January 10, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 12:30-32 OBSERVATIONS To claim to follow Jesus, yet not join Him in His mission to restore God’s kingdom (through words and deeds of loveand mercy), is to work against Jesus. To do nothing is not an option, it is to do something in the wrong way. If we are not working…
Author: Norm
remember who’s in charge here!!!
January 9, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 12:22-29 OBSERVATIONS Matthew’s point in writing this gospel is to show that Jesus is the Son of David, the promised Messiah. This was what people were sensing when Jesus did what He did. They knew the prophecies, they saw the miracles, they heard the message. Yet for some reason the religious…
the kind of servant God loves
January 8, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 12:15-21 OBSERVATIONS My sense of Jesus is that He was not a trouble-seeker, not aggressive or militant or pushy (just saw a National Geographic special last night on an cult called the Aggressive Christianity Missionary Training Corps, so unlike Jesus). When they plot against Him, He retreats. He does not flaunt…
no law against love!
January 7, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 12:9-14 OBSERVATIONS This story follows the previous one, where Jesus has explained that God desires mercy more than sacrifice, ie keeping the Law is not the goal, but obeying the intent of the Law, namely mercy. Jesus points out that if exceptions are made for animals in distress, how much more…
living in fellowship with God
January 6, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Psalm 15 OBSERVATIONS One of the struggles we face as Christians is how we balance God’s will (to be blameless, righteous, to speak the truth, to not wrong our neighbour, to keep our word, to help the poor and reject bribes) and God’s mercy (forgiveness for our failure and inability to obey…
The idolatry of God
I am intrigued by this video book promo for a book by this title. Peter Rollins is suggesting that we reduce God to an idol when we turn God and faith and life into a system that works, that makes sense. He is urging us to embrace mystery, dissatisfaction and uncertainty, to admit that life…
Peace in His Presence
When I was a teenager, I had a paper route. I remember one occasion when there was a vicious looking dog – a doberman pinser, normally in the back yard behind a gate – sitting on the front step, watching me approach with teeth bared, a barely audible growl coming to my ear. I had…
seeking God, not just the gifts
A.B.Simpson wrote this hymn entitled “Himself”, which reveals the shift from seeking spiritual blessings to seeking the Blesser Himself, and the resulting blessing that comes from knowing and seeking Him. Sometimes I can get so busy, so focused on “spiritual things and activities”, that I lose sight of what they are all about, or where…
God is bigger, better than we think
January 4-5, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Exodus 32-40 OBSERVATIONS What is God like? How do you experience God? Can each person decide what God is like for themselves… “God as we understood Him.” (from AA Twelve Steps, Step 3). For centuries in Egypt, the Israelites were exposed to the worship of gods in the form of statues, including Apis…
what is the kingdom of God?
The kingdom of God is this world as God created it to be, with all it’s beauty and order and purpose. In the beginning, God entrusted this world to humans, His appointed rulers (kings and queens, princes and princesses). The bible begins with this picture of the kingdom of God, of humans male and female…