12/22/2021 0 Comments Four Things God HatesSt. Augustine wrote in Augustine Confessions:
"Thus they hate the truth for the sake of that other thing which they love because they take it for truth. They love truth when it enlightens them, they hate truth when it accuses them. Because they do not wish to be deceived and do wish to deceive, they love truth when it reveals itself, and hate it when it reveals them." We like genuineness when it suits or helps us, but not so much when it exposes us or shows our wrong motives or conduct. Perhaps that is why there is a Jewish parable that says, “Truth is heavy, so few men carry it.” 10/23/2021 0 Comments IndividualismJim Van Yperen wrote a terrific book on resolving conflict entitled Making Peace: A Guide to Overcoming Church Conflict. One of the topics Yperen tackles is individualism. He notes specifically that western individualism actually works against spiritual vitality and fellowship because it breeds autonomy at the cost of biblical community. Individualism results in consumerism.
8/21/2021 0 Comments NecessitarianismNecessitarianism is “the doctrine that all events, including acts of the will, are determined by antecedent causes; determinism.”[1] The word first came into usage in 1825.[2] The philosopher Baruch Spinoza was the most famous defender of this metaphysical principle (the key groundwork of his Ethics[3]), considered as the strongest form of hard determinism which disputes the libertarian’s concept of free will.[4]
[1] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/necessitarianism [2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/necessitarianism#h1 [3] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spinoza-modal/ [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necessitarianism 7/18/2021 0 Comments Moving Past CrisisI like the two Oriental characters for the word crisis. In both Japanese and Chinese, they mean “threatening opportunity.”—Jack Hayford, John Killinger and Howard Stevenson in Mastering Worship
5/1/2021 0 Comments No More Work to DoOccasionally when I’m reading my Bible a statement will just jump off the pages and grab me. It happened this week while I was studying Romans chapters 13-16. Look at the two verses below and see if anything strikes you.
Meditation Romans 15:23,24—But now I no longer have any work to do in these provinces, and I have strongly desired for many years to come to you whenever I travel to Spain. For I hope to see you when I pass through, and to be assisted by you for my journey there, once I have first enjoyed your company for a while. 4/14/2021 0 Comments DegradedWhen the leaders of the military set as their highest priority rooting out right-wing extremists and ensuring transgender Americans can serve in the force we can be sure that our readiness is woefully compromised.
4/7/2021 0 Comments LeavingI’m not sure if I’ve ever read a devotional on leaving but it seems appropriate to write one. After six years in Colorado, a destination I arrived at with no expectation of ever moving again, once more I find myself getting ready to pack up a moving truck and transport my family. We are leaving the Rockies, a beautiful city, a great church, wonderful friends and a place we truly love because of health reasons. It seems that for some of us, living at a high elevation (almost 7,000 ft.) comes with a cost and it is one that is not worth paying if it can be avoided.
7/18/2020 0 Comments Ephesians 6--Armor Up!
Daniel York teaches from Eph. 6:10-18 Why it is Critical to Apply our Spiritual Armor!
1/29/2020 0 Comments Civil DisobedienceIf you do not obey the light, it will turn into darkness.—Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest
10/24/2019 0 Comments EssentialismEssentialism, is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done.—Greg McKeown in essentialism
4/26/2019 0 Comments Yesterday, Today and TomorrowThere is something powerful to be said about permanence.
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