Blog (Page 4)
The Shema: Deuteronomy 6:4
The Shema: Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” In the days of Moses, just before they were to cross the Jordan River to enter the promised land, the people of God – the Covenant people Israel – were given this command that we find in Deuteronomy 6:4. It is famous in the Jewish world and called “The Shema.” This literally means… “listen!”…
Raising the Next Generation to Know God
What a joy it is to be a parent. Well… most of the time, right? Just this week I saw on Facebook another one of our families who is celebrating their little babies month by month birthday. It’s that cute photo of the infant laying on a blanket surrounded by those 12 numbers with a circle on how many months old they are now. Those are the cutest photos and what a joy it is to celebrate. This coming Sunday…
Some of My Thoughts on the Levite (Part II)
Read Part I. When we hear that the Levites did not receive a land inheritance like all the other tribes, it is easy for any of us to think they were, in some way, less than the other tribes. But that would be a mistake. It would be wrong for us to think God did not care for them as much as he cared for the other tribes or love them as much as he loved the other tribes. Why…
Some of My Thoughts on the Levite (Part I)
Do you remember that as a little boy or girl, what did you want to become when you grew up? A musician? A scientist? A writer? What did you dream about? I don’t remember how old I was, but I do remember that by the time I was in middle school, I dreamed about studying automobile designing in Italy to become a designer or about becoming a meteorologist, not one of those meteorologists standing in front of a camera at…
Can you know a mountain if you have never climbed it?
Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. We are blessed to live in a part of the world that has mountains to our east (the Cascades) and mountains to our west (the Olympics). For those of us who live in the Puget Sound region, the major attraction is of course Mt Rainier. Standing 14,411 feet above sea level, it is the 3rd highest peak in the lower 48 states, and when…
KNOW GOD – Now Run the Race!
I hated track in High School! Now know this about me. I ran track all through High School, but I can honestly say I never really liked it. Why? Because it just flat out hurt too much! At the same time I was (and still am) inspired by great track athletes. I love watching the Olympics when we see displayed on the field those that push themselves to a whole new level. I love to watch the endurance races –…
Hebrews 11:1
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” I actually enjoy walking through a cemetery and looking at the head markers. No, I am not morbid, but it is interesting to reflect on what you find out about the lives of those who have gone before us. The most fascinating ones are the really old dates (especially any in the 17 or 1800’s) but the brief description of what…
The Theology of Rest (Part III)
Read Part I Read Part II As the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, God made a promise to them he would surely go before them into the Promised Land. He would always care for them, come to defeat their enemies, and they would live securely. They would finally enter into their rest in the Promised Land. He also said to them that after they had settled into the Promised Land, they must observe the Sabbath. They must keep it holy,…
Preparing for Easter Sunday: Can you predict or prepare for the storms on the horizon?
When I was a young boy, we were living in central Texas, 180 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico. But we had lots of family members who lived right at the coastline in the city of Corpus Christi. I had two grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all there. In August of 1970, when I was 13 years old, those Corpus Christi grandparents took us on a bit of a road trip in their station wagon (yes, it looked liked…
Jesus: Without the Shedding of Blood there is No Forgiveness
Are you in favor of the Death Penalty? Is there any crime that is worthy of a Death Sentence? This question might be challenging for you. Here are three somewhat typical answers: I am not about to try to answer this question right here for our legal system and for our society, but this is essentially the major issue and question that needs to be addressed when we dig deeper into our Bible in Hebrews chapters 9 & 10. I…
Christ the Guarantor of God’s New Covenant
When the colonial leaders of early America officially broke ties from British rule (you better all know that date…July 4th, 1776!) they called themselves a new nation that had a new national identity. These early founders of our nation based this very difficult decision that led to the Revolutionary War upon what they called “the unalienable rights” that every person should have. They stated that these ‘rights’ were not just a nice idea, but that the Creator God Himself had…
The Theology of Rest (Part II)
We know that the commandment to remember the Sabbath day and to keep it holy came to the Israelites in the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. Before this, there was no commandment to the Israelites anywhere in the Bible to remember the Sabbath day, and to keep it holy. But I don’t want you to think that God introduced the concept of rest for the first time in Genesis, and he didn’t bring up the concept of rest, or more…
Entering the Sacred Throne Room of God
