3:5-8)
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010“I need to believe that….” How would we finish that sentence? In the depths of the core of our being, what makes our “being” worth being? Is it that God loves us? Or that someone has truly forgiven us? Is it that we make a difference? Do we need to believe that God is not done with us yet? Or maybe that it will not be our shortcomings that will define us in the mind of God, but rather our desire? Do we simply need to believe that things will get better, that tomorrow must be better than today? The answer, whatever our answer is, no matter how broad or personal, is not about our certainties, but about our doubts. And it is that all too real doubt that drives us to make it a certainty. read more » »
