Deuteronomy 6:4-5 Hear O Israel: The LORD [is] our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. The Shema (the passage/prayer found above) was the defining confession of the Jewish people. It was the core belief that set Judaism apart from all other religious philosophies of its day. It reminded the descendents of Abraham that of all the peoples of the world they were God’s precious and…
Mark 16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” ~ How many believers were there in 100 AD? Answer: About 25,000 How many believers were there in 310 AD? Answer: 20,000,000 In other words, in a little over 200 years, Christianity grew from being a small religious sect in a backwater area of Palestine into the most significant force in the Roman Empire. In fact, Christians were so numerous that…
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see…. Hebrews 11:1 MANASSAS, VA, Friday, August 26 Today I prepared for a hurricane. It seemed kind of foolish. The sky was blue and there was a gentle breeze rustling the leaves. The sun was shining. It was a gorgeous evening. However, I didn’t dawdle. I mowed the lawn, cleaned out the rain gutters and stowed all of the children’s outside toys safely…
Luke 14:25 & 33 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said… [If] any of you does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874-1922) was an intrepid explorer of the early 20th century. He made multiple trips to the South Pole and fired the imagination of the world with tales of harrowing expeditions, shipwreck and dramatic rescues in Antarctica. A 2002 documentary entitled Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance…
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward. Matthew 10:42 Tuesday, 1 PM: I just drove the Bali mission team to Dulles airport for the first leg of their 21 hour flight to Indonesia. Their first flight is 14 hours to Seoul, South Korea. They have a couple of hour layover and then a seven hour flight…
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36 In the 1994 critically acclaimed movie The Shawshank Redemption, the life of a young successful banker Andy Dufresne is forever altered when he is wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to life imprisonment at Shawshank Prison. Over the course of the years he develops long term friendships with other lifers, including Brooks Hatlin, the prison librarian. Brooks has been in the prison for so…
I will sing of your steadfast love, O LORD, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 89:1 A couple of weeks ago I was sneaking around the house, the way parents sometimes do, to check up on what my kids were doing. Josh is downstairs watching ESPN sports center, check. Amanda is in her room reading a book, check. Katelyn is at the kitchen table with the laptop playing some kind of matching game…
Colossians 1:12-13 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the son he loves in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Over the last several years I’ve kind of gotten into reading James Mitchener novels. Mitchener was the Pulitzer prize winning novelist who wrote Tales of the South…
Philippians 4:11-13 …for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much…
Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; and revive me in your ways. (NIV & NASB) It seems like I have an extraordinary capacity to waste time. It doesn’t happen all the time and it might be a stretch to say that it happens often, but it does happen and with disturbing regularity. I’ll have a to-do list as long as my right arm or I’ll be exhausted at home after a long day of work and… I…