We are all taught that certain places where we show up demand some kind of proper etiquette in our behavior. Patty and I had the amazing opportunity over 20 years ago, to be tourist in Rome. Of course, we visited as many of the classic historical sites as possible… the Roman Colosseum, The Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, St Peters Basilica… But I looked forward the most to spend time at the Sistine Chapel. The room is surprisingly…
The Theology of Rest (Part I)
The Ten Commandments is one of the most recognizable sections in the Bible. I first heard about them when I was still a little boy. Hollywood even made a movie with the same title in 1956. But what if I were to tell you the words, “Ten Commandments” are not found anywhere in the Bible? It’s true. That is because in the three places where “Ten Commandments” appear in the Bible, it does not say, “Ten Commandments”, but “Ten Words”…
Spiritual Surgery
One of the few times I have ever been under a surgeon’s scalpel is when I was in High School, and I had a tonsillectomy (I hope I spelled this correctly!). I came down with a very bad throat and the doctor determined that my tonsils were the problem, and they had to come out. I know that many of you have had some pretty big surgeries in your life, and my tonsils just don’t compare to many of you,…
Knowing God: The God of REST
Knowing God: The God of REST When was the last time you thought to yourself… “I need a break!! I need some REST!… I need a VACATION!” If you are like me, when those cruise ship brochures come in the mail, or those vacation sales to nice warm sunny beaches arrive in my e-mail box, I like to look and dream a little. I think to myself how nice that would be to just relax with no cares and enjoy…
A Wilderness Experience: Off the grid living
A couple of years ago I bought a magazine about “off grid living.” I have always enjoyed that kind of thing as I have done a good bit of backpacking over the years. I love the mountains and I love figuring out how to make life work in a naturel setting. But as for the magazine, maybe I was considering moving off the grid, as it was during the covid lockdown time, and I thought to myself, “if I’m going…
A Very High View of Angels
In the opening chapter in the Book of Hebrews, the author wasted no time firing off on his agenda. He set out to begin to talk about angels right out of the gate. But he didn’t just begin to give a systematic theology on angels. His purpose was more specific than that. His main thesis was on how Christ is superior than the angels. Of the many directions he could have gone, it is remarkable to me the first thing…
Knowing God: Jesus is Superior to the Angels and the Ultimate Human
I have another Hollywood movie analogy for you this week… “Angels and Demons,” the 2009 film with Tom Hanks as the main character. Last week it was the Truman Show with Jim Carrey! What we know of Angels is usually from a Hollywood movie. (are you thinking to yourself… ‘Billy, you watch too many movies!” I actually did not see Angels and Demons as it looked too dumb for me – but don’t tell Tom Hanks!) This coming Sunday I…
A Most Deadly Theology
Do you know what is prosperity theology? You may not know the term, but you may already know the theology. Prosperity theology is sometimes also called the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, or the gospel of success. It is an unbiblical theology that says if a person becomes a Christian, it is God’s will for him to receive financial blessing, physical well-being, among other “prosperous” things. For the past two weeks, I was in Taiwan visiting my parents…
Knowing God: His Final Word
In the 1998 film, “The Truman Show,” that starred Jim Carrey, it was about a man Truman who thought he lived a ‘normal’ life, but it was in a box. From birth to adulthood his life was on camera 24/7. It was the ultimate reality show for the audience as they kept the TV on all the time to see what Truman was up to. Truman had no idea that he was being filmed. The world that he lived was…
Loving Life
God is the Author of Life. God loves life and God is pro (or for) life, but what does that mean? It means to think about life and value life the way God does. God values ALL life – from “womb to tomb” or “birth to earth” as some have put it. As a people who believe in and follow Jesus we should align our thinking with His. It is time to understand the pro-life case, form beliefs on more…
Redeeming Life
As was mentioned last week, this series is entitled “The Matter of Life”. We need to think about life and value life the way God does. This week we are going to be discussing more of the questions we brought up last week: Is it possible that God wants to AND IS ABLE to redeem a life that we would think beyond hope? To prepare for this week: go back to some Bible stories you may or may not be…
Sanctity of Life
Pastors Billy and Alvin have been teaching the last couple weeks on Knowing God and God being the “Author of Life”. To go along with that we are going to start a short series this week entitled “The Matter of Life”. We’re going to be talking about: I would like you to think about some questions as we look at this subject; questions that will be a part of our discussion for the next three weeks: To prepare for this…
Then God Spoke All These Words
Do you remember when was the first time you heard about the Ten Commandments? Was it during dinner one day you sat down with your family? Was it in a conversation with a friend? Was it during children Sunday school? When I first heard about them, I was so little I don’t even remember how old I was. God writing some things on stone tablets must have fascinated me. The Ten Commandments are well known not just to Christians, but…