Posts by Gene (Page 8)

Posts by Gene (Page 8)

Maundy Thursday

Today, Maundy Thursday marks the beginning of the Triduum or the “three days.” Earlier this same day the Lord Jesus had instructed His disciples to prepare for what would be a distressing and holy meal, His Last Supper. The disciples made these preparations throughout the day (Matthew 26:17). On our Thursday evening (Jewish Friday), we want to find ourselves in the upper…

Holy Wednesday

Today is Holy Wednesday (reckoned from Tuesday evening to Wednesday evening). There is no mention in Scripture of what Jesus did on the Wednesday of His final week. This day has often been called “Spy Wednesday” because it was on this day that Judas conspired to betray the Lord Jesus. And just how much was the Master worth to him? Judas agreed to hand Him over for a mere…

Holy Tuesday

Today is Holy Tuesday (actually reckoned from Monday evening to Tuesday evening). Holy Tuesday was a day of conflict and a day of teaching for our Lord. It was VERY busy! According to Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus again returned to Jerusalem where He was confronted by the Temple leadership for His violent actions in the Temple the day before – overturning the tables,…

Considering Jesus, Our Passover Lamb

Our blogs usually focus upon issues of practical discipleship: ‘How can I more effectively follow Jesus?’ But, as we approach Holy Week – Palm Sunday is just days away – I’d like us to turn our eyes solely and deliberately upon Jesus, our suffering Savior. I LOVE the exhortation of Hebrews 3:1! “Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider…

The Shoe Factory

There’s an illustration I heard many years ago. I’m sorry, but I don’t know who wrote it. It tells the story of shoe factory and it goes something like this … Imagine that there’s a large shoe factory in your home town. The management has invested great sums of money and many man-hours into the plant to produce the finest shoes possible. Money has been spent on salaries…

Puzzled Looks from Inside the Warehouse

If you love God’s Word – I mean really love it – you have no doubt encountered other Christians who are decidedly less enthusiastic about it than you are. They may love the fellowship and comradery of gathering together with other believers, or the pageantry and antiquity of the liturgy – if they happen to attend a liturgical church. Or perhaps they love music – hymns or…

Stealing Beauty from True Christian Giving

I love the way Paul speaks to the Corinthians about their participation in the collection he was taking up for the impoverished saints in Jerusalem: “I am not saying this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love …” (2 Corinthians 8:8, NET). “I am not saying this as a command” points up the sanctity of giving as an expression of the believer’s personal…

The Manger, The Cross & Christian Giving

When the apostle Paul was taking up a collection for the suffering believers who lived in Jerusalem, he presented the Corinthians with two examples of generous giving. First, he used the example of the Macedonian churches – Philippi, Berea & Thessaloniki – who gave out of their poverty. They gave generously, even though they had very little to meet their own physical…

When the Day is Done

‘When the day is done,Down to earth, then, sinks the sun,Along with all that’s lost and won –When the day is done’ -Nick Drake- A Witness in Our Biology And so the day is done. Evening is a tender time – a time for offering the day back to my Keeper. What I’ve done this day can never be undone. The moments I’ve spent in it are gone forever. Hopefully, I’ve spent some of…

The Secret of Walking with God

Dear Church, This morning, I’m reposting a wonderful passage excerpted from Secrets of the Secret Place by Bob Sorge that I really wanted us to see. We’ve been talking about the challenges of walking with God at various times of the day: morning, afternoon and evening. This brother deals with the subject of walking with God more generally, but with simple profundity: “God…

Morning’s Invitation to See the Invisible

Nurse: “Doctor, the invisible man is in the waiting room.” Doctor: “Tell him I can’t see him right now.” Bud-dum! We’ve all heard the expression, ‘I must be seeing things!’ But truth be known, people who walk by faith are ‘seeing things,’ invisible things, all the time! In fact, that’s what it means to walk in faith. Hebrews 11:3 tells us that “faith is the substance of…

How to Live Among Scoffers

In their last written words, the Apostles Peter and Paul felt it was important to warn the church of the grave dangers that lie ahead. In his final letter, Paul wrote: “Understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,…

Keeping Clean While Engaging Culture

It’s been called one of the most important Christian books of the 20th century: H. Richard Niebuhr’s, Christ and Culture. I read it thirty years ago, then I read it in seminary, and I read it again last year. It’s astonishing to me that a book written in 1951 about something as ‘in the now’ as engaging culture remains as relevant as it is. Sixty-seven years is a long time…

On the Threshold of a Fresh, Mysterious Year

Greetings highly-favored people of God (Matthew 13:16-17)! The new year is upon us with all its blessings and challenges and, well, mystery. None of us knows what danger lurks around the next corner (cue dramatic music), but we do know this: (1) The Lord is with us in the journey (Matthew 28:20b) and (2) His Word is more than sufficient to guide us, instruct us and…

Why Did Jesus Come?

At Christmastime, perhaps more than at other times of the year, we think about Jesus coming into the world and why He came. So, why did Jesus come into the world? Careful! The answer you give to that question may say more about you than you think! At the most fundamental level, Christ Jesus came to save sinners. He came to teach us about His Father. He came to warn us…

The Chains We Forge in Life

In A Christmas Carol, Marley’s ghost pays a visit to his old partner in business, Ebenezer Scrooge. Dickens writes: Again, the spectre raised a cry, and shook its chain and wrung its shadowy hands. “You are fettered,” said Scrooge, trembling. “Tell me why?” “I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of…

Being About God’s Business

One of the most poignant moments in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has the ghost of Scrooge’s former business partner Jacob Marley paying him and uninvited visit. “You were always a good businessman,” Scrooge tells the ghost. The ghost replies, “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were, all, my…

Are You A Thanks-Giver? Then Give Thanks HERE!

Remember the ten lepers Jesus healed in Luke 17:11-19? Leprosy was a devastating and separating disease. It separated one from his or her loved ones and community. It rendered them an outcast. Well, the ten lepers showed themselves to the priest and were indeed declared healed! Then we read this:…