This blog is Pastor Jay's weekly musings about God's Word, God's world, and God's call to our culture. We hope they encourage, challenge, and inform you. Sign up to recieve them in your email.
Last week we began looking at how we can read God's word more and better. There are those who need to simply read it more, and we examined the practical issues and heart issues for addressing that need. This week we will examine how we can read God's Word better. Some of us have developed a habit of reading God's Word daily. We set aside time for it and attempt to guard...
Keep ReadingWe all need to read God's Word more and better. If you have any doubt about that statement, consider the following: We live in a world hell-bent on opposing God's rule over all things. We are sinners who are always susceptible to being deceived from without and from within. We all have blind spots of understanding where sin is lurking. During times of emotional or ph...
Keep ReadingThe other day the weather man said we were going to have some snow. For adults, snow usually throws a monkey wrench into plans. For kids however, it is the white powder of joy. Snow covers the world with fun. It lets you slide with speed, and fall anywhere with the promise of a soft cushion. It can be thrown as balls, or built into stick-arm, scarf wearing people. Our ki...
Keep ReadingIf you have been to any birthday parties for 4 year olds lately, you know what I am about to tell you. When the piata comes out, there are two dominate mindsets. First is the parent's. This mindset is driven by visions of some boy swinging for the fences only to connect with the pigtails of some sweet, unsuspecting party-goer. The main thing the parents want is for that ...
Keep ReadingBelow is a blog by Pastor Scott Sauls. This is one of the best articles that I have read on the pro-life/pro-choice controversy. This article will leave you no place to hide. Whatever side you take, you will find that your own sin has warped what kingdom living calls for. May the gospel transform our approach so that we can have the "true religion" of James 1:27. Pastor...
Keep ReadingIn God's word, one verse is all you need to hear an authoritative word. If God spoke it, it is true and God doesn't need to repeat Himself. But, the more you read God's word, the more you appreciate that God is gracious and compassionate, willing to condescend to those of us who are slow, oblivious, misdirected, stubborn, and, welllike you and me. And so, God is pleased ...
Keep ReadingIn just a couple weeks, many of us will be loading up our vehicles for the trip to be with family, where we will load up the dinner plate with holiday meals. Sadly, many will also begin to feel their heart load up with fear, anger, or anxiety as they think about spending another holiday with family members who are less than a joy to be around. That means now is the time...
Keep ReadingOne of the dreaded features of buying a car is the reality that you have to know something about the engine. Most people are not mechanics. Yet, if you are going to buy a car, someway, somehow, you have to know enough about the engine to know that your purchase will be a wise one. Without that engine, you will only have a leather-interior paper weight. Even after your pu...
Keep ReadingAlmost 10 years in church ministry has allowed me to see most of what happens on a daily basis. One of the normal occurrences of church life is that people come by or call with requests for immediate help. These are never fun. What makes these so problematic is the immediacy of the request, which is the norm. They need gas, right now. They have a bill that must be paid, ...
Keep ReadingToday we are looking at the third and final category of spiritual fruit. The first was the general category dealing with the nature of spiritual fruit. The second addressed spiritual fruit that is internal to the believer and primarily connected to the believer's own life. In working through those first two categories we developed this definition: Spiritual fruit is a ...
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