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Fellowship is two fellows in one ship.  Well not really. These days we'd probably have to say two people in a flotation device. Or some such nonsense. But what makes Christian fellowship any different than a lodge meeting or an American Legion fish fry?  Well, lots of things.  We had this discussion in the teens Sunday school class this morning. I used the words communion as an acrostic for the kids to give their ideas about what fellowship is.  The came up with these thoughts: Have the same heart  Pray together  Have the Same thoughts  Deny one's self for another  Have Humor  Demonstrate Love  Have a Willingness to listen  Just to explain a linguistic thing. These ideas align with the letters for the português word "communion" (fellowship).  I thought this an excellent list of qualities in the explanation of what we have in Christ. We'll be talking more about them next week. Are these a continuing part of your Christian fellow...

If this is Kingdom Living, Do I Want it? Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. In a study of the Sermon on the Mount to this point we might be tempted to say, “I don’t want to be that happy!” If this is Kingdom living then I want to go to Disney World. This place is depressing.  What Jesus describes here seems to highlight all of the ...

  Matthew 10:23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. What was that? Excuse me? Could you please repeat that? The Son of Man will come? But, wait, isn't he You? The title is a hated passive sentence. However, it states the text key thought. Jesus is coming back. Jesus sent his men to preach the kingdom. They were the ones who would be coming back, right? If this is the same account that is related in Luke 10, then they came back  victorious, over the demons at least. Jesus hadn't left. One author states, "This is one of the hardest-to-understand statements of Jesus in Matthew." Talk about bad grammar! However, like he says, we've scratched our theological heads since the first time we heard this text. Or maybe you've never given it a close look. Our understanding is that here, Jesus is talking about this second coming. Or that is what I've ...

  Esau the rejected one. Esau the deceived one. Esau the one hated by God gets a chapter in the book of Genesis. The question is, why? Esau’s story plays a tiny part in Israel’s. He gave away his inheritance for his brother’s bowl of stew. He was the recipient of zero blessings from his dad because of his brother’s bowl of stew. He had a chance to cook his brother’s stew when they met in the land of Seir. But he didn't. Esau is a dark character. He married women whom he knew would displease his parents. He became the nation that the angel told Rebekah he would. His family is described in this often skipped or skimmed chapter of Genesis. Esau loses here too because his chapter comes just before the cool story of Joseph begins in chapter thirty seven. But why does he get a chapter anyway? The account was being recorded by Moses to prepare the Children of Israel for their entry into the Promised Land. There would be many enemies and some distant relatives. They needed to be aware of w...

  Revelation 1:3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. Sounds pretty straightforward doesn't it. I mean, for a fisher guy, how complicated could this authorial effort be? John is the Apostle of love. He uses the word love 53 times in his New Testament works, more than any other author of the Bible. What could he say in 22 chapters that might leave the world a tad scared? Plenty! It's not that the Revelation is complicated linguistically, because his vocabulary isn't really difficult. It's not a long read. An average reader, me for instance, can read it in a little more than an hour. Really. It took me one hour and seven minutes. On several attempts.  Revelation is just different. One of the most important aspects to know about the letter, which Revelation is, a letter to seven churches, is that it is apocalyptic literature. The Apocalipse literal...

Do you remember the Lone Ranger? Near the end of many of the episodes someone would ask that nagging question, "Who was that Masked Man?" To which the answer would be, "That was the Lone Ranger!" In Joshua 5 there is this Mysterious man who meets with Joshua just before the Promised Land entry. He is standing strong with a drawn sword in his hand as Joshua approaches to ask, "Are you sir, for us or for our enemies?" Here you would think that this man would say, "I am for you of course!" However, he doesn't say that. He says simply, "Neither." He goes on and says, "As commander of the LORD's army I have now come." Wait, this "commander" is leading the Lord's army? What army is that? Where else do we see a heavenly army being lead by someone? Oh right, in Revelation. So, this Commander would be Jesus, correct? Correct. So, why was't he for Israel and against the enemy ? Mercy. Grace? Opportunity. Y...

  25 Brothers, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. ( 1 Thess 5:25-28) Ending this short letter to his beloved church in the grand city of Thessalonica Paul give some parting direction.  Pray for us - He knew the power of prayer and had already told the believers that he was praying for them. Now it was their turn to pray for him. He wanted so much to be with them. Maybe God would open that opportunity for a return visit if they but prayed. We never know what God will do until we ask him.  Kiss the brothers! - Some of our teens would love to practice this request. What was Paul really saying? In fact, our Brazilian brothers do kiss on the cheek. It is a common greeting and nothing out of the ordinary. It is a way of expressing a special bond. In this case that bond was even greater because it was in Christ.  Read...

