So how is it that we can spend our entire lives in the church…working for Christ…serving the church…going to meetings…reaching out to hurting people…worshiping and joining in prayer with other Christians…and not be madly in love with God? As Rev. McShane writes, “We miss it…we skim right over the first, the most important, […]
Unlike the Synoptic Gospels which focus on Jesus’ teachings, miracles and parables to help us understand Jesus’ purpose, John takes the reader on a panoramic view of the meaning of life, who God is and who we are in the process. Often described as the Maverick Gospel, John’s Eagle-eye approach to seeing the world will transform your understanding of […]
All people long for God. Period. Some may say the exact opposite, but our desires, actions and values suggest something completely different. We all long to connect with something greater than ourselves, we long for the heart of God. There is simply no better way to connect with God than to learn who God is […]
A guest post from Toby Kurth, pastor of Christ Church San Francisco: Coming face to face with reality is not a bad thing. We live in a world of facades, where truth can be very difficult. Dealing honestly with reality can be a challenging thing for all of us. That is one of the reasons […]
Leo Tolstoy once said: “Everyone thinks of changing the world, no one thinks of changing himself.” God wants to do greater things in our community and in our church, but He also wants greater things in our homes, and in our marriages, in our families, in our finances, and in our future. It has to […]
Lectio Divina Read Hebrews 4:12-16 Read this passage slowly three times. What phrase lingers in your mind? Which parts do you want to read through quickly as if they aren’t there? Let Jesus read the passage to you? Where does He stop and linger? So much of our lives is spent covering up past mistakes and […]
Lectio Divina This morning’s mediation is from Jeremiah 31:16-25 The weeping prophet speaks of hope and of a Father that does not forget his children. The Father has spoken of the pending disaster that comes to those who reject Him and speaks of the folly of youth. I certainly have been guilty of my share […]
Who doesn’t want to be blessed and have God’s favor? Those who received the blessing of the Lord in the Bible seemed to have amazing lives and were able to touch other’s as a result. Where will we be if we just ask God every now and then for His blessing? I’m not talking about […]
Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me […]
The Prayer of Jabez Breaking Through to the Blessed Life, by Bruce Wilkinson (Multnomah, 2000) This simple little book caused quite a stir a few years ago. Anything popular does. Is it theologically based or driven by a desire to manipulate God into responding to a formula we say like a mantra? Well, like all […]