This morning, we will be looking at the direction of the Spirit upon Paul and his coworkers. Through my study of this passage, I have become convinced that one of the primary reasons our churches are so weak today - so distracted today - is because we do not understand that the Spirit of Jesus is directing the course of the Kingdom of God. Since our churches do not understand this, we are not praying correctly, we are not giving the effort we should, and we are not waking from the slumber of the vanity fair taking place in our midst. May God prevent us from going astray and lead us with the Macedonian call.

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This Sunday, we looked at Acts 15 in the sermon and Proverbs 1 in our Bible study. Looking forward to studying Galatians 3 in our study tonight! May God guide us through His blessed Word.

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What are you worried about?  What do you fear?  What are you struggling with to prevent or to make happen?

Philippians 4.6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

May your resolution be found by faith in God.  May your dependence in prayer and faith outweigh your efforts and toil.

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Col. 1:28-29: “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.  For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”

Father, send forth your great power in your Church.  May your Kingdom continue expanding and your will be done.  Grant your servants the ability to speak truth to one another.  Let the pastors and teachers minister with all wisdom so that we may be complete (mature) in Christ.  Let us proclaim the Lord Jesus.  Let His name be exalted and let it draw us near through His blood.

Father, grant us the strength, the energy, and the willingness to toil for this goal.  I must be strength from you, and you alone.

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Tags | Biblical Prayer Requests

Emerald Lake Area in June 2008

Jaime and I made this hike one beautiful day last June.  Usually, this is a high-traffic area in Rocky Mountain National Park during the later summer months, but were some of the few that made it up that day over the snowpack.  Emerald Lake is hidden just beyond the trees and under ice and snow.  Indeed the creation declares the glory of God!

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Tags | Rocky Mountain National Park

Our friend Tim Berry has directed me to a blog entry that presents a quiz.  There are 15 texts and it is up to the reader to determine if the text is from the Message Bible or a John Mayer song.  For those of you who don’t know John Mayer, he’s not a CCM artist.  For those of you who do know John Mayer, stop chuckling.

I took the quiz and scored 10 correct out of 15.

This quiz is genius.  Take it yourself here.  The Message is a disaster.

So, I started gazing on the text of the Message Bible.  John Mayer may be one comparison, but I think many of its passages sound more like another artist.  So, here is my quiz for you.  See how you do!

Is each passage from Weird Al Yankovic or the Message Bible?

1.  “Don’t they know they can’t get away with this— Treating people like a fast-food meal…”

2. “Turned-around Jacob skips rope”

3.  “I’m just an intern, I still make a mistake or two”

4.  “Who gets invited to dinner at your place? How do we get on your guest list?”

5.  “I hate all this silly religion”

6.  “Forget that I sowed wild oats”

7.  “I saw her today at the reception, A glass of wine in her hand”

8. “As I walk through the valley where I harvest my grain, I take a look at my wife and realize she’s very plain.”

9. “I just smiled at him and turned the other cheek, I really don’t care, in fact I wish him well”

10.  “Join us for the time of your life!   With us, it’s share and share alike!”

11. “The street-talk gossip has me criminally insane”

12. “Raise the roof!”

13. “Parties tend to break up when they find out that you’re coming”

14. “Working like a dog at the synagogue, he’s there all day.”

15. “Get insurance with God and do a good deed.”

Bonus Question: “Please, God, no more yelling, no more trips to the woodshed. Treat me nice for a change; I’m so starved for affection.”

To check your answers, go here!

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A couple of years ago, my Bible was clearly in need of an upgrade.  Hence, I started one of the most frustrating searches of my life…seeking a Bible constructed in a manner that is durable and usable.  After searching for a while, I found Bibles the frayed at the edges easily, Bible the had spines breaking in the first few months of usage, and other Bibles that required two C-clamps and an anvil to hold the pages open without the Bible flapping shut.

Then, there is the issues of page layout.  I found a wonderful single-column layout with a good amount of side-column references, but soon found that I was limited to the poor quality Bible construction that I spoke of earlier.

To make things even more frustrating, there are precious few stores that have a good selection to get your hands on to get a feel of the Bible.  In Kansas City, there is a Mardel with a huge wall of Bibles.  Sadly, the huge wall of Bibles is 75% NIV, 20% KJV, and 5% other.  In fact, NASBs are not on the wall at all.  The three editions carried are thrown over with the Bible software.

In the end, I found my Bible (NASB Update Side-Column Reference; Burgundy Genuine Leather).  I have been using it for over a year and no problems so far.  It opens and lies flat during studying and the large single-column layout is wonderful for preaching and teaching.

So, here’s my question to you: Do you have good or bad experiences to report from the quality of your Bible’s construction?

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