  The title phrase of this blog, " As the LORD Commanded Moses ",  appears almost 40 times from Leviticus to Joshua. It indicates how obedient Moses was in performing what God ordered him to do. The requirements  were not easy. Many times during the construction of the Tabernacle there were so many minute details that need to be executed. And each time we read that Moses did them exactly, "as the LORD commanded" him to.  When you meditate on this seemingly monotonous repetition of this detail it brings to mind an important fact,  Moses was an incredibly obedient and detailed person . He heard the LORD's instructions and followed them to the letter every time. Some were nauseating. He was to separate intestines, liver, kidneys from certain sacrifices. Wash these parts with water and then burn them completely. What a gross mess. Why not just burn them without washing them? Because, God had commanded him to do it that way. Period.  At ...

Hebreus 12: 1 Portanto, visto que estamos rodeados por tão grande nuvem de testemunhas, joguemos fora tudo o que nos impede e o pecado que tão facilmente nos envolve.  E corramos com perseverança a carreira que nos foi traçada 2, fixando os olhos em Jesus, o pioneiro e consumador da fé.  Pela alegria que lhe estava proposta, ele suportou a cruz, desprezando sua vergonha, e sentou-se à direita do trono de Deus.  Alguns disseram que a grande nuvem de testemunhas são pessoas que foram antes de nós para o céu.  Eles estão olhando do céu para nós que vivemos neste mundo e estão nos encorajando para a vitória em nossas vidas cristãs.  Imagine, se você fosse um desses, no céu, e você tivesse que olhar pra você todos os dias.  O céu ainda seria o céu?  Ou você estaria roendo as unhas espirituais até o sabugo?  A nuvem de testemunhas aqui são todas as pessoas de fé mencionadas no capítulo onze.  E eles não estão nos observando.  Eles estão servin...

Smartphones are pretty cool aren't they? We have 120 million times more computing power in our phones than the Apollo 11 moon mission computer. Of course we don’t think about that part as long as we can access Whatsapp or messenger. It seems that I rarely use my phone to call someone.  The Word of God is cool too. Of course that is a silly way of saying that the Word is awesome!! Hebrews tells us that the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.  Stopping to ponder that might make you say, "So, how can it be living? Powerful? Sharp?"  The Word is living because it speaks of eternal life given by an eternal God to finite beings. It is powerful because it's message can change your life. Sharp because it cuts to the marrow. The Word of God is more powerful than any old smartphone.  It tells us of our spiritual condition and what we need to do to have a relationship with God. So, treat the Bible like you treat your cell phone. Use it as m...

I always thought this verse curious. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 states the following, "For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie"  For context here we need to examine 1 and 2 Thessalonians. You might know that the books of first and second Thessalonians talk about end-time events. Paul wanted the believers in this church to know what to expect with regard to the next events on their escatological calendar.  Each chapter division highlights the great apostle's prophetic perspective. Let's look at what he said.  1 Thessalonians 1:8 The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from...

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him ... Ephesians 1:4 I often hyperventilate on this verse and its proposition of God’s choice of his own, before creation. It is a mindboggeling concept and one very worthy of much study. Whatever your understanding about God’s choice, that choice is for one purpose. Look at it again, Ephesians 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight... We were chosen to be “holy and blameless”.  For a fallen people, this choosing of holy and perfect people is an impossible task. You can’t find what doesn’t exist. Paul stated this fact in his letter to the Roman believers when he said, “ as it is written: None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. .." (Romans 3:10-11). Where was it “written”? In Psalm 14 and 53 of course. Paul’s quote is taken from these two Davidic psalms. The “none perf...

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him... Ephesians 1:4 I often hyperventilate on this verse and its proposition of God’s choice of his own, before creation. It is a mindboggeling concept and one very worthy of much study. Whatever your understanding about God’s choice, that choice is for one purpose. Look at it again, Ephesians 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight... We were chosen to be “holy and blameless”.  For a fallen people, this choosing of holy and perfect people is an impossible task. You can’t find what doesn’t exist. Paul stated this fact in his letter to the Roman believers when he said, “as it is written: None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God..." (Romans 3:10-11). Where was it “written”? In Psalm 14 and 53 of course. Paul’s quote is taken from these two Davidic psalms. The “none perfect”...

