David Bahn - Reflections

Jesus came not just for this small and insignificant, beleaguered and oppressed nation of people. And that out of that nation came the Savior of the world. And the Savior of the world, coming from the Jewish people came for gentiles as well as Jews. So radical was this idea that there is an entire chapter devoted to the issue in Luke's  Acts of the Apostles.  This was radical. That a nat...

A well-loved and ordered life is not a sign of God's favor. It may be a gift of his kindness and grace. It may be a hint of a better and even more full goodness to be experienced in the life of the world to come. But it is not a sign.

Jesus has appeared. And we are the richer for it. We can look back on what God has done in Jesus to save us. Yet we, too, must wait, hope, and trust. For although we have been saved by Jesus, we are yet being saved day-by-day through the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. And yet we look forward to the time when we will be saved on the Great Last Day. Then all of God's promises will be fully fulfill...

God has acted. He has taken on human flesh. He has revealed this to shepherds in the fields. He has announced it with the praise of angels. The shepherds have told everyone they met of the message of the angels and birth of the Savior. Now he is letting Simeon know that he can depart in peace. He has fulfilled his promise. Jesus is God's salvation, and Simeon has seen it with his own eyes.

I need to recalibrate my spiritual chronometer. God does not work on my schedule. I need to align myself with his timing. I also need to be open to seeing just how he is working today through people who may seem inconsequential. There is only one Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, born 2000 years ago. But there are many people who God uses each day to further the cause of his kingdom. I wonder who I m...

You may recall my previous post regarding Mary's song. I used the Rick Warren, " If-my-bullet-fits-your-gun,-shoot-it " rule, although I applied it to the "bullet" supplied by Alistair Begg. He had an excellent message on Mary's song, and noted that she points us to a God who is mighty, merciful, and mindful. Those three words are actually in her song. Not all three words are in Zechariah's song,...

Is there an area of your life you would wish Jesus would not visit? Is there a place you want to keep for your own purposes - no matter what he would call you to? Is there a time you wish to have it your way, apart from God’s way? If so, this is the time to repent. To recognize that you are in need of redemption. To seek God’s salvation from a self-seeking and self-destructive way of life. And God...

Jesus has come to guide us to the path of peace. It is not found apart from his presence. Peace does not come in paths that turn from his commands. We will not find it seeking the fools gold of the world's glamor. We might use the saying, "It suddenly dawned on me..." Like an idea popped into our minds. Jesus' appearing is like that - only more dramatic and far reaching. His is the light that shin...

Every December for the past several years when the Northwest Houston Photo Club holds its Christmas party, I am invited to offer a prayer. I take it as an opportunity to give a light-hearted witness to my Lord Jesus whose birth we celebrate. So, here is this year's prayer...

Every December for the past several years when the Northwest Houston Photo Club holds its Christmas party, I am invited to offer a prayer. I take it as an opportunity to give a lighthearted witness to my Lord Jesus whose birth we celebrate. So, here is this year's prayer...

What would you number as the world's greatest problems? War? Poverty? Human trafficking? Godless leaders? Human rights? Social injustice? Immoral political leaders? Financial inequities? To every one of these problems Jesus' grace and truth speaks. He is the prince of peace. He lifts up the poor and needy. He speaks truth to power. He points us to faithful suffering if need be and promises ultimat...

Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied. God opened his mouth to express his praise, and help the people look beyond even this current moment of great joy. After all, John has been born. She who was said to be barren has born a child. And no matter what anyone thought, his name would be John. As good as that was, Zechariah was moved to express praise to God for things reaching far...

Mary's glorification of God is not for his benefit. It's so we will be directed toward the source of true joy, hope, life, and salvation. We may get distracted by celebrities and led astray by those who lack character. She is focusing our attention and directing our faith toward the Mighty One who has done great things. She is reminding us that the True God casts down the mighty from their thrones...

Hymns of praise serve purposes beyond their beauty. They set things in their proper perspective. When we praise God, we acknowledge his majesty, power, goodness, mercy, love, faithfulness, and holiness. He is like no other. And as we sing his praise, we realize - hopefully! - that there is no other who deserves such glory. The best athlete, finest artist, greatest musician, or most famous actor ho...

God’s heart is tender toward us. He is not just present and powerful. He allows himself to feel our pain, and no trite manner. His Mercy is to those in need for each we can all say thanks be to God!

Mary’s song is the first song of Advent. We begin my learning from her about the grace and glory of God.

Grace is God’s first wish for us and his lasting gift to us

Message for Thanksgiving 2021

Mark 13:24-37

I see three ways beyond balanced scales that justice is reflected by God's people. Justice from the perspective of God is far more than balanced scales. In fact the notion starts with righteousness, which is a matter of faith. Genesis 15:6 is not a one-off. We are counted righteous by faith. And here we have faith expressing itself in three dimensions. Humility and willing to help others Willingne...

It is very easy to opt out of helping people in need. Take your pick: too busy. Too tired. Too poor. Too inept. Not really sure what is needed. Maybe sometimes we just don't care for that brother or sister in need. Maybe even within the family of faith there are those we'd just as soon ignore. But the walk of faith is fraught with distractions, temptations, challenges, and missteps. If we think we...

Helping people can be messy. In fact Jesus got really messy when he helped us out. Obviously when he suffered and died it was a brutal mess. But even before that - early on and throughout his ministry he got messy. He consorted with tax collectors and sinners. He ate with prostitutes and people of questionable character. For that he got less respect. He was accused of improper relationships. Bad f...

Sometimes the littler things are more difficult to do than the big challenges. But we fulfill the law of Christ when we do the little things just as well as when we do the heroic ones.

Perhaps few Jesus followers actually do cross the line of mocking God. But if James 2:10  means anything, it serves as a reminder that in fact, "there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). We all need help once in a while. Sometimes that help takes the form of sever intervention. Hopefully more often we intervene before drastic action is nee...

The difficulty we have in keeping on the straight and narrow and consistently displaying the fruit of the Spirit, and being distressed about this is evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our hearts and lives. If we did not have the Holy Spirit. We wouldn’t care. But we do care. And we are distressed when we discover we’ve forfeited the fruit of the Spirit in any situation. Thanks be to God tha...