Posts by Gene (Page 9)

Posts by Gene (Page 9)

It’s Not About You. Really, It’s Not.

In consideration of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, which we observed yesterday, I’d like us to consider the story of Mojtaba Hosseini, an Iranian Christian man who learned two precious lessons from the Lord through his persecution. First, he learned that God can use us for His glory anywhere. Second, He learned that Christianity is never about…

“Act Justly” – Giving People What They Deserve

The Big Three This is a wonderful passage isn’t it? I remember being in high school/college/seminary and, no matter what course I was taking, the question on every student’s mind was the same: ‘What’s going to be on the test?’ We all wanted to know what the teacher expected of us. Believers are…

Drowning in Rivers of Oil

What does the Lord require of me? When the Lord looks at me, a sinner He’s rescued from sin and death, what does He expect to find? Micah 6:8 famously asks and answers that very question. “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Act justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly…

The Mercy of Jesus: A Meditation, Part 2

Mercy is one of our Father’s many magnificent attributes. Those of us who have found mercy – who have been kissed by God’s mercy – need not have it explained to us. Those who have never known it can never understand it, no matter how eloquent the explanation offered. Mercy rescued me, a guilty sinner and a lost man. Mercy delivered me from the quicksand of my own…

The Mercy of Jesus: A Meditation, Part 1

It is impossible for me to imagine that Johann Gerhard’s Sacred Meditations were written when he was only twenty-two years old. I knew nothing at twenty-two, and I sometimes feel that I know even less now! Gerhard’s Meditations are profoundly inspiring and deeply, deeply spiritual. They seem to be the work of a much older man – one who’d experienced many decades of the…

Why Marriage?

This morning I’m reposting an insightful article from FamilyLife ministries written by Dave Boehi. In it, Dave explores in simple, straightforward language the three great purposes God intends for marriage. Hold your own marriage up against these and ask whether or not its achieving God’s objectives. As always, I’ve included reflective questions at the end. Enjoy! P. Gene…

Four Things That Even God Calls Impossible

‘If God can do anything, can He create a rock so heavy that He can’t lift it,’ asks the clever sceptic. ‘Maybe not, but He can certainly create one heavy enough to drop on your irreverent head,’ my snarky flesh wants to answer! Augustine was famously asked by a student what God was doing before He created the heavens and the earth? “Creating Hell, he said, “For people who…

Catching a Glimpse of the Glory

‘Be practical!’ ‘Application, application, application!’ In seminary I learned that the key to preaching an effective sermon is practical application. Today, the focus of sermons is usually the audience: ‘What will he or she hear and will it matter to them personally?’ But this, I think, says more about the day in which we live than it does about preaching sermons that…

Shipwrecked!

In 1 Timothy Paul tells of a shipwreck. Not of a first century wooden ship piling her hull upon the rocks, mind you, but a shipwreck nonetheless. And one no less terrifying than any of the nautical disasters that have become so famous. “This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage…

Drifting from the Father’s Love

In Luke 15, a conflict is about to bust out between Jesus and the Pharisees and scribes. Jesus is becoming popular – too popular – and with all the wrong kinds of people. “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Him, “Luke tells us, “And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them’” (Luke 15:1-2).…

Living Inside Out

It’s a theme that runs throughout the New Testament: to follow Jesus means to live inside out. That’s not to say that the outside doesn’t matter – it does! God holds us accountable for what we do and say. He expects obedience of us, and a good testimony – and confession, if sin has broken our fellowship with Him. The problem is this: while were often more concerned with…