In Acts 10, we have the intriguing account of the centurion Cornelius and his family coming to faith in Christ. My question is, why did God choose Cornelius? We may be tempted to respond with the following reasons: He was godly 2 Fear to God 2 The family was Godly 2 He did many alms. 2 He always prayed 2 He had an affect on his servants and fellow soldiers 7 Even the angelic visitor highlights his prayers and alms! Later in verse 22 other qualities are mentioned: Righteous man Feared God Good testimony in all Jewish nations Verse 33 mentions that he had called the family and were ready to hear and do everything the Lord commanded. This guy deserved an angelic visit, didn't he? He was like Abraham, and Noah or Moses, who were men who deserved to be chosen. Right? Wrong! As it is written, there is no righteous one, none (Romans 3:10). We have an unscriptural view when we think that a human being deserves to be chosen by God. We do not deserve anything from God. However, God in his g...

The AWANA program was greatly useful in our family's past. We learned much in and through our work with kids and families. One of the strengths of the system was, and is, scripture memorization. Boys and Girls would memorize huge portions of scripture, supporting sound doctrinal declarations. It was amazing the work that went into the awards structure.  One of the most important verses that was memorized was Galatians 2:20 where Paul states almost in passing,   " I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me ."  Whether child, or adult, this verse must be understood with all seriousness. I believe that you know what I mean when I say that my biggest struggle with sin comes from my own fleshly desires. The old theological statement that declares our three enemies as, the world , the flesh and the devil , might bette...

When Jesus Christ takes over this world he will conquer the last enemy. That enemy is a terribly powerful one who has taken the life of all but two people in history. The enemy is called "Death".  In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul expounds on the subject in verses 20 - 26. It is a fascinating read. The whole chapter is worth memorizing.  My study Bible has titled the chapter, "the resurrection of Christ". Paul, however, talks about the resurrection of the believers too. We believers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ depend on the doctrine of the resurrection. It is our longing and hope. Like Paul states in this passage, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied" (19). When Christ returns, however, he will destroy the last enemy, death.  Wait? But, what about his millennial reign? Doesn't it say somewhere (Is 65:20) that, during the Millennium, that the person who dies at 100 years old will be considered an infant?  So, my...

Do you like lists? Does it make you feel better when you can put a check mark in a little box? Does exileration fill your soul when the daily list is done? Then you will love the book of Romans.  However, the lists in this amazing letter are not very pretty. And checking them isn't really the goal. Some of the lists are just facts about human nature. Truths that will make your head spin and your heart sink. Look at chapter one for instance. Romans 1:29-32 talking about the natural man Paul gives a doozy of a character quality list. His divinely inspired commentary is as follows:  They have become filled with every kind of wickedness,  evil,  greed and  depravity.  They are full of envy,  murder,  strife,  deceit and  malice.  They are gossips,  slanderers,  God-haters,  insolent,  arrogant and  boastful;  they invent ways of doing evil;  they disobey their parents;  they have no understanding,...

  Acts 10 This Is a weird sentence. This Is what Peter said when Jesus told him to arise and eat whatever he wanted from the floating sheet in Acts 10. The sheet vision was full of all kinds of animals and Peter didn't want to have anything to do with it.  He’d never eaten unclean things.  Peter had a way of wanting the right thing but going about it in the wrong way. For some examples. Peter had just exclaimed, “You are the Christ the Holy One from God!” and  only a few minutes later he was called Satan by Jesus! Why? Because he was wanting to save Jesus' life from a death on the cross. Which, was actually God’s plan for redemption. Later, it was Peter who said that, even though ALL the disciples deserted Jesus, he would NEVER desert him. Jesus then told him that before the night was done he would deny him not Once nor Twice but THREE times! Did he? Yes.  Then here in Acts 10 he’s at it again. This, mind you, was after Pentecost and his amazing message that saw...

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of various kinds. 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you are mature and complete, lacking nothing. Did your mother ever tell you to grow up? What about your father or worse still, your girlfriend or wife? James, Jesus' half-brother, is telling us to grow up. He knew what he was talking about because he had been raised in the same house as Jesus. Even though they probably shared a room, James did not become a believer until his older half-brother was resurrected from the grave. Is that amazing or what?  James grew up with the wonder boy and never thought he could be from another kingdom. James was there when Jesus, inside a crowded house, teaching and healing, was called to come outside to his mother.  Mary had brought her boys, the “normal ones”, to pick up her lunatic son who thought he was God in sandals. Jesus, of course,...

  1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” 4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.” The whole book of Acts is transitional in that it tells of the beginning of the church. Acts chapter ten is pivotal for us non-jews. Jesus leaves his instructions to be witnesses, to the uttermost part of the earth. However, until chapter ten this, witness work, has taken place only in or near Jerusalem and to the Jews. Not un...