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Showing posts from August, 2014

STARVED SILENCE

We live in a world filled with noise. It seems like everywhere we turn, it is increasingly more difficult to find places of silence and solitude in our lives. From, Television, Cellphones, iPads, Xboxes, Pandora Radios, and Social Media it seems as if we are addicted to noise... and afraid of the silence. Think about this. Why is it that we fill our lives with chatter? Why is it that we are afraid of silence? And more importantly, is there a connection between a lack of hearing God’s voice and the deficiency of silence in our lives? Be still, and know that I am God .—Psalm 46:10   Often, noise is our drug of choice. We self-medicate ourselves with noise because we are afraid of silence. Silence has a way of stripping us bare of all pretenses, forcing us to take a good long look in the mirror of our soul. For some of us, this is just too painful, just too raw for us to face. So we surround ourselves with racket, thinking that the longer we can drown out the voices, perhaps th

MALWARE

A friend’s computer died.  They brought it to me to fix and said, “One moment it was on and working fine, and the next moment nothing.”  For no apparent reason it would restart without warning. It seems that some sort of “Malware” (malicious software) had taken over and was holding it hostage and preventing any use of the PC’s capabilities. This cyber predator attached itself to the chips of this computer, leaving it utterly useless. After reformatting the hard drive and re-installing all the software, the computer was finally fixed. The Bible says sin is crouching at the door.  Throughout the Bible sin is not an inanimate object. It is personified and active.  Sin seeks us out and waits for us to make a wrong move or decision.  It is not God who sends temptation, it is the evil in this world that waits and pounces when given the chance. “When tempted no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.  But each one is tempted when

LAMENTING FAITH

A person going through some difficult situations made this comment to me, “I just need God listen to me. I need to know that God hears what I’m saying. Is that too much to ask for?” Maybe you’ve found yourself in the same situation. You’ve found yourself in a place where you are crying out to God, and the whole time you’re questioning— is He even listening? Perhaps you’ve found yourself at this stage of your life where you are looking around and asking, “God, if you’re who you claim to be, then why is (fill in the blank)                                                  happening?” If you have been there — even at this moment— you’re in good company. The Bible is filled with folks who were fought with these exact questions. In it you will encounter people who, having tremendous doubt, cried out to God, “Where are you?”   The Word of God uses a term for these kinds of moments. It’s called “lament.” Lamenting is having a deep cry in your soul. It is an emotion that ensues in

Generously Bless

God of the Bible makes an astounding statement to His called out one, Abraham. He tells him, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3).  With these words, God lays upon Abraham a blessing — but also a responsibility. It’s unfortunate we’ve been trained to see the word “blessing” and automatically think of it as being directed toward our personal wellbeing. God “blesses”— we receive the “blessing.”   Looking closer at what God says to Abraham, it quickly becomes apparent. “Blessings” are always something to be given away. You have not been blessed in order to enjoy them for yourself. It’s not like taking and hoarding the last piece of birthday cake long after the party is over. No, the fact of the matter is you have been blessed in order to be a blessing.