THE BLOG
Topic
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BIBLE READING PLANS
This is the perfect time to make a habit of reading the Word daily! God’s Word is His message to you. He will help you navigate the challenges of life through His Word.
Here are some ideas to help you make a plan to spend time in His word every day.
“Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”
This last Sunday, the worship team and I presented a classic, liturgical, Christmas hymn called “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.” The song “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” reminds us to receive with deep humility the incredible blessing of Christ’s incarnation, who humbled Himself to be born among us. Yet, the hymn also venerates Christ’s incredible power, a power so great that all of heaven bends to the will of Jesus, our “Lord Most High.” Below are the full 4 verses of the original song with Scripture
Indescribable
What comes to mind when you hear the word “indescribable”? An amazing family event? A stunning sight of beauty? A spectacular moment of joy? A one-of-a-kind experience?
Synonyms for “indescribable” are words like incommunicable, indefinable, ineffable, inexpressible, unspeakable, and unutterable.
It seems that very few things should be able to fit the description of this adjective. As we enter into the Christmas season, we are reminded of the one thing that defies description and that is Jesus Christ.
Social Repercussions
In the Tuesday Briefing this week (a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview), Al Mohler highlights several important and stunning social repercussions that are negatively impacting our American life and culture. He makes this comment about the findings he reports: “This development is entirely new in human history. Nothing like this has happened in the past. Nothing like this could have happened in the past.” Here’s a few of the key data points he shares and comments on:
Total Forgiveness
One of the amazing blessings of knowing Christ is to receive the gift of total forgiveness. To be clear, I am using the word “total” to communicate the entirety or completeness of the forgiveness of every single sin whether past, present, or future. God communicates this to us in the following vivid ways:
Crazy World, Calming God
It seems everywhere you turn, you see craziness: antisemitism; DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion), unprosecuted theft, CRT (critical race theory), fentanyl, transgender athletes, rampant victimhood, illegal immigration, climate hysteria, abortion rights, gun violence, taxation without representation, carjackings, drug addiction, shrinking families, gender confusion, identity theft, domestic violence, gender pronouns, LGBTQIA+ adoption rights, women in combat, safe spaces, euthanasia, transitioning, restricted parental rights, legalized marijuana, human trafficking.
Trustworthy
Sometimes it's hard to get a clear sense of what faithfulness looks like in an unfaithful culture. We regularly hear of faithless acts that can condition our hearts to be reluctant to trust others around us. No one likes to be:
defrauded by an investment firm
scammed by a salesman
lied to by a close friend
abused by an employer
cheated on by a spouse
But none of this will happen with God.
Again and Again
Each time I read through the Bible, I am stunned by what God shows me that somehow hadn’t grabbed my attention before. This year I have been noticing a repeated phrase that reminds me how amazing our God really is. The phrase is “again and again.” I have counted no less than ten times that God uses this phrase to get our attention. He uses it in two ways and both are a sad commentary on how we struggle as His followers.
Reasonableness Check
The attention of the world is on the savagery of war that Hamas (in the Gaza Strip) perpetrated on Israel beginning this past Saturday, October 6th. The images and reports of rape, burning, butchering, beheading, kidnapping, and murder of Israeli men, women, children, and infants is horrifying. Hamas, being an Iranian-backed Islamic terrorist group, exists to eradicate the Jews any way they can (video) and the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) exists to defend its people and homeland from all foreign or domestic enemies. But why is there so much attention given to this small piece of real estate (about the size of New Jersey) that Israel occupies?
