Christmas — what an amazing time of the year!
Not only do we celebrate the fact that the God of the Universe chose to enter His creation (Immanuel means “God with us!”), but the New Testament presents an equally mind blowing fact. Jesus was fully man. Can you imagine that?
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Recently, some of The Rock pastors went to a regional pastor’s conference in Denver. At the end of a session on outreach, the speaker challenged us to go for a walk with a buddy, discuss what we learned, and look for a Gospel opportunity.
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Recidivism is the rate at which a criminal offender returns to prison. One study found that within five years of release, 77% of released prisoners were rearrested. I recently had a conversation with a corrections officer who told me a similar statistic. He estimated the recidivism rate at the place he worked was 90%! The annual cost of incarcerating a prisoner in Utah is nearly $30,000. So, this is a big deal. This corrections officer said that the sad joke as the released prisoners left, was that they would see them again!
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The Bible is not a science textbook. But, when it speaks about science, it is 100% accurate. Evidence for this claim can be found in the stars.
Did you know that before telescopes were invented, people counted the stars with just their eyes? They didn’t have TV, so they watched the stars and counted them. On a clear night, a person could see easily see a couple of thousand (with the naked eye).
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I started reading my Bible regularly when I was high school (way back in 1991-1995). Man, does time fly! It has been a part of my daily routine ever since. Over the years, I have read a number of translations: NASB, NIV and ESV primarily. Well, this year, I decided to mix it up and read from The Message version.
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Have you heard of crowdfunding or crowdsourcing? Companies like GoFundMe or KickStarter are raising hundreds of millions of dollars annually for personal needs and creative projects. A wide variety of needs are met with tools like these. Costs associated with mission trips, medical bills, or family emergencies have been met repeatedly through generous donations from people.
Our Christian duty is to care for the poor and needy. The Old and New Testament is full of instruction. For example, Jesus told us, “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.” — Luke 12:33
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“O Sovereign Lord,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.” — Ezekiel 37:3b
This is the prophet’s response to a question God had just asked him. The Lord had led the prophet Ezekiel to a valley filled with dry bones. After looking at the bones, God asked Ezekiel, “Can these bones become living people again?”
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I recently read a book that talked about the miracle — that the very existence of life on Earth —really is. A few decades ago, scientists estimated that were a mere two factors necessary for a planet to support life. Now that list is up to 150 necessary factors!
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We all know what Jesus’ final marching orders to His disciples were before He ascended; “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19,20) If we claim to be a follower of Jesus, those are our marching orders, too. Basically, do you love Jesus? Then go, make disciples!
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The Book of Acts (Chapter 12), shows us how faithful and faithless people respond to the storms and trials of life. If you remember in Acts, the early church in Jerusalem was growing like a weed. About that same time, King Herod decided to persecute the church. First, he murdered James and then he arrested Peter. He most likely planned to kill Peter, too. I love Acts 12:5, “So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.”
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