Like a Dream
from Series: Prayer Points on Property
KJV Psalm 126:1 When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
It must have seemed like a dream when a new leader rose to power and told the Jews they could return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple. It had to be stunning; the Jews must have shaken their heads in disbelief that after 70 long years they were actually going home; that they actually had a home. But God had done the impossible. He had turned a dream into reality so much so that the Jews were laughing (v. 2) and singing God’s praise because He had done great things for them (v. 3).
Does it seem like a dream, like a long shot, for our church to have its own place? Believe the Lord can “turn again” for us. If He could bring the Jews into favor with a new leader, then He can bring our church into favor with this landlord. Then we will be like them, laughing in wonder at the God who still does impossible things for His people.
Read MoreChanged by the Virus?
“Unanticipated, Unprecendented, Unsettling”
These are just a few of the adjectives people use to describe the times in which we live. There is hardly a way in which our lives have not been touched by the virus:
from the way we buy groceries,
to the way we do school,
to the way we worship.
No doubt, you have reached out to God many times in prayer for protection for your family and the community from this spreading virus. At the same time, you may feel your connection to God slipping due to your distance from worship. So I have a question for you.
How has the virus changed how you relate to God?
Please share your comments below.
Read MoreUnsettled Places
A man needs a home so he can hang his hat; a woman needs a home so she can roost and redecorate. How men and women come at things from opposite directions! But all of us know the value of a place to call home, a place to call our own. But sometimes, God allows us to go through seasons of unsettledness.
For forty years, the Israelites were unsettled. Here one day, packing up and moving on the next. When the cloud moved, so did they. And each new place brought a new adventure: a shortage of water, a lack of meat, a disruption of some kind. And according to God this was all part of the plan. He took them places to teach them lessons.
KJV Deuteronomy 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
If you study the text carefully, you will see that God gave them manna not just to feed them but to teach them. He wanted them to understand that there was more to life than eating bread. As they opened their mouths, they were to remember the words of His mouth.
Does it seem like God has always got you on a new adventure? Here one day, and a new challenge the next? Why are we surprised? That same God is leading us. And a shortage of bread or water (or toilet paper) might just be another lesson, a lesson on how much you need God just to live!
Read MoreGender Confusion in Our Schools
During its September 10th meeting, the Tucson District Board of Supervisors will vote on whether to overhaul the sex education curriculum in the Tucson School District. Part of the proposed updates include dealing with gender identity issues including the use of a “genderbread person” which will explore gender on the basis of a continuum of possibilities rather than that presented by biology at time of birth.
First, this is not scientifically sound for every single cell in the human body is stamped with either an x or y chromosome received from the person’s father. Nor is it socially sound. In a day when adults still cannot decide how many letters we should have in the LGBTQ acronym, are we really willing to test our ideas on elementary and junior high age children?
This has nothing to do with education or even bullying. This is about using our kids as pawns in a political battle in which grownups are still very much divided. This may be one of the biggest problems with public education today – using our schools as platforms of social change rather than teaching children gender neutral subjects like reading, writing, and basic math. Is it any wonder that more and more parents are opting for education alternatives like charter schools, online schools, and homeschooling?
Read MoreChrist in the Passover Demo
Join us for a fun and interactive look at one of the most sacred of Jewish feasts, the Passover.
- This Friday, April 19th, 7:00-8:15pm
- Kid-friendly
- Interactive
- Prizes
- Kosher refreshments served.
We welcome our Jewish friends and neighbors.
Read MoreGo Ye
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15
Jesus holds every believer accountable for fulfilling the command in this verse. Preach means “to proclaim or share.” Every person who knows Jesus Christ has a moral obligation to share the gospel which is simply the Good News of salvation in Christ. Who are we to share this Good News with? “Every creature” certainly includes every single living person.
Christ instructs us to carry this out in the context of our daily lives. The Greek word translated as go in this verse could be translated “as you are going.” We are a “going” group of people–we live busy lives. Today we will have many things that will demand our attention, and in the midst of that busyness, we can miss our purpose. God gives us the opportunity to meet people in order to share the gospel we know. As you encounter people today, look for divine appointments.
-Craig Bowers, Locust Grove, CA (from My Daily Devotional Prayer Book, Thomas Nelson, 2012.)
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