I received the following “Only in America” observations, but I’ve changed it to Canada, since most of them apply here too. They make you think… Only in Canada too… can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance. Only in Canada too… do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the…
Never alone
SCRIPTURE: Mark 14:32-36 Jesus knows that it is not good for Him to be in the garden alone (see Genesis 2:18), whether Eden or Gethsemane. He enters this battle zone with the support of His friends (though they let Him down, see v.37), and God. He still wrestles in prayer alone, but they are there (or are…
Acapella version of ‘Little Drummer Boy’
Not my favourite Christmas song, but I love how they sing it!
Hopeful AND honest!
SCRIPTURE: Mark 14:27-31 We may try to imagine how we will respond to difficult or tempting situations. ‘I wouldn’t do that, I wouldn’t say that’, or ‘I would do the right thing, I would be brave!’ Like Peter, we can be convinced of how we think we might respond. On the one hand, this is good:…
Will I let Him in?
SCRIPTURE: Mark 14:17-26 How sad to be so close to Jesus and to miss out on the wonderful experience of His love. Jesus knew what was going on in Judas’ heart, and He also knew His disciples would deny knowing Him. Yet He still wants to share this meal with them, and at this meal He…
The pressures of leadership
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 61 John Maxwell speaks of the ‘whale’ leadership principle. Whoever comes to the surface tends to get harpooned. David is king, you would think life would be easy for him. But leadership is a tough place to be, with huge responsibility. And there are always people ready to criticize, to accuse, to undermine, to…
Humility
Humility is an elusive quality to pursue. The more you think of yourself being humble, the less humble you are (because you’re thinking of yourself). “Moses wasn’t very proud at all. In fact, he had less pride than anyone else on the face of the earth.” (Numbers 12:3) What makes this verse interesting is that supposedly…
Homeless man joins in on praising God!
This is very moving! One God, one Creator, one Father, the God of second chances! God’s Spirit is definitely moving in this moment, “moving here, moving there, moving in the atmosphere!”
Satan will not succeed in stopping God!
SCRIPTURE: Ezra 1-6 Satan does what He can to hinder God’s plan to rebuild/restore His creation kingdom. The temple was destroyed, the chosen people were slaves in Babylon, Satan had won… or had he? God uses a pagan king to restore Israel, God stirs the hearts of His enslaved people to rebuild the temple. Satan can…
How God guides Jesus… and me!
SCRIPTURE: Mark 14:12-16 How did Jesus know that they would meet the man carrying a water jar? We sometimes think that because Jesus is God in a body, He knows everything. But Jesus was emptied of His God-powers (Philippians 2:6-8), He did not know everything (Mark 13:32). I suspect that it was in His quiet time alone with…