Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

You currently live in a tent that is temporary and falling apart.  We appropriately groan to be out of such tents.  We long for a dwelling place that is just plain BETTER.  This is exactly what God has in mind. God has a BUILDING, that is ETERNAL, in a nicer NEIGHBORHOOD prepared for His family.  Best of all, you get to have God as your NEIGHBOR.  Who wouldn't long for such a place? Mortal dw...

You may be feeling like you have LOST HEART.  You certainly have good reason.  Our OUTER SELF is wasting away.  The non-soul part of us falling apart, made out of clay, afflicted, perplexed and struck down.  But wait! Those are also the very ingredients that can  be used to look past them into the eternal so that we are RENEWED. The same circumstance that could possibly lead to us LOSING HEART can...

The context of the famous Jar of Clay passage is in light of CHRISTIAN WORKERS, specifically those occupying the office of Leader/Elder/Overseer/Shepherd/Teacher and probably here Apostle.  It is a difficult job that Paul in both INSUFFICIENT for and blessed with competence, call and capability for. The Pastor job is not without its' difficulty.  There is affliction, perplexing, persecution a...

We get treasure, but we are JARS OF CLAY.  Both are spiritual "challenges" to get our head around.  Before we get to the treasure,( for who doesn't want a bit of treasure?), you gotta go through the JAR OF CLAY concept.  We are dust, We are dirt.  We are clay.  Pride fights this concept strongly.  But God doesn't.  He made us literally and figuratively out of it.  He is anythin...

What gives Christians the "right" to speak truth into the pointy-end of human conviction; to meet people where the rubber-meets-the-road spiritually? Is it our great abilities and wonderfulness?   Paul asks us to remember that we are  servants who start as  insufficient to this task.  But then the Lord calls us to the task at this critical hour.  He makes us spiritual servants  capable,...

We are to NOT BE LIKE MOSES in this way today: When we "see the face of God" we are not supposed to put a veil on it.  We are to be bold; be the glory for others to see. Like Moses, we are to SEE the glory of God; see His face; experience Him as we expose ourselves to Him in His Word and in His people. Like Moses, we are to BE CHANGED.  Experiencing the glory of God should make a differe...

Some people say, " I don't like the God of the Old Testament ." What they are really saying is, "I don't like the COVENANT of the Old Testament ." And you know what? I AGREE with them and so does Paul. He calls the Old covenant a stone cold killer; of the ministry of death; of the ministry of  condemnation; temporary; and yet: GLORIOUS.  It does represent the favor of...

We are "mailmen" of God's letters.  They are now written on peoples' hearts.  God has come down. God now dwells within and helps us live our lives rightly. Who is sufficient to be such a message deliverer? On one hand, nobody; no pastor, no church member, no church officer, no degree holder or vestment wearer. But God asks and authorizes us to be involved in the pointy end of t...

Yesterday, my wife was baking something in the kitchen.  I didn't exactly know what it was but I knew that  it smelled   GOOD. Similarly Jesus asks us to "have the aroma" of Him.  As it turns out, Jesus smells an awful lot like MOLASSES COOKIES. Then He asks us to take His amazingly wonderful smell out to the world.   WE get to smell like Molasses Cookies. We take that aroma right t...

This topic has to be in the top three of difficulty for the Christian walk. We best do it right, because it can wreck spiritual havoc without focused attention. Let's use the "breadcrumbs of our emotion" to find those whom we haven't forgiven. These are sinners who occupy too much of the real estate of our souls. Yes, they really did do something wrong. The call today is to for...

7 minutes on the Road To Joy.  What could be better? What is the ROAD TO JOY paved with? For the Corinthians, it is paved with godly grief and repentance.   But it doesn't sound like being a Pastor is any picnic either.  Paul describes himself as afflicted, anguished of heart, and with many tears.   Why would the people and the pastor put themselves on such a painful path?  Why does anyone ev...

All the promises of come true in JESUS. GOD the Father ESTABLISHES us in community, and attaches us to Jesus. In the meantime, the HOLY SPIRIT is the guarantee now of the parts of this that are in the future. Listen 7 minutes as we hear from all Persons of the trinity in assistance. May the jobs They are doing, help us in doing our jobs.  May you be attached to Christ and His people.  May your cha...

