The supernatural world is very real. In Mark (5:1-20) we get to witness the power and love of Jesus on full display; He seeks out and completely delivers a man bound by a “legion” of demons. We learn from our Lord how to deal with demons and spiritual forces that would seek to destroy us (John 10:10).
Yellowstone is such a beautiful place! Everywhere you look, there is something to discover. From the grand scale of the Teton Mountains to the different animals to smallest of the microorganisms living in the geysers.
After six
years of dragging a hose around the yard to water our lawn, my wife and I
decided to make our summer project be to install a sprinkler system. We saved
up our money and I spent months learning what I needed to know to design and
build my own sprinkler system. I bought bits and pieces on classified sites in
order to cut the costs. I repeatedly drew my little plot of land with different
trench layouts, head types, brands, sizes, etc. I wanted the most consistent
and efficient system I could afford.
I have met regularly with different groups of people for over 20 years; I’m very thankful for these “iron sharpening iron” types of relationships. I recently met with some friends and it was similar to so many of the gatherings that I’ve participated in over the years — meeting and talking about our faith in Jesus. We always encourage each other with what God is teaching us. He usually provides a theme, idea or even a struggle that is common to the group. His most recent theme was fear.
“No, the Lord’s delight is in those who fear him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love.” — Psalm 147:11(NLT)
Process, power, plans, capital, vision, connections…. these are the types of words we tend to associate with success — especially in business, of course if you want to success in business you should also get tools like paystubs for your staff so you can manage everything easily. And no matter what type of business you have, it’s important to accept credit card payments from your customers. With customers increasingly wanting to make cashless payments, getting the cheapest card machine has never been more important.
A passion of my heart is The Rock Music. If I’m honest, I often feel like we should be further ahead or more successful than we are. I tend to think we should somehow have more reach for the Gospel with our music ministry than it seems that we do. I can get insecure fairly quickly when I see the success of others around me. Perhaps I don’t have the right process, power or plan?
“[Jesus] appointed the twelve:… Matthew,
… and Simon the Zealot.” — Mark 3:16-18
Jesus selected twelve young men to be His closest followers. They were all uneducated, common, “blue collar worker” types. God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. I want to focus on two disciples, Matthew and Simon, to see the incredible unity that can be found in Christ.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)
I was recently driving with my family and we saw the most vibrant and amazing rainbow we’ve ever seen. Actually, it was a double rainbow, cascading against the mountains with colors so brilliant and majestic that it was literally breathtaking. In awe, we lingered at the stop light, trying to take pictures.
As I read through Exodus this year, I was struck by something new (in an otherwise very familiar story). I’ve heard and read about the events found in Exodus 32 many times in my life. It’s the story of Aaron making an idol of the golden calf for the Israelites to worship; this happened when Moses took too long returning from Mount Sinai. However, the Lord brought a new wrinkle of the story to me when I read it this time.