Thoughts on Christ and His Word

Today I was struck by a simple yet profound truth: "you reap what you sow". For non farmers that means you eat the consequences of your actions. Proverbs 1:23-33 came alive to me today. First, by seeing the benefits of responding correctly to God's instructions. If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you...whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm." Prov 1:23, 33 WOW! When I listen to God, He pours out His heart to me. God pours out HIS HEART to me. The more I listen and obey God the more He will reveal His thoughts and heart to me. The God of the universe will speak and reveal himself to me. If that weren't enough, God says if I listen and obey I will also live in safety, ease, and without fear of harm. However, if we reject God's advice, rebuke, and outstretched helping hand (vs. 24-32) we will reap the consequences --- disaster, calamity, ove...

I finished reading Job today and came upon an interesting characteristic of "leviathan" ( possibly a crocodile or some extinct super creature). God said about leviathan: Nothing on earth is his equal — a creature without fear. Job 41:33 I began to think about how fearful man is --- how fearful I am. Yet God exalts leviathan because he is "a creature without fear." God doesn't like it when we fear because fear is the opposite of faith and we all know that "without faith it is impossible to please God". Fear also has a paralyzing effect. It keeps us from trying great things for God. Our fear of failure or fear of what others might think keep us from taking leaps of faith for God and his kingdom. Fear is a trap from which God wants to release us. The one thing we are repeatedly told to fear in the Bible is God. Let all the earth fear the LORD Psalms 33:8 Here is a little known principle: We serve that which we fear. It controls our lives - thoughts, a...

Yesterday was Father's day. I had a great day. My wife made me breakfast fit for a king - scrambled eggs with ham, cheese, tomatoes , and mushrooms. With that she served me pancakes with maple syrup. Then I played Axis and Allies (a manly war game) with my kids and brother-in-law. I won (my son Josiah helped me win). Then we went to church. I preached a message titled "The Importance of Fathers" (you can hear it on-line on The Rock's website). I challenged the men of our church to take up their proper roles as the leaders of their families - to take the lead in nurturing and disciplining their children in order to raise godly/kingdom building children for God. I firmly believe that if men would stop abandoning their wives and children and grab hold of their God-given role we could effectively wipe out violent crime in our cities and virtually reduce all social ills that plague our society. It takes courageous God-fearing men to raise kids right. I pray th...

As I was reading through Job this morning I began to realize how deep this man's character was. His integrity and uprightness came from the core of his inner being - and he knew it. When his friends misdiagnosed his suffering as a result of his wickedness and secret sins he responded to their verbal accusations by saying: "I will never concede that you are right; I will defend my integrity until I die. I will maintain my innocence without wavering. My conscience is clear for as long as I live." Job 27:5-65 NLT As I kept reading I noticed the righteous character of Job (especially as seen in chapters 29 and 31). Job was a man: of compassion of justice who would not lust after women who was honest (without deceit or falsehood) who was faithful to his wife who treated his employees with dignity and fairness who helped the poor, the widow, and the fatherless who trusted God for his security and not his wealth who did not worship any other god who did not hold grudges nor...

As I was reading through the story of Esther I was amazed at how she had learned to honor her parents even though the man who raised her wasn't even her real father - he was her uncle Mordecai who adopted her after her parents untimely death. She first honored her adoptive father by being obedient: "But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai's instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up." Esther 2:20 Obedience to a parent is the highest form of honor. As she grew older and became queen she continued to honor him, but not as a child who simply obeys orders, but as a mature person who knows how to negotiate and find common ground for the good of everyone. So when Mordecai wants her to go to the king and beg for mercy for the Jewish nation, she doesn't just rush in to the throne room (which could have cost her her life). "Then Esther sent this reply...

I just returned from a trip to New Jersey to help our Great Commission church there. A certain situation had arisen there that was hurting the church. After consulting with the parties involved a solution to the problem was agreed upon and everyone agreed to bury the situation and seek love and unity. I couldn't help but notice that this positive outcome was a result of the church there in New Jersey being part of a greater association of like-minded believers, in this case Great Commission Latin America ( GCLA ). They humbly accepted me (and my partner Rodmey ) to come into their church and help restore a spirit of peace, love, and unity. What a blessing! Churches should not be religious islands acting completely independent from the rest of the body of Christ. This kind of independence is foreign to the New Testament, where we repeatedly see interdependent churches - churches working together for the gospel under the supervision of apostles. In 3 John we see what can happen to ...

"The king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him." Ezra 7:6 - Ezra got everything he asked from the king because God's gracious hand was on Him. This phrase is repeated 3 times in chapters 7-8. As I read these verses I wondered, "Wouldn't it be great to have the gracious hand of the Lord on ME?" As I further meditated on this God began to show me that His hand is and has been on me. I was reminded of specific prayers I had made (recent ones and some 20 years ago) that God had been answering recently. As I was preparing to do the church-plant in Woodstock I prayed that God would move hearts and send people with me. He did - 50 people in total moved with me from Miami. About 12 years ago I began praying that God would give me apostolic duties, to help churches and church leaders to progress in their ministries. This began to happen last year as I got more involved in our Great Commission church in New Jersey. A...