Category Archives: Bread And Spirit

GOD’S NOT DEAD AND NEITHER AM I…Happy Easter!

IMG_5747I’ve been feeling the need and desire to communicate with you, friends old and new, but I’ve had a lot on my plate the last few days. If this title seems a bit dramatic to you, it seems apropos to me for at least three reasons. [1] It’s Easter. He is risen. And as first century Christians used to echo, “He is risen indeed!” Witness an empty tomb and His life giving Spirit empowering millions of believers around the globe, giving Him credit and praise at this very moment. [2] Our home group went to see the movie, “God’s Not Dead,” two weeks ago, and it impacted me a great deal. It was well done, and moved very quickly. I encourage you to go see it, and take a friend or friends, believing or unbelieving. The issues and presentation speak to our times and to all times. [3] I crashed our new plane crash a couple weeks ago Friday. I told some of my friends as I encountered them in the days following, “It started out to be one of the worse days of my life. But if you walk away from a plane crash without a scratch, how can you not say it was one of the best days of your life?”IMG_0197

So I apologize for the drama in the title, but can you see how it might fit?

I always get quiet, introspective, joyful, and mystified during passion week and Easter. Who doesn’t welcome the warm reprieve from winter and new life bursting all about? But the promise of new spiritual life, and freedom from sin is the best of all! That someone Who could do so, paid the price for my sin, and then lives with me to give me power over sin and death–what could be more astounding? What could be more joyful? The God of the second chance? Indeed! The words of the angels to the women who came to the tomb that first Easter morning still echo through the millennia, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” “He is not here. He is risen, just as He said.”

IMG_6051So, what does that mean to you? What does it mean to me? Well I’m very aware, given the events of the last weeks, that I’ve been given a second chance. A chance to live more life on this side of eternity. I should make it count! And I want too.

But more than that, it says that because He’s alive, and I have His power working in me, I can hope to overcome any problem, any set back, any adversity. And you can too, if you know Him and His resurrection power. Hope. Power. Life. That’s what it says, and that is what I wish for you, dear reader and friend. He does too. It was His idea, and He Who paid the price — showing us the way, and raising us to walk in newness of life.

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life,” doesn’t sound like a cliché to me at the moment. It sounds like the truth. May we all grasp this new life, with the adventure and promise it holds, if He holds us.IMG_6039

An eighty-two year old woman was baptized in our church this morning. New life!

A dentist friend and his sweet wife asked us to their home for lunch today. Before the meal he read this to his guests and family. New life!

A friend down the ally from us and his dear wife asked us and thirteen other neighbors, believers and perhaps unbelievers, to a seder celebrating passover a few days ago. It was a beautiful, delicious, spiritual, and happy experience to retell and remember the 3500 year old story of Abraham’s descendant’s freedom from slavery and friendship with God. Also one that would culminate in the passover Lamb of Calvary, and many new friends worldwide. New life!

IMG_6060I received a blog from a dear friend in east Arkansas this week about passover and what it means to a Christ follower. New life!

And I received an Easter email today from a new and dear friend from Georgia. Please forgive the self-serving nature of this one. But his insights are more inspirational and insightful than my small contribution.  New life!

May you come to experience new life in full measure! That’s the real meaning of Easter. And that’s my prayer for you.

Happy Easter!!

Dwayne

PS I intended to tell the story of the plane crash for friends who are interested and haven’t heard. But this writ has reached it’s permitted length. I’ll report on the accident soon.

Where Are You Going In Life?

 

Let Us Keep To The Point

British Columbia by railMy Utmost for His Highest. “. . . my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed . . . .” We will all feel very much ashamed if we do not yield to Jesus the areas of our lives He has asked us to yield to Him. It’s as if Paul were saying, “My determined purpose is to be my utmost for His highest—my best for His glory.” To reach that level of determination is a matter of the will, not of debate or of reasoning. It is absolute and irrevocable surrender of the will at that point. An undue amount of thought and consideration for ourselves is what keeps us from making that decision, although we cover it up with the pretense that it is others we are considering. When we think seriously about what it will cost others if we obey the call of Jesus, we tell God He doesn’t know what our obedience will mean. Keep to the point—He does know. Shut out every other thought and keep yourself before God in this one thing only—my utmost for His highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and Him alone.

