Are You A Friend?

Proverbs 17:17 says: “A friend loves at all times.” It is probably typical for us to think of this verse from our own perspective: that those who are our friends should always love us, and stick with us through thick and thin. If they do not, then they are not truly our friends. While this is true, the reverse perspective is the best for us biblically: we should make certain that we ARE that kind of friend ourselves! Ask yourself: “Am I the kind of friend who loves at all times?” Continue reading

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This Week in “Paradise” Sept. 3rd

This Week in “Paradise” Sept. 3rd

This week in the “Paradise” of the pastor’s home, we dealt with an impending hurricane, aging bodies, and of course our kitten, Eponine.

Get Behind Me!

My wife Cheryl loves French fries, but had been convicted recently that they were not best for her to eat right now. Unbeknownst to me, she had made a recommitment not to eat them. Did I say this was “unbeknownst to me”?

One day last week we had gone to pick up some fast food, and without thinking (as usual) I thought I would be “nice” to Cheryl and offer her a fry. I held it up to her mouth and said, “Here, you want one of my fries?”

“NO!” She exclaimed, “I’m trying to be obedient! Could you make it any harder for me?!”

We both broke out laughing at how “helpful” I had unwittingly been!

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Is He Finding Fruit?

Jesus’ visit to the Temple in Mark 11 was followed by His cursing of a fig tree outside of town in :12-14.  But the two episodes are not unrelated.  He looked at the fig tree to see if He could discover any fruit to eat.  He didn’t find any – which was symbolic of what He had ALSO discovered in the Temple!  The idea here seems to be that He cursed BOTH for the lack of fruit that He found in them!  Israel is pictured in the Old Testament as a fig tree.  Thus this is a very symbolic passage! 

But it is not just of “historical interest.”  We should each consider: when Jesus examines US — as He did the Temple and the fig tree — what does He find? Continue reading

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Wisdom in Trials (James 1:5)

Sometimes when a pastor preaches verse-by-verse through a book of the Bible, he comes to a passage which he is not sure will apply to anyone in the congregation that day.  I can assure you that the verse we are studying this morning is NOT one of those verses!  We are looking at James 1:5, which talks about asking God for wisdom in trials, and I have NO problem knowing that this applies to many of us here today, including myself!  Many of us are right in the midst of trials, and we need the wisdom that God has to give us.  The good news of scripture is, He promised that He will!  Let’s read the chapter together and then see what verse 5 tells us about finding God’s wisdom in our trials. Continue reading

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Jesus is Looking All Around!

A little phrase in Mark 11:11 is a curious one, and one which I had I never really pondered before. After Jesus came to Jerusalem in the Triumphal Entry, it says He came to the temple, “and after looking all around” He then went to Bethany. But isn’t that an interesting phrase? WHY was Jesus “looking all around”? WHAT was He “looking all around” for? Continue reading

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An Ounce of Prevention

It is easy to miss the timing involved in Proverbs 17:14, where it says “abandon the quarrel BEFORE it breaks out”. “BEFORE” — THAT is the time to stop a quarrel. Not “shortly after”, and certainly not “after it has gone a long way” – it is MOST difficult to stop then! No, abandon it BEFORE it breaks out! Have the foresight to see that what you are about to engage in is going to be contentious, and DO NOT START down that road in the first place! Don’t say that controversial thing! Don’t RESPOND in a way that you know is going to promote a quarrel. Abandon it BEFORE it breaks out! It is just like the old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” The best time to end a quarrel is not to get involved in it in the first place! “Abandon the quarrel BEFORE it breaks out”!

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Love in a Besieged City

In Psalm 31, David was in the midst of some pretty bad days, but surrounded by trouble, he could write in :21, “Blessed be the Lord, for He has wondrously shown His steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city.” (ESV)  Notice what we can learn from this verse about how God’s love can minister to us in our most difficult times: Continue reading

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A POTS Analogy: My Life in Miniature

Some moments in time can serve as a picture of your life in miniature, as a kind of analogy. Today (Thursday, August 30th 2012) was one of those days.

Like most other residents of Louisiana, we spent yesterday at home, keeping our eyes on Hurricane Isaac. The church office had been closed, and I had felt pretty well — I even made a video which parodies melodramatic weather reporters. (I will try to link it here.) I got up this morning and felt pretty well. I was in the office by 9:00, and was looking forward to finishing my Sunday morning message. I remarked to myself how well I felt — pretty much like “normal”, I thought; not sick at all. I wondered if we were getting this dysautonomia under control at last. I was planning for what I might do in the afternoon, once I had finished the message prep. But in a moment, it all changed. Continue reading

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The God Who Sees

Psalm 33:13 says: “He sees ALL the sons of men.”  

That is a pretty inclusive statement!  There is no one who flies “under His radar”.  God sees us all.  This is true for better and for worse: Continue reading

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Our Limited Plans

Psalm 33:7-8 speaks of how it is God who gathers the waters in a heap, before whom all the peoples should stand in awe. That same Psalm then immediately goes on to point out the limited nature of the plans which we make. Verse 10 says: “The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples.”

We have seen this in a concrete fashion this very day, as so many of us here in Southwest Louisiana had plans this Wednesday for our schools, churches, and businesses — and yet those very plans have been cancelled or postponed due to the threat of Hurricane Isaac. We had made our plans, but with a very little effort on His part, the God who controls the winds nullified them all!

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