Do you make new year’s resolutions? If not, why not? Is it because you are honest enough to admit that you will not see it through? Or is it because you are content with how you are, you don’t need to make any changes? Is it because you are already working hard at self-improvement, and…
Author: Norm
judgment year
January 1, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 11:20-24 OBSERVATIONS I’m not sure about you, but I was not hoping to spend the first day of 2013 thinking about Judgment Day. Jesus seems to be working with the idea that the kinds of miracles that He is performing ought to result in deep, life-altering repentance, and He is surprised…
heeding, not hiding from the truth
December 31, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 11:7-19 OBSERVATIONS Has anyone ever tried to challenge you on something? How did you react? I know for me, my gut level reaction is, who do you think you are, how dare you accuse me. We find reasons to dismiss, deny our ignore what they say. This is what people did…
surprise, there is a God!
December 30, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Psalm 14 OBSERVATIONS Imagine if you could do whatever you wanted, without fear of consequences or punishment. You could take what you wanted, do what you pleased, without retribution? Imagine being in a position of power without accountability. Throughout history people have had this power, and have abused it, and abused people….
Exodus 25-31
December 28-29, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Exodus 25-31 OBSERVATIONS What do you notice in this passage? APPLICATION What do you sense the Lord saying to you? PRAYER
MLK on non-violent resistance
In his book Stride Toward Freedom, Martin Luther King writes about non-violence: First, it must be emphasized that nonviolent resistance is not a method for cowards; it does resist. If one uses this method because he is afraid or merely because he lacks the instruments of violence, he is not truly nonviolent. This is why…
the kingdom has come, and is coming!
December 27, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 11:1-6 OBSERVATIONS The Jews lived with a fervent hope that one day their messiah would come to liberate them from their oppressors and re-establish David’s kingdom, or the kingdom of God. That time would be a time of miracles and blessings, when the blind would receive sight, the lame walk, those…
to believe and receive
December 26, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 10:40-42 OBSERVATIONS It seems that the people who welcome Jesus missionaries (worthy persons) and treat them as righteous prophets will be rewarded. It is not just the act of kindness that Jesus is referring to, but their response to their message. Like the people of Nineveh who welcomed Jonah and his…
willing to stand with Jesus?
December 25, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 10:32-39 OBSERVATIONS Interesting that this is the reading for today. Compare what Jesus says with what the angels sing at His birth: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” “Glory to God in the highest…
bold, not crazy
December 24, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 10:26-31 OBSERVATIONS Jesus is encouraging His followers not to be intimidated by opposition, but to speak boldly. Jesus is using extremes to make a point: using the gap between light and darkness, whispering and proclaiming, that is how much stronger, louder, brighter they must be! Why does Jesus speak of God…