SONY DSCMy Unstoppable Determination for His Holiness. “Whether it means life or death—it makes no difference!” (see Phil 1:21). Paul was determined that nothing would stop him from doing exactly what God wanted. But before we choose to follow God’s will, a crisis must develop in our lives. This happens because we tend to be unresponsive to God’s gentler nudges. He brings us to the place where He asks us to be our utmost for Him and we begin to debate. He then providentially produces a crisis where we have to decide—for or against. That moment becomes a great crossroads in our lives. If a crisis has come to you on any front, surrender your will to Jesus absolutely and irrevocably.

Lord, the range of Your power, the touch of Your grace, the breathing of Your Spirit—how I long for these to bring me face to face with You. Forgive my tardiness; it takes me so long to awaken to some things.          Oswald Chambers [from YouVersion]

“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” Paul (Philippians 1:20)

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I’ve been reading through the Bible this year using a reading plan from YouVersion. If you aren’t using some plan to read through your Bible, give this a look and get started today!

I recently saw on a church sign, “A daily devotion is better than a yearly resolution.” It is. Speaking of daily devotion, several are available on the same web site. I started this 30 day devotional reading by Oswald Chambers today. I encourage you to pick one from the list and do the same.

Reading from the Word every day, early in the morning, and from a short devotional, following the path of a mature believer who has been in some deep places with our Lord will change your day for good, and your life forever.

139-ts_pic2MauleShalom in Him as you Seek Him,

Dwayne

The Spirit of Prophecy . Merry Christmas

IMG_3524 “Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”” (Revelation 19:10)

 

 

Prophecy authenticates the Bible. Prophecy authenticates Jesus Christ. It comes from another dimension, an eternal dimension that spans time and scans time.

The prophet is an agent of God, an ordinary human gifted to hear from God and speak what he hears. Prophecy is a gift from God, letting mortals know what is happening or going to happen in our dimension, on earth and in time.

IMG_3386In the Bible we have an incredible, or should I say credible, array of prophecies and prophets whose words demonstrate the validity of the Bible and it’s main subject, the Messiah, the Christ, the Lion of Judah, the King of Kings.

It’s true also that prophecy increases in frequency and volume when there is some major move of God afoot. That seems to be the case in our day, but that’s a discussion  for another time.

It was certainly the case as the Holy One announced the advent of His Son in the stars and through His servants the prophets.

 

DSCN5062It’s also a sad and interesting aside of history that many don’t get it. They don’t hear it. They don’t see it. Thus they miss it’s life changing and eternity changing implications, to their own detriment.

This was the case of King Herod the Great as he heard the Magi, who were king makers from the east, and reported to him they had ridden some seven hundred miles to bring gifts and worship “He who has been born the King of the Jews.”(Matt 2:2) Herod had to ask them about the sign and when the indicator star had appeared. Then he had to ask those familiar with the Scriptures where the King would be born. “Bethlehem in Judah” they replied according the prophet Micah seven centuries ago. These signs in plain view had been missed by Herod, just like they are by many in our day and our place.

IMG_3415Indeed there was a long litany of prophecies, spoken, written and preserved over hundreds and thousands of years concerning the coming King of Kings, beginning in the the Garden of Eden [Gen 3:15], and extending through Abraham, four thousand years ago, David, three thousand years ago, and until time of Herod in Israel during the Roman Empire, two thousand years ago. These were prophecies of incredible specificity and accuracy, as we shall see.

Some of these include:

[1] He will be the seed of woman (Gen 3)

[2] He will be the seed of Abraham (Gen 12)

[3] He will be the seed of Judah (Gen 49)

[4] He will be the seed of Jesse (Isa 11)

[5] He will be the seed of David (IISam 7)

[6] He will be the seed of a virgin (Isa 7)

[7] He will be born in Bethlehem (Mic 5)

[8] There will be a special anointing of the Holy Spirit on Him (Isa 11:61)

[9] There will be a messenger that will go before Him (Isa 40 & Mal 3)

[10] He will be crucified (Isa 50 & 53)

[11] He will rise again from the dead (Ps 16)

[12] He will make a new covenant (Jer 31)

[13] He will receive the kingdom from the Father (Dan 7 & Isa 9)

[14] He will pour out His Spirit on all flesh; sons and daughters will prophesy (Joel 2)

IMG_3412And as we approach Christmas, let’s look anew at some of the prophecies immediately preceding His birth. And as noted before, there is an increased activity when God is getting ready to do something special.

[1] God sent His angel Gabriel to Zacharias the old priest. “You will have a son. Name him John.”

[2] God sent His angel Gabriel to Mary. “You will conceive and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.” “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

[3] God told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth is pregnant.

[4] God told Elizabeth that Mary was pregnant with her Lord.

