this one really is a short one... so let me include it: 1 Save me, O God, by your name; vindicate me by your might. 2 Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth. 3 Arrogant foes are attacking me; ruthless people are trying to kill me— people without regard for God. 4 Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me. 5 Let evil recoil on those who slander me; in your faithfulness destroy [...]
i am not a big fan of tradition when it is solely taking place for tradition's sake [even if the original meaning and intention might have been good but has been lost or watered down along the way] but there are some traditions which are rich and full of life [baptism, communion, a family that eats together etc] that are incredible. Join me as I look at Mark 7.1-13: [to continue to the [...]
When trying to feed a big gathering of people, it is normally essential that you plan way in advance and consider things like seating, table settings, courses of food, what time the function will start, who has been invited and the like... Jesus decides to skip all that by throwing an impromptu crowd feeding... did i mention that He attempts this without food? [Don't worry, He passes the buck to His disciples - "You feed [...]
'For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.' i mean, that's quite an intro already, right? and possibly carries a profoundly deep message in terms of really getting our minds around the fact that David, altho he had messed up horribly, still ends up at the feet of God, rather than simply trying to hide or run the other way... [...]
Wow! This is a hectic psalm so grab your Bible or google the passage and read the whole thing. This is God claiming His position in the Universe ['The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets' verse 1] and as the Lord of peoples lives ['“Listen, my people, and I will speak; I will testify against you, Israel: I am God, your [...]
What i chose to focus on in this story that we have heard a lot of different preaching on, is the aspect of Jesus working out of the box in a sense and challenging the way things work and also a closer look at the response of people to God pitching up in a very clear way which both amazes and terrifies. Mark chapter 5 verse 1 to 20. The question we are left with [...]
'test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.' [1 Thessalonians 5.21-22] this is one of my favourite verses in the Bible - to be faithful to it, the verse is speaking specifically of prophecies, but i have found that it is a generally great life principle to extend to all things - hold on to the good, let go of the evil/hurtful/untrue. so when it comes to giving a [...]
this psalm is like a shout out to the world - to those who are rich and those who are poor - with the major theme being the question of where you put your trust. the psalmist suggests that putting your truth in your wealth is not a sign of wisdom: 'Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me — those who trust in their wealth and boast of their [...]
Wow, this is a great little psalm - just a delightful praise-filled mantra, but there were one or two lines which really jumped out at me: verse 9 reads, 'Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love.' if you read the second half of the Bible carefully, you quickly find out that God's temple is us - the Holy Spirit of Jesus resides in us, guiding and nudging and pointing us back towards God... [...]
so probably close to 15 years ago i wrote a challenging email to a couple of friends of mine about some aspect of following Jesus... a week later i did the same... at some point i told someone about it and they asked to be added and so i added them... pretty soon i started spam-inviting people from the typical cheesy group Christian emails that used to hit my inbox and some of them decided [...]