Archive for the ‘ Religion ’ Category

VerseD: Matthew 5:14

“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.”

Matthew 5:14, CSB

God should be our source of hope, joy, and peace. When Christ is our light, we can shine the light of His joy and peace through the hope of the gospel and our loving works.

VerseD: Isaiah 41:13

For I am the Lord your God, who holds your right hand, who says to you, “Do not fear, I will help you.”

Isaiah 41:13, CSB

God calls us to rest, and one of those ways is to rest from anxiety and fear. Trust God, and honor His call by resting in Him.

VerseD: 1 Chronicles 29:11

Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to you. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom, and you are exalted as head over all.

1 Chronicles 29:11, CSB

We are called to rest, and we follow the example of our Creator. Do we truly believe He is worthy of all honor and glory? Let us glorify Him by obeying Him and even resting, finding ultimate rest for our souls through Christ.

VerseD: Exodus 20:8

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy

Exodus 20:8, CSB

God calls us to rest, and He gave us the example. We need to remember to honor God by respecting the time we have and resting regularly.

A Quarter-Century Re-Birthday

On this day 25 years ago, at 6:46 PM CST, I bent my knee to Jesus as Lord and Savior. (If you do a search on this site for “birthday”, you will see the various explanations.)

I like to call it my Re-Birthday, as we call faith in Christ being born again. This comes from John 3 and 1 Peter 1. I encourage everyone to remember their own re-birthday (and if you aren’t sure/can’t remember, just claim your birthday.)

I also like to bake some sort of cake and then serve it to others as a way to teach self-sacrifice and becoming a servant to all as our shared salvation is celebrated.

Sometimes it’s messy, or we’re still a little crisp on the sides, but we have a sweet salvation.

This year, I get to start Christian Worldview and Intro to Philosophy courses (as one of the instructors) with 245 students who were all born after this momentous day in my life. Tomorrow I am with fellow seminarians who also were mostly born after this date! (2 are about my age and from Africa. We actually have about 30 students from Malawi [majority from here], Kenya [Gama is the one who invited me to his home and is about my age], Ghana [the other person about my age], and Sierra Leone.)

It is a little weird to think that I have been a Christian so long, especially having come to Christ as a teenager and now working with teens (and 20-somethings) as a youth pastor and college instructor.

God is so good.

Also, it is my mother-in-law’s birthday, so join me in wishing her a happy and blessed day! If not for her, I would not have my wife!

Also also, it is my friend Fletcher’s birthday. We met in seminary. He’s a TheoBro of the hughest order.

God bless you, and remember that Jesus Christ is the reason we live and move and breathe and have meaning and being!

Be excellent and party on!

This Sunday at Church: Schedule to have lunch to encourage one of the deacons in your church

I wish we had more time to meet with our deacons, but everyone is so busy. We pastors do try, though. I see one at least every month. These folks are so wonderful and appreciated. Let us encourage the church by honoring her servants.

Daniel

This Sunday at Church: Schedule to have lunch to encourage one of the deacons in your church.

This Sunday at Church: Schedule to have lunch to encourage one of the deacons in your church

VerseD: Matthew 2:10-11

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Matthew 2:10-11, ESV

God showed His love through Jesus, our God made flesh, worshipped by commoners and kings alike. Let us love the One who loved us enough to come as a baby to grow up to take on our punishment.

VerseD: Galatians 4:4-5

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Galatians 4:4-5, ESV

God has shown His love through Jesus, coming at just the right time as a human so that He could redeem us through His life, death, and resurrection. He has adopted us through Christ and sealed us with His Spirit.

VerseD: Luke 2:13-14

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Luke 2:13-14, ESV

God’s love is shown in Jesus, the glory of God contained in a baby, the One who would bring us peace with God through His life, death, and resurrection.

VerseD: Luke 2:9-10

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

Luke 2:9-10, ESV

The love of God is found in Christ and seeing that the first pronouncement of His coming going to dirty shepherds. All are welcome to the God who became part of His creation to save it.