[5] God told Simeon he “would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ”

[6] God told also at the same time an eighty-four year old prophetess named Anna that  Jesus was the Christ.

[7] God told Joseph to take the Child and his mother and flee to Egypt for safety, later leading him back to Nazareth where Jesus would grow up.

“He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”” (Matthew 2:15)

“and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”” (Matthew 2:23)

IMG_3447And on it goes. Amazing, and reassuring. Our God is the God of the ages, and the God of eternity. Much more could be said of His prophets and His telling, or speaking forth what He is about to do. But let’s just pause on Christmas Eve, ponder the wonder of it all, and Worship, with the Wise Men, “He who is born the King of the Jews.”

 

“And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. “For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. “For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. “And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him.” (Luke 1:46–50)

“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10–11)

IMG_3526““For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”” (Acts 2:39)

Christmas Shalom to you and those you love,

Dwayne

Much of the above material comes from a sermon by Charles Simpson, “The Spirit of Prophecy.”

 

Bethlehem Star

“After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” (Matthew 2:9–10)

Every year in December I pull out the Bethlehem Star DVD that I discovered a few years ago and watch it a few times; worshiping, reflecting, learning, meditating … in awe.

BethlehemStarDVDAs I start a new category on the book’s blog, Bread for the Spirit, this is a fitting first. We’re in the season of Advent, which Wikipedia describes like this:

“Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. The term is an anglicized version of the Latin word adventus, meaning ‘coming’. … Latin adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia, commonly used to refer to the Second Coming of Christ. For Christians, the season of Advent anticipates the coming of Christ from two different perspectives. The season offers the opportunity to share in the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah, and to be alert for his Second Coming.”

In the Christian tradition, many churches and families make an Advent wreath with five candles, lighting one candle on each Sunday in December marching up to December 25th when we light the Christ-candle symbolizing the light of the world and celebrate Christmas — the coming and the gift of the Christ Child, One Who would be our Savior, One Who is King and Lord of all.

On the first Advent Sunday, the “hope” candle is lit. His advent gives us hope of life after death, just as He exhibited it. And the “hope” of good relationships on earth and in eternity, especially a reconnection with our Creator Father, the God of hope.

On the second Sunday, yesterday, the “peace” candle was lit. His advent gives us a restored “peace” with God, a present personal “peace” by knowing Him and His ways, and the promise of eternal “peace” through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Somehow, the yearly viewing of this wonderful DVD reminds me of all of that! I pray you get it and make viewing it a meaningful family tradition, and/or that you gift it to loved ones. They’ll be joyful you did!

Who among us does not enjoy beautiful art, beautiful music, and the discoveries of good science? I think it’s beautiful too that God gave this revelation to a lawyer, not an astronomer or scientist, but someone who is trained to look for clues, prove a case, and puzzle things out. A truth seeker, perhaps with a heart of worship?

This is something akin to what A.W. Tozer writes in his introduction to “The Knowledge of the Holy.” “…this book is  neither esoteric nor technical, and since it is written in the language of worship with no pretension to elegant literary style, perhaps some persons will be drawn to read it. … I yet write not for the professional theologians but for plain persons whose hearts stir them up to seek after God Himself.”

I’ll leave you with this information from the Bethlehem Star web site. And with a sincere prayer for His Blessing on you and those you love  during Advent and Christmas 2013. His Hope, and His Peace be yours in abundance! Amen.

featured-starfield

 

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” (Micah 5:2)

“This One will be our peace. ” (Micah 5:4–5)

 

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“It’s an astronomical mystery. A strange star is claimed to have appeared at the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. This site is an investigation of the story found in the Biblical Gospel of Matthew, a story often called the ‘Star of Bethlehem.’ It brings the words of Roman and Jewish historians alongside the visions of ancient prophets. It mixes “modern” mathematicians with murderous turmoil in the Roman imperial court. It combines all these with astronomical facts which no one disputes. And it concludes that the star was a real event. Come solve this age-old mystery for yourself…”

“Well-researched and reasonable” Former Chief of Planetary Astronomy, NASA, and Technical Editor, Sky & Telescope magazine

“An interesting look… at the star… genuinely thought-provoking” Christianity Today magazine

“Models the scientific method at its best” Distinguished Professor of Old Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary

“A convincing case…a mystery solved” Former Director, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center

“IF THE STAR was a natural event, does that mean it was not a miracle? Perhaps just the opposite. For, if the stars were arranged to create a sign, that arrangement is as old as time. A Star which is part of the orderly natural universe is a Clockwork Star. A sign put in place before men walked the Earth…”