Tag: christian identity

OUT OF THE CHAOS 10.07.2020

The book of Judges records Israel’s spiral away from God, showing that without a sovereign leader, humanity moves away from God, not toward him. Eventually, the Israelites ask for a king so they can be like their neighbors. Saul is the first king of Israel. He looks like a king (1 Samuel 10:23), he is …

OUT OF THE CHAOS 10.06.2020

The book of Judges is written during a time when Israel had no earthly king. God was to be their king but that required them to obey and follow his commands. The people rarely did this well. They failed to drive out all the inhabitants of the land, as they were commanded (Judges 1:19, 21, …

OUT OF THE CHAOS 10.05.2020

A common malady of humankind is living from a false sense of self, not having an identity grounded in truth. Our identity is not our uniqueness. Identity is the foundation on which we build our uniqueness. Jesus said we are loved, chosen, called his friends and appointed for a purpose. Paul, in his letter to …

OUT OF THE CHAOS 10.02.2020

…and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless …

OUT OF THE CHAOS 09.21.2020

There was a woman who loved auctions and estate sales. One day she found herself wandering among the furniture at an auction when she looked to the side and saw another woman wandering the items as well. She looked away and thought to herself, “My! She was really grumpy!” Turning back to see if she …

OUT OF THE CHAOS 09.18.2020

It is a guarantee that our bodies will experience weakness and exhaustion. It is the signal our bodies give that we need to slow down and rest. Sleep is one of the five elements needed to survive. Our spirits also become weak, tired and exhausted. I remember one time meeting with my pastor to discuss …

OUT OF THE CHAOS 09.16.2020

Monday evening I went outside to look at the stars. I chose the front yard because there are fewer lights there than in the back. Opening the door, I snapped off the porch light and was immediately surrounded by deep darkness. So dark, in fact, that I couldn’t see the sidewalk. I did not let …

OUT OF THE CHAOS 09.15.2020

What did you learn by noticing the stars? Were you able to calculate how many there are, even counting them? Naming them? Yeah — me neither. But the immensity of the galaxies is certainly amazing, isn’t it? In Isaiah 40, God invites the reader to consider the stars. Then he asks two questions: 27O Jacob, …

OUT OF THE CHAOS 09.11.2020

The center book of the Bible is Psalm 118. Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter of the Bible and Psalm 119 is the longest chapter of the Bible. There are 594 chapters before Psalm 118 and 594 chapters after. If you add those together, you get 1188. Psalm 118:8 could be said to be the …

OUT OF THE CHAOS 09.03.2020

The Greek word translated sin means to “miss the mark.” As in archery, there is a target and the best shot is right in the center of that target. To sin simply means I missed the target. The Greek word translated confess means to “say the same thing as.” It is agreeing with what God …