jewellpage.com

Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially the gift of speaking what God has revealed. (1 Corinthians 14.1 God's Word Translation) How often have good Christians come to this passage and been stumped about what Paul is saying? In the KJV he talks of "tongues" and "prophecy" and we shriek and run for cover. We think, “Is there something that I'm missing? I have never spoken in tongues.” I speak Portuguese,though many Brazilians might debate that. However, Paul didn't necessarily have Portuguese in mind but he wasn't talking about gibberish or "Holy Spirit" language either. He was talking about what the verse above mentions, "speaking what God has revealed. Speaking what God has revealed is called “prophecy”. That didn't help me. In the Old Testament a prophet was one who spoke what God had told him to speak. The true prophet of God had no choice but to speak what God had commanded. If he didn't he would be reprim...

Finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. (Ephesians 6.10) My gym experience continues. I am seeing progress but am also feeling like a whipped pup after every workout. Right now for example my hip hurts, my foot aches and I can barley lift my fingers to the keyboard without grunting. Why? Is it age? Is it weakness? Is it the intensity of the training? Yes, yes and maybe. Age fights dirty and saps one’s youthful strength. Weakness is harder to lick than it used to be. The training is intense but could be worse. Building stamina will take longer than it did when I was fifteen. And there is a good chance that it might never arrive at the level that I had way back then. All of this made me wonder about my spiritual stamina. Do I lose strength as I age? Does the battle’s intensity lessen? Paul, in the above text indicates that the older we get the more we need to get strong. Life can be a tough trainer. It often has no pity nor mercy. If I don’t get the ...

“ Your neck looks like an Iguana’s neck. Why is that? ” Biatriz And speaking of the funny things that kids say. Just yesterday in Bible club little Bea, who was sitting next to me began to play with the hanging skin under my chin. She said, “Your neck looks like an Iguana’s neck.” I have often wondered the same thing. Why? Why is it that all of a sudden my face seems to be falling off of my skull? WHY? I laughed but deep down was wondering about the cost of a face life!

Rebeca So often kids express out loud what we adults are thinking. Sundays in Sunday school lately we are playing the part of investigators. Our investigations have taken us to a better understanding of God. We have looked at his Omnipresence, omniscient and today’s lesson was about how Creative He is and how that God has given men minds to invent and think of new ideas. During the lesson I spoke about God’s eternal existence. He never didn’t exist. As I mentioned this fact, that we adults often take for granted, a couple of the girls had huge questions. I could tell by the hazy look crept over their cute little faces. Tais, who is always thinking and asking good questions, immediately raised her hand. “Pastor! God never began?! I can’t even comprehend that!” I told her that this aspect of God’s character is AMAZING and impossible for anyone to comprehend. Rebeca sat beside and she leaned over and said to Dawn, “If God was never born then He doesn’t have a BIRTHDAY!” I laughed har...

He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through . Job 20:24 Dreams can be frightening. Whether I am about to fall off a cliff, be run over by a car or stabbed, it is always wonderful to suddenly wake up! The feeling of, “Oh! Its only a dream!” brings an instant sigh of relief. So often in my dreams, deep down, I know that my present terror is only a dream. Whatever it is that wakes me up only confirms my suspicion. There will be none of that relief in Hell. Fear will be real and unrelenting. Life will not be “dreamlike” but vivid with all of the sights, smells and feelings of reality. In Job 20, Zophar’s description of the rich man’s woes give us fodder for our hellish meditations. In chapter 20.24, 25 a frightening scene grips our attention. There we see a fugitive’s futile flight from danger. From nowhere comes a bronze tipped arrow that pierces his abdomen and liver. As he struggles to extract it dark terror overwhelms his soul, “This is not a dr...

God throws his burning anger at the godless person (Job 20.23) Another visit to Hell is due today. How many times have you heard someone say, “I'm living in Hell right now!” It may be a bad and seemingly eternal marriage, a hellish neighbor causing havoc or a terminal disease gnawing a worn body that induces this statement. Life can be grueling, heartless and terrifying. It can betray, belittle and befuddle. There are no guarantees outside that of the Bible and Salvation in Jesus Christ. However, whatever the situation this life is not Hell. You may have lost your parents, husband or girlfriend. Or you may not have lost them. You may have a demon of a boss or brother-in-law. You may be in a dead-end life but, it is not Hell. Hell is beyond description. We've never seen or experienced anything like it. If a person jumped into the gaping mouth of an erupting volcano it wouldn't be as bad as falling headlong into Hell. R.I.P doesn't exist in Hell. The dearly departed...

a fire not blown shall consume him (Job 20.26) This thought may never have crossed your mind but it crossed mine this morning, “What is a day in Hell like?” I was reading in Job 20 and came across Zophar’s words in verses 12 to the end of the chapter. They are chilling. Though I imagine that chilling might be a poor choice of words when speaking of Hell. Think of the searing sting in the heart of one who awakes to find himself in this hopeless place? 9/11 brought back memories of hellish scenes from down town Manhattan. As people scrambled from the first and second towers they couldn’t believe their eyes. One man said, “I stood there looking at half a torso, an arm and other body parts and couldn't understand what had happened!” It was a horrific day that we won’t forget. What if you woke up to such a day? What would it be like? It maybe Zophar who gives us some interesting and horrifying insight into what a day in Hell might be like. Let’s look into this horrid visit to Hell. Z...

Where has the year gone! It is September already. Life's march is steady but have you ever thought of celebrating Thanksgiving in September, March or June? We have reason to. In the latter chapters of Jeremiah, when all Israel has been sacked and carried captive, there comes a short sentence. It is a predicted exclamation that the Jews of Jeremiah's experience may never have aspired to sing. The vocalization comes in chapter 33 verse 11. But we need to include a bit of the context for the cry to make sense. So, look too at verses 10 through 12. We read 10 Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast, 11 The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: ...

Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. (Jeremiah 21.8) I don't know if you are a Lord of the Rings fan or not. I must admit that I have never read the books; I've only seen the three films directed by Peter Jackson. At first glance I was in no way interested in slimy creatures being birthed from the ground and the slippery Gollumn character. However, the more I watched the more intrigued I became. I still don't pretend to understand the complete story line but the special effects were otherworldly. Do you remember the second movie, "Two Towers"? In the epic and seemingly eternal scene a battle is set to begin at Helm's Deep or Hornburg if you are a Tolkien purist. There is a mere 1000 good guys against 10,000 plus Orcs and Uruk-hai which are beastly creatures that resemble a cross between apes and demons on steroids. It is a hopeless scenario. There is nothing to do but defend the ominous fortress which at the beginning of the scen...