Leadership and Accountability

Posted on 2013/06/26 by Shawn Thomas

Exodus 39:43 says: “And Moses examined all the work and behold, they had done it; just as the Lord had commanded, this they had done. So Moses blessed them.” There are several applications here regarding leadership and accountability, both in the church and elsewhere: Continue reading →

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Make It Personal

Posted on 2013/06/25 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 31 opens in :1 with the words, “In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be ashamed.” One of the features of Psalm 31 is the repeated, personal nature of David’s cry for deliverance, and his personal trust in God. The words “I” and “my” are all through this Psalm! David did not just “believe” that God would help “people”; he personally trusted that He would deliver HIM.

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Quotes & Illustrations From Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables

Posted on 2013/06/24 by Shawn Thomas

Following are quotations and potential sermon illustrations from Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. They are arranged in alphabetical order by topic. Page numbers are from Charles Wilbour’s translation, A.L. Bert Publishers. With this most recent update (7-14-13) selections cover the entire range of the book. My hope is that these will be of use to pastors and others who are looking for “apples of gold in settings of silver” (Proverbs 25:11).

ANIMALS
“Animals are nothing but the forms of our virtues and vices, wandering before our eyes, the visible phantoms of our souls. God shows them to us to make us reflect.” (p. 165)

ATHEISTIC PHILOSOPHY
“There is, we are aware, a philosophy that denies the infinite. There is also a philosophy, classed pathologically, which denies the sun; this philosophy is called blindness. To set up a sense we lack as a source of truth is a fine piece of blind man’s assurance.” (p. 510)

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Just As The Lord Commanded

Posted on 2013/06/24 by Shawn Thomas

Exodus 39 may seem at first glance to be one of those “boring” chapters which give a lot of seemingly insignificant information. Earlier in the book, God had commanded Moses and the children of Israel to make garments for the priests, and Chapter 39 goes into great detail describing how they actually did that. But there is a phrase which is repeated in this chapter which gives us a key to its importance. The theme of the chapter might be summed up in this one repeated phrase: “Just as the Lord had commanded Moses.”

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The Heart of Worship

Posted on 2013/06/23 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 28:7 says: “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him.” If one asks, “How does one ‘exult’ in God, like the scripture says elsewhere?” or “What is the key to a more exultant worship today?”, the answer is here:

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The Commitment of the Redeemed

Posted on 2013/06/22 by Shawn Thomas

The First Commandment (Exodus 20:2-3) is based on the redemptive work of God:
“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage …”. He reminds them first of all that He had redeemed them from their captivity. Then, BECAUSE He had redeemed them, they were to give Him their undivided allegiance as described in the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” This same commitment applies to believers under the New Covenant as well.

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An Unusual Mark of Revival

Posted on 2013/06/21 by Shawn Thomas

In Exodus 35, God had asked the people of Israel to voluntarily bring items for the construction of the tabernacle. Verse 21 says: “Everyone whose heart moved him” gave. But in Exodus 36:5, the skillful men in charge of construction said to Moses: “The people are bringing much more than enough for the construction work …”. And in :6, Moses had to issue a command for the people to STOP bringing contributions! Continue reading →

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Seeking God

Posted on 2013/06/20 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 24:6 says: “Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob”. What is the “such” that is referred to here? HOW do you “seek the face of the God of Jacob”? Those are important questions. Psalm 24 opens by saying that God is the Lord of all the earth. Since that is so, the most important thing anyone can do is to seek Him. Scripture commands us elsewhere to seek the Lord. But HOW do you do this?

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Who May Ascend?

Posted on 2013/06/19 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 24 opens by declaring that Yahweh, the God of Israel, is the God of ALL the earth (“the earth is the Lord’s”). The next verse (:3) asks a vital question: “Who may ascend into the hill of YHWH, and who may stand in His holy place?” Having established that there is a God, Yahweh, to Whom belongs the whole world and everything in it, then the single most important question in life is: how may you know Him? If one ignores this question, he is missing the whole point of life.
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The Earth is the Lord’s

Posted on 2013/06/18 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 24 seems to be divided up into 3 distinct sections:

— :1-2 The Lord’s creation and Lordship over all the world
— :3-6 The holiness required of those who would seek the Lord
— :7-10 The entrance of the King of glory

All 3 sections speak of qualities of God: as Creator; as Holy; as Glorious. The first section reminds us of some fundamental truths about the God of the Bible: Continue reading →

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