Psalm: 88 Meditation: ActsIt is amazing that the Church grew to almost 30 times its original size in one day. On that day, Peter said that the promise was to “you and your children, all who were afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Even more amazingly, this group of people …
Tag: Church
Monday, May 9
Psalms: 125, 126 Meditation Colossians: Paul’s student Epaphras, a Colossian himself, was sent to Colossae to bring the gospel from Ephesus, where Paul had established a church. As Colossae was a fledgling church, it was essential to ground the people in the faith and to keep them from being carried off by whims and deceptions. …
Wednesday, April 6
Psalms:70, 75 Meditation John: Matthew tells us in his chapter 15 that as Jesus was going about in Tyre & Sidon that He was sent to call the lost sheep of Israel. Like John the Baptizer, Jesus’ ministry was mainly calling the Jews to repentance. The “other sheep” are Gentiles; so here Jesus gives us …
Wednesday, February 9
Psalm: 137 Meditation Isaiah: I didn’t have to get far into this passage to see parallels to today: “Truth is lacking and whoever turns from evil is despoiled” (plundered). (v. 15) “He saw that there was no one, and was appalled that there was no one to intervene.” (v. 16) It seems clear to me …
Sunday, January 2
Psalms: 46, 47 Meditation John: The “Jews” of verse 41 were probably members of the “Council” – scribes, Pharisees, and priests, which composed the “elders”. These would be people steeped in Scripture and would haggle over the meaning of a word. If they had them then, then this Council would have used a magnifying glass …
Thursday, December 23
Psalm: 37 Meditation Isaiah: is speaking here of lip service. There was a lot of lip service in Isaiah’s day – just as much today, so we can’t say we’ve improved much at all. Unfortunately, today, Christian lip service may manifest itself simply showing up for church any given Sunday, thinking that perhaps that will …
Monday, November 8
Psalm: 119:49-72 Meditation Ecclesiasticus: As I read this passage, I am reminded of Paul’s discourses on spiritual gifts. Sirach considers the various artisans who make up the town: farmer, artist, blacksmith (or what we may call an auto mechanic) and potter, to name a few. Each of these gifts/talents is necessary for each exercises his …
Saturday, February 20
Psalm 30, 32 Meditation: John – Unity. It’s such a small word that means so much in the context of our relationships with God and other believers. Jesus gives us the aim of complete unity with one another as Jesus and the Father are unified. This is the last prayer, according to John, before Jesus’ …
Saturday, December 26
Psalms: 18 Meditation Acts: Today, the Church celebrates the life of Deacon Stephen, the first martyr (or “witness”). We can make several assumptions about Stephen: he was a Greek; burdened with the welfare of the Greek widows and orphans; an evangelist. Acts 7 covers Stephen’s last day on earth and recounts his sermon to the …
John Gray and Stephen Furtick
Conversations about race are even more terrifying than talking about politics. They are fraught with emotion. There is the fear of being misunderstood. So we say nothing and over the years the church has largely been silent. The result is that we live in a country where our churches are segregated on Sunday and violence …
Pacific Union Connect 