Life Goes On

Sunday night I preached a message from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 11 that I titled, "When Jesus Comes to Town Nothing is Ever the Same".  I'm a proponent of daily change because of Jesus.  He never did what anyone expected.  He always went beyond what people thought He would do.  I would venture to say that every one of the 1,279.5 days (give or take) that Jesus spent with His disciples was very different from anything the disciples expected. Although I enjoy having a schedule (I study every Tuesday; visit hospitals & nursing homes on Wednesday, etc.) I find that the best times I have with Jesus are those spontaneous moments when He interrupts my schedule to teach me something I didn't even know I needed.  One of the unique characteristics of the Trinity is that each of them is limitlessly creative.  I think that when Holy Spirit indwells a believer, and they allow Him freedom, that believer will also be infinitely creative. The next time you feel that you are i

There is a lot of concern today even among avid Christ Followers about the unrest throughout the world. Even in our praying we seem to feel that we have to update God on what is happening on the earth as if He didn't know.  The one word God has never, nor will ever utter is "OOPS!"  He does not make mistakes and He is not asleep on the job.  His avowed purpose is to build a family of "Jesus-like" people without violating their free will.  (Ro. 8:29 "For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers." ) His response to our frantic prayers will never be, "I didn't realize that.  Let Me see if I can correct it." Nothing happens without His directive or permissive will.  He uses even the seemingly bad events to mold and shape His followers into the image of Jesus. Therefore we can rest assured that God is in command even when the bad guys seem to be winning.