"OUR LIGHT AND MOMENTARY AFFLICTIONS"

What I Didn't Say Yesterday On Our Seventh Anniversary “ God, Thank You For the Slowness” I began to say something yesterday and then we just ran out of time. I wanted to say that for me personally, these past seven years have been a period of intense personal growth and learning. I began to say that a huge part of being a church planter has to do with letting go of ego and letting go of ambition, and finally, letting go of the “need” to succeed. I didn't elaborate much because I could see the hungry faces glancing over to the food tables. Anyway...thank God for blogs, because it gives us distracted preachers a sort of 24/7 pulpit – we are set free from the need to go sixty minutes on Sunday. My good friend Kristina Collins posted this as her Facebook status this morning: “ Live your life for a purpose that is bigger than yourself. What are you living for? Live for the glory. And glory is not fame, glory is not making yourself a name, glory is sacrificing for others

“Abraham--your 'father'--with jubilant faith looked down the corridors of history and saw my day coming. He saw it and cheered." (John 8:56 – The Message) “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (Hebrews 11:10 - KJV) This past Sunday I spoke on the power of imagination as it relates to living out our lives in the identity of the “beloved of God.” I looked up the word “imagination” in Wikipedia and learned that it is defined as the "ability of forming mental images, sensations and concepts, in a moment when they are not perceived through sight, hearing or other senses. Imagination is the work of the mind that helps create. Imagination helps provide meaning to experience and understanding to knowledge; it is a fundamental faculty through which people make sense of the world." When God saved us, He saved all of us.  Including our previously fallen and corrupted imagination.  Part of the work of the Spirit of God in

“Lavished With Grace” By Ralph Gomez “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (Ephesians 1:7-8 NIV) I sent my notes out on Ephesians chapter 1.   If you have not received these, you can visit my blog “Our Light and Momentary Afflictions” and read the notes.   Or download them from Zoho at viewer.zoho.com/docs/cca2acc. Anyway, a Facebook friend asked me about my bibliography yesterday – a good question.   I’ve been using about 5-7 different commentaries, plus the excellent language tools that come with the Logos and E-Sword Bible programs. The Logos resources are far superior, but E-Sword has some very excellent inexpensive stuff which anyone can download.   So, as I was studying more yesterday, I ran across some things that I wanted to share before moving on with this sermon series on the Book of Ephesians.    In particular the meaning of the

Dear friends, as promised, here is the first installment of my notes on Ephesians chapter 1. It is my prayer that as you read and enter into this wonderful chapter that the Father would give you the “spirit of wisdom” and of “revelation.” (see explanation below) I. Paul’s Song of Redemption (Hebrew Berakah) (1:1–14) He sings because of the Heavenly Blessings. Ephesians 1 should make us sing too! Berakahs are songs of Redemption which celebrate what God has done. (The Song of Moses and Miriam in Exodus 15 is a “berarah.”) These songs not only glorify God, they bless the soul deeply because they inject the Glory of God deeply into the soul – this is the essence of worship. 1. These blessings are in Heavenly Realms. Best way to understand this realm is from a Kingdom “already/but not yet” perspective. In the same way that the End of the Age has been inaugurated with the start of Jesus’ earthly ministry, but not consummated until the Second Coming, the Blessings in Heavenly

"And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness." Acts 4:31 (ESV) It IS possible. We can, as a Church, "walk and chew gum" at the same time. You've heard that phrase before. I've used it sarcastically when, in an attempt to convince my wife that I can do more than one thing at a time, I play with my Blackberry and watch TV with her and the kids. This leads to lots of family frustration - mostly because of me requesting rewinds every 3 minutes. It doesn't go over well. Ask my kids or Cathy about it. That being said, the Holy Spirit is not plagued with Attention Deficit Disorder as I am. I've never been diagnosed with this condition - but then again, I was never tested. Back in the 60's if you had no self control, they'd lock you in a closet for a couple of hours. So, I just have a sneaking suspicio

This post consists of an abbreviated version of my sermon from Sunday, December 12, 2010. (These are my notes. The preached message itself has a lot of variation and augmentation!) As I went back to this text during the week, it struck me that it is not a “disembodied” truth.Romans 8:28 cannot be separated from the rest of the chapter and just tossed out to our hearts content.I mean, really, why should I expect all things to work together for good right? Do they work together for good for everyone – regardless of what they do? And, more importantly, why do they? How does God do this in us? The thing is, this promise will only bring comfort and joy if we really believe it right? And if we’re loving God…and called according to His purpose. So I started reading from verse 1 this week and discovered this amazing thing about Romans 8. It is the testimony of a man who is in love with the Holy Spirit! Read verses 1-4 Jesus said that the first and greatest commandment is