The longer Paul waited in Athens for Silas and Timothy, the angrier he got—all those idols! The city was a junkyard of idols. —Acts 17:16 A first-century, nascent movement was underway, based on the life and teaching of a little-known Jew from Nazareth that had the audacity to say that […]
Great googa-mooga, can’t you hear me talking to you, just ball of confusion; That’s what the world is today, hey, hey —The Temptations, “Ball of Confusion” It seems that things are being sifted through a zero-sum sieve. By things I mean things…life and all that it has to offer—from health to sports, […]
“Going through this race as a Christian is going to cost you.” -Pastor Nathan Houston I’ve read the Bible. I still read it, thank God. And I always want to skip the verses about peace, joy, love, abundance, grace, and mercy. I don’t sit too often with letters such as the […]
“We have a void in our souls, a spiritual void in our souls that cries out and really demands. It’s going to be filled with something.” – Pastor Mark Meeks But with what? This past Sunday we intentionally focused on 2 Timothy 2: 22-26. During the lesson, Pastor’s comment above […]
Growing up at a time (5+ decades ago) and place (Bakersfield) there weren’t too many playtime options. Baseball was always first choice, but there weren’t always enough people to hit, pitch and field. One game I vividly recall playing with my friend (Aaron) from across the street was Follow the Leader. We shared the role of […]
Leadership is inevitable. My recent experience riding “Lincoln” the horse, while vacationing in Tahoe, reminded me that headship (authority) occurs and, if I didn’t lead, Lincoln would invariably take control. Given an animal’s responsiveness to sensory stimuli, Lincoln immediately sensed my mild to moderate trepidation, which escalated to shouting-out-loud, full-blown […]
Will the real Jew with confidence, please stand up? Please stand up! Please stand up! I know this is probably old school music now, but this lyric resonated with me as I listened to the scripture and Sunday’s sermon. In Philippians 3: 1-8, Paul reminds the believers that circumcision of […]
I thank God for Paul, because Paul was a mover and a shaker. When I read the Bible and discover how Paul’s boldness and courage ignited change, something inside me is stirred up. I admire his radical boldness and fervent desire to share God’s truths. Paul truly had a heart […]
“God, who is community in his essence, creates community and asks us to worship him in community.” I have been sitting with this sentence for the last hour. I’ve heard Pastor say this before. And every time I hear it. I halt. Right away I am amazed at its simplicity […]
Pick a card, any card! Is this your card? Matthew 21:1-11 https://vimeo.com/123916564 I can’t tell you how much I enjoy magic tricks. Even discovering how the magic trick is done is so impressive to me. I think about the level of detail and research required to pull off something so […]
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