Tune and Prepare!

Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you! Jer 32:17 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? Jer 32:27

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 1 John 3:1-3

Tom Wright About Paul's conversions Q. Talking about Paul the Apostle and I was thinking Tom about his remarkable, supernatural, dramatic conversion. Why doesn't the Lord do that more often? A. It's a good question. But probably a third of the questions that people ask me are about : why did God do this or why does God do that? And my usual response is you better ask him... ...I think here it's quite clear that something dramatic had to happen because here is, if you like, God's sense of humor that when God wants to reach out to the great, unwashed, idolatrous Gentile world, who does he call to do that? A hardline, zealous, pharisaic Jew. Because if it had been a kind of anything goes sort of Jew who had always been a bit soft on Torah, etc. If such a person had gone off to say to Gentiles, by the way, "the God of Israel loves you too", then everyone would have said, "well, of course, you would say that because that was the way you ...

..you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels in festive gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to God who is the Judge of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect... Hebrews 12:22-23 {Holman C.S.B.} Simple Meditation:     · The apostle uses past tens here.     · It's done ☆

God, being rich in mercy... • made us alive together with Christ • raised us up with him • seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus     Eph 2:4     Paul uses past tens here. This is the apostolic perspective. ☆

Simon Elliot — Everyday Church Wimbledon Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up. Ephesians Paul here refers to specific people who represent a specific ministry with a specific purpose. Paul is not talking about titles or professional positions; he is speaking about people with purpose, and that purpose is to equip and enable the believing community in intentional discipleship. Why can I say this? Because, as we shall see, the fruit of intentional discipleship is mature and fruitful believers. These ministries equip the saints, all the believers, for works of service – for activity which will bring maturity through intentionality. John Stott puts it like this: Paul sets out two purposes – one immediate and the other ultimate – for which Christ gave gifts to his church. His immediate purpose was to equip his people for w...

These are verses I return to again and again—not to interpret them, but to listen to them. The apostle Paul’s way of thinking cuts through centuries of religious noise with surprising freshness. Let’s read them slowly and let the words settle wherever they may. Now we know that whatever the Law says it speaks to those who are under the Law , so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the Law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the Law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law , although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe . For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus... It was to show ...

Suneidesis & Sunergos — God's Wisdom for every day “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the ancient way. Psalm 139:23-24 Pre Did you know that the words "conscience" and "co-working" share the same root in ancient Greek? That small discovery opened up something much bigger for me. When scrutinizing human relationships and community dynamics we can see: the two are inseparable. Since they are in the same fractal : Both create unity, integration at their own different levels. Both have coherence and alignment which helps (or drives) the parts of the system /or: the members of the team. What connects the inner voice of conscience with the outward dynamics of community life? This article explores a striking fractal pattern ...

... A nurse came to me in great physical need. Her faith had sunk to almost zero. Then I received a very short message. "Tell the child that I am still alive!" What else could I have added to that? What a pity that the Lord himself did not speak more often in this way. He certainly has something to say to us! But his goodness is so great that he sometimes descends (personally) to his children to convince them directly. Praise be to his holy name! Did you have any contact with priests? Sometimes priests came to me to ask for advice on personal matters; often the advice was to pray. One priest occasionally asked me to lay my hands on his wife, who was suffering from severe depression. When he saw me, he always said: "They lay their hands on the sick, and they are healed." May I ask how you felt about the church in this country? During my career as an officer {in the Salvation Army} I didn't have much time to attend church services....