Pastor's Pen

It's never easy when we are forced into change. Especially when it disrupts our daily routines and weekly schedules. Having temporarily suspended assembling, we long for the shared experience of corporate worship. The familiar and blessed services that we are accustomed to. Our hearts long for the closeness with our fellow believers. The CDC's recommended guidelines, and the extraordinary steps taken by churches over the past few weeks will have lingering effects. Some will find it easier to miss church while others will never take it for granted again. Israel's sojourn in Babylon permanently cured them of idolatry. My prayer is that this period of "captivity" in our homes separates us forever from the notion that we can ignore the Biblical mandate for assembling together .

Luke 18:6–8 NKJV 6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” We’ve often looked at this parable and the Lord’s comments that follow. It’s what is sometimes called a good lesson from a bad example . An “unjust” judge gave the persistent widow the thing she desired. He did it because he knew that she was going to drive him crazy and wear him out until he did. Luke, in verse one, gives us his analyses of the story even before sharing it. It is teaching us to pray without ceasing, without stopping, and without slipping into a weak, powerless, and doubt filled attitude. There’s no ambiguity here. Jesus extracts for us the lesson intended. We are to see how a godless man, who cared little about anybody or anything except himself,

Simple insight: Children learn to walk because they instinctively know it's there destiny and they never quit trying. They fail miserably and painfully hundreds of times. How many of our goals would be achieved if we understood the power of persistent pursuit of a God given destiny?

As long as Israel followed the cloud, the rock followed them! Submission to God's leadership guarantees His provision. The Jewish Haggadah contains an ancient story, believed and taught by the Jews, that the Rock actually followed behind them as they journeyed in the wilderness. When the cloud stopped, and as they prepared to set up camp, the Rock moved through the camp to the outer court of the sanctuary. I remember reading in Alfred Edersheim's, "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah", how the annual Feast of Tabernacles  included a special ceremony in commemeration of this miraculous provision of water. To the sound of music, a priest carrying a large golden pitcher, led a procession down to the Pool of Siloam. There, he filled the pitcher with water and returned. At the alter, the morning sacrifice was already being offered. In a perfectly timed entrance, through the "water gate" this priest would arrive for the conclusion of the ceremony. He would a

Genesis is the book of beginnings. January is a month for new beginnings. As the Spirit broods over your life what creative act is God about to perform? Dear friend, I believe God is about to do great things in your life. John opens his Gospel by saying, "In the beginning was the Word..." Every real move of God starts with a Word from God. Why not begin 2010 with a fresh commitment to finding out what God has to say through His Word. A recent Gallup poll found that only 16 percent of Americans read their Bibles daily. Today I'd like to inspire you to become part of an elite group of people that makes up a much smaller percentile of the the populace. Why not be among those who read and daily ask the question, "How does the meaning of this text apply to me?" Our eye should be upon Jesus. If the Bible is not a tool for becoming like Him then we're using a rocket launcher for a paperweight. Lets commit to the rewarding work of applying the scripture in our

Pulling into the parking spot at our favorite Chinese restaurant, we were taken aback by our son's sudden incredulous exclamation. We had been there many times. It was all so familiar to us. But our young son who was becoming an excellent reader had noticed the signs for the first time. There in front of our parked car was a sign that read, "Parking for Human Customers Only." Well, at least that's what he thought it said. Neighboring businesses were conscious of the limited parking available and had taken steps to ensure that their own customers were not inconvenienced by someone else's. Hunan looked an awful lot like human to a speed-reading 1st grader. Personally I've wondered at times if there are any normal people out there. Wouldn't it be nice if our church parking lot was filled with cars delivering perfect families to our front doors every Sunday. Maybe we should reserve our parking spaces for regular, ordinary, normal people only. Wouldn't li