Paul was a real person with limitations of time/space/money and distance.  He, like us, had to make daily decisions about what to do, where to go, and who to be with.  Here, he "changes his mind" as he assesses and rethinks previous plans.   There is stuff to learn and remember from seeing this process in Paul: He was ready and really did often speak HARD WORDS.  Paul had guts. He change...

If you are in the family of God and are suffering, you are not abnormal.  Christianity is a hard call.  The Corinthians preferred otherwise.  They wanted the "rainbows and puppies" of what we call the prosperity gospel. Paul reminds them of his suffering. He reminds them to  expect suffering.  A walk with God that doesn't suffer in bearing with temptation, bearing burdens, and beari...

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. Chain of comfort S...

Spiritual formation is a messy process.  We see this over time, with multiple "touches" by Paul.  He started with evangelizing and establishing the church at Corinth in 51AD.  He lived and worked there for 18 months while on his 2nd missionary journey. By the time we get to this letter of 2 Corinthians in 56AD, he's written 1 Cor, visited them again on his 3rd missionary journey and...

I've been accused of being more of a "lumper than a splitter." Here is the ultimate expression of those summary powers.  I've chosen 16 words, one each for the 16 chapters, that summarizes 1 Corinthians.  I know this might work best only in my little mind, but try with me: Divisions Trembling Growth UnPuff Judge Ownership Marriage Stumbling Rights Examples Despise Common Bear L...

7 sets of hugs & kisses are sent from Paul as he concludes 1 Corinthians: The churches in Asia (you can read about them in Revelation 1-3) sends Hugs & kisses Your old friends Aquila and Prisca sends Hugs & kisses The Ephesian house church sends Hugs & kisses The whole brotherhood sends Hugs & kisses Paul sends Hugs & kisses (twice for good measure) The Lord sends Hugs &amp...

I don't mean that service should be secret.  In many ways, it is the furthest thing away from secret.  I do mean that it is one of the great secrets of Christianity.  It is a key to fellowship, encouragement and spiritual growth.   We serve because of what Christ did for us.   We serve devotionally.  That is we put our heart's desires practically into the order of our lives.  We serve th...

Be Watchful. Be Strong. Act like men! Put your spiritual  BIG-BOY-PANTs  on! Here's an uncomfortable thought. First, be watchful over YOURSELF. There is a lot of places we can get this spiritual walk wrong: in our thoughts, our habits, our outreach, etc. Oh and BTW, there are LIONS OUT THERE. Imagine if your favorite hiking park was also frequented by real-life LIONS.  It would certainly chan...

If you could sketch out the remained of your life on the back of a napkin, what would it look like.  What places, people and purpose would you plan? Today, we get this glimpse of Paul's plans.  He is on this massive  physical journey from Ephesus Turkey, to Corinth, Greece back to Jerusalem and then on toward Rome.  HE  DOESN'T SURVIVE THE JOURNEY.   Newsflash: you won't survive you...

The Bible gives some very direct answers to practical question the Corinthians had.  They wanted to know about Sex and Marriage and got straight answers. #2 on just about everybody's list is MONEY.  What should I be doing about giving? Paul teaches it should be saved by everybody, laid aside on Sunday, and given in an orderly, planned way.  (Is it wise stewardship to give to the poor in your...

In a little while, "Death is swallowed up in victory".  So what?  That day doesn't look like  today for me at least, so how should I live?  This is what we call  SPIRITUAL WAITING. But waiting doesn't mean sitting around doing nothing.  In fact, there is stuff to do with our hands AND our heads. Our hands should be  busy in the work of the Lord. It means abounding, with work le...

Here is a question that every human has a real answer for: "O Death, where is your STING?" Funerals, tears, grieving, wills, gravesite purchases, miscarriages, murders, cancer and emergency rooms are a very real part of our lives. We definitely feel the sting of death. But let's not stop there.  Today, we have one of the greatest promises in all of scripture to enjoy.  It's not...

It is no surprise to anyone listening to this podcast that we are of the DUST.  (Perishable, weak, flesh and blood) We bear the image of Adam...for now. In a moment, a "twinkling of an eye" timeframe, we are changed to bear the image of Jesus and carry it into a new world of heaven.   Why? because our old body cannot inherit what is ahead.  It's not equipped. Where? We are heading t...