Thoughts From The Pastor (Page 10)
Ask The Pastor: What is the Trinity and why is it important?
Question: I’ve heard the word “trinity” used a lot, but I don’t quite understand what it is and why it is so important for Christians. Can you explain? Thanks for asking! You are correct, the doctrine of the trinity is a very important doctrine of the Christian faith. It is unique in that the word “trinity” is never actually given in the Bible. However, the idea of the trinity is given throughout Scripture. First, what IS the trinity? In his…
Morning Fuel – 1 Samuel 15:22 – Obedience
In 1 Samuel 15:22 (NIV), Samuel says… “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. Have you ever stopped to think about what it means to “obey” rather than “sacrifice”? Samuel, who saw thousands of people coming to God and giving sacrifices, said, “Hey, those sacrifices are good, but obedience is even better!” That would be…
Morning Fuel – Ecclesiastes 5:2 – Listening To God
In Ecclesiastes 5, Solomon is giving us some words of wisdom about interacting with God. And in verse 2, he says… Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. Why is saying this? In the Old Testament, part of the sacrificial process involved the priest reading from God’s law and then explaining it. So…
Morning Fuel – 2 Corinthians 3:12 – Boldness and Hope
In a previous devotional I talked about how being filled with the Spirit can make us bold in speaking about Jesus. Today I want to talk about boldness again, but this time as it relates to approaching God. In 2 Corinthians 3:12, Paul writes, “Since we have such a hope, we are very bold…” There are two things to see here. When Paul says “hope,” he is referring to what Jesus Christ did on the cross. Once Jesus died and…
Morning Fuel – Acts 4:8 – Boldness in Evangelism
Sometimes people tell me, “I wish I could be bolder in sharing about Jesus!” Heck, I know I have felt that in my own life! Now when it comes to witnessing, there is an element of courage. When you are new at it, you sometimes just have to “get over that first hump” and do it before it starts to get easier. So there is a part of it where you just need to work at it and it will…
Morning Fuel – Ecclesiastes 4:1 – Leaders Can’t Save Us
I read an interesting study that looked at judges and their rulings based on what they ate! In 2010, researchers tracked 8 judges in 1,100 parole-board hearings over 10 months. The judges averaged 22 years of experience. Their findings? “The chances of a prisoner being granted parole depended on the time of day that the judge heard the case.” Prisoners’ odds for getting their parole granted were highest in the morning right after breakfast. About 65% were granted a parole…
Morning Fuel – Ecclesiastes 3:16-17 – The Problem of Injustice
We would all agree that this world can be horribly unfair. People die and suffer. Evil seems to rule. Just a quick look at the news shows us that all around the world there are unjust things happening. Solomon made that same observation thousands of years ago. In Ecclesiastes 3:16, he said, “Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.” Solomon was…
I Minister In The Busyness, But I Refuel In The Margin
Everyone is different, so I do not want to make a proclamation of, “this is how you should live!” But I do see a trend that worries me. Many people pack their lives with so many activities that they lose any margin. And when they lose margin, they lose an important opportunity to refuel. I define margin as “space to allow your body and mind an opportunity to rest, grow, and think.” It is the opposite of rushing and busyness.…
Morning Fuel – Ecclesiastes 4:4 – One Danger of Community
In Ecclesiastes 4, Solomon has been talking about the benefits of community. How two are stronger than one. How we can help each other. Sadly, we all know that there are some difficulties to community as well. Solomon gives one of those in v. 4. He writes, “Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.” So Solomon is pointing out…
Morning Fuel – Ecclesiastes 4:7-8 – Independence
Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 4:7-8: 7 Again, I saw vanity under the sun: 8 one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business. In these verses Solomon talks about someone who has no one. The person has worked hard…
Purity Matters
In the day and age we live in, it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking it is alright to do a little sin. Many have a line that they think, “As long as I don’t cross THIS, I am fine.” So they engage in activity that the Bible considers sin and they justify it, thinking, “as long as I am a good person, I am fine.” Or, “As long as I do not pass this particular line,…
Ask The Pastor: What does Jesus mean when he says, “when two or more are gathered in my name?”
Question: So, in Matthew 18:20 when it says “For where two or three gather in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” I’ve always just accepted that and been encouraged by that. But, I was just pondering over it and thought- but wait- He is with me when I am by myself too. So what is the difference? Is this differentiating between persons of the trinity? Answer: As you already pointed out, Matthew 18:20 says, “For where…