--"Next."

The Word for today: Job 9:25 -- 10:22
mark this: 9:32--
For He is not a man, as I am, that I may answer Him, and that we should go to court together.

Sometimes we picture Judgment Day as the day when we shall stand before God to plead our case. This is a misleading picture. That we will stand before God is true. But we will not speak (1). The truth of Jesus' sacrifice, when he took our place on the cross, will be the only "voice" at Judgment:
The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground (2).

By this "voice," God will determine whether or not we placed our trust in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.

If you are God's child through faith in Jesus Christ, then your brother's blood cries out to God. But if you have not taken your sins to the cross of Christ, there will be heard no voice--neither God's voice nor your voice nor the voice of your Brother's blood--to plead your case:
He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life (3).

The blood of Christ will speak forgiveness, or there will be heard no voice at all.

--"Next."

(1) See Matthew 22:1-12, a picture of Judgment. The symbol of the "wedding garment" is used to depict the righteousness of God, imparted to those who trust in the blood of Christ for forgiveness of sins. Note especially speechless in 22:12. (2) Genesis 4:10; (3) 1 John 5:12

the first step on the way to the cross

The Word for today: Job 8:1 -- 9:24
mark this : 8:3

Who brought suffering into the world?

When God looked over all that He'd created, He saw that it was very good (1). Creation is a reflection of God's character, and there is no unrighteousness in Him (2).

So where did the suffering come from?

When I look back, I cannot say about my life what God could say about His creation.

And though I cannot see into your heart like I can see into mine, the Bible teaches that none of us--no, not one (3)--is blameless:
The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time (4).

What's wrong with the world is you, and I--and Job. With our sin came the sorrow and the suffering--for ourselves and others.

Hold that thought--because the first step on any man's way back to God is the realization that he, himself, is the problem. No one but the sinner will turn to the cross of Jesus Christ.

(1) Genesis 1:31; (2) Psalm 92:15; (3) Psalm 53:3; (4) Genesis 6:5

when your problem is its own solution

The Word for today: Job 6:1 -- 7:21
mark this: 7:17-18



The Bible is full of irony.

When the results of a set of circumstances don't match up with what we might expect, that's ironic.

That a solitary warrior's death on a cross marks the victory of light and life over darkness and death is the opposite of what we would expect.

One of the ironies of life, and of Scripture, is that often the problem is its own solution. Whatever was going on in Job's life--it worked; all of the suffering and anguish--it worked.

What was going on throughout the book of Job? Looking at the big picture, God is delivering, transforming, saving, winning. Job is a picture of your transformation ("Ouch!"). The book of Job is about a process.

Don't look for answers in Job. Look for process. The process is the answer; Job's problems are the solution.

Bible reading isn't so much a search for answers as it is time spent with God. The answer isn't in a verse or a theological principle. The real answer is the Bible's effect upon you--the Word becomes flesh not only for Jesus, but for all who avail themselves of its transforming power day by day.

scene through our window

The Word for today: Job 4:1 -- 5:27
mark this: 5:7-9



Satan implies that people don't love God for God Himself, but because of all the good things He gives us. God contends that if all of Job's material blessings were taken away, Job would remain faithful. So the testing begins, as one calamity after another strikes Job's life.

The reader must understand that Job is never made aware of many things the reader knows. Job doesn't know anything about the conversation between God and Satan which prompts Job's testing and all his calamities.

The Bible doesn't claim to reveal everything about God. It doesn't claim to reveal everything about His universe. We are given only what we need to know. We are left in the dark about so many things.

Cosmic purposes--that we are not aware of--are behind many of the things we find inexplicable. Job's suffering has a purpose that he could not understand.

We are not going to be shown every card in God's hand. There are times when all we're going to know is that God is in charge and He's putting his whole heart into it as He works out a perfect plan. Whatever we're dealt, we're to trust that God knows about it and has a purpose for it.

When Jesus told the disciples He must suffer and die on a cross, they just didn't get it. They were not aware of what was at stake, or how any good could ever result from such suffering.

the voice of strangers

The Word for today: Job 1:1 -- 3:26
mark this: 1:6-12

God allows Satan to test your character--not in order to see if your faith will fail, but to prove that your faith will succeed.

Satan will accuse Job, belittle him, and try to undermine his confidence in God. He will strike at Job's family, his possessions, his health.

Job's friends--and even his wife--will throw a lot of half-baked philosophy at him, mixed in with some ill-informed religion.

God allows all of this so that Job's relationship with God will deepen. By the end of the story, Job will know a deeper trust in a bigger God than he had known before.

Remember these principles as the story unfolds:

• Evil cannot proceed further than the end of the chain God's got Satan tied up with.
• God will use evil (when that's all He's got to work with) to bring about good.

A cosmic wager has been made and we're about to see it played out. Job and his friends will contest each other in speeches which often resemble poetic trash talk.

The Bible student must take care to consider just who is speaking at any given moment. Throughout the Bible, we will hear God's prophets pronounce His truth; above all, we will see His Word lived out (1) in the life of Jesus. But we will also encounter voices that do not represent God's outlook.

By the end of the story, God has heard enough of whatever Job's friends have been spouting and tells them so--I am angry at you because you have not told the truth about me (2).

So pay attention to just who is speaking whenever you read the Bible. Do they speak for God, or--like Satan and Job's friends--are they speaking for themselves?

Over time, as you get to know God better and better, you will be able to tell the difference between His voice and the voices that are only pretending to speak for Him:
My sheep hear My voice, and they follow Me (3). They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers (4).

(1) John 1:14; (2) Job 42:7; (3) John 10:27; (4) John 10:5

spiritual warfare

The Word for today: Ephesians 6:10-24
mark this: 6:10-20

Christians do not fight an enemy who is flesh and blood. We are not to fight other men. The enemy is spiritual, and the warfare is spiritual. Spiritual forces are abroad in this world, fighting against the believer, against the church, against Jesus Christ.

In Daniel 10:1-13, we hear an astonishing report from an angel. On the first day that Daniel began praying, an angel was sent to him. But Daniel kept on praying for three weeks, thinking his prayer was unanswered. So where was the angel for those three weeks? He'd been detained as he struggled with a demon, and could not break through until the angel Michael brought reinforcement.

In 2 Kings 6:15-17, God's people, Israel, were surrounded by the enemy nation of Syria. There were many soldiers, horses, and chariots of war. When the prophet Elisha's servant saw the great force of the enemy he was afraid. He cried out to Elisha, "What shall we do?"
Fear not, Elisha told him, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
Then Elisha prayed that God would open the servant's eyes and allow him to see the spirit world. The request was granted, and his servant saw the spiritual forces of God surrounding Israel.

The battle lines are drawn wherever the Word of God is taught, wherever the Good News--salvation from sin and eternal life with God through Jesus Christ--is proclaimed. This blog, for example, is an insurgence into the enemy's realm, a threat to his holdings.

Return often to Ephesians 6:10-20 as you learn more and more about your Bible, about Jesus, about God's armor--the belt, the breastplate, the footwear, the shield, the helmet.

Learn to wield the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, against the enemy--as Jesus used it to defeat Satan in the wilderness (1).

And do not fear this enemy. Greater is He who is within you--the Spirit of God--than he who is in the world (2).

The Captain of our salvation (3)--Jesus Christ--has won this fight; while the enemy, in reluctant retreat, is allowed to play out the full effects of pride for all to see.

(1) Matthew 4:1-11; (2) 1 John 4:4; (3) Hebrews 2:10

Bring it!

The Word for today: Ephesians 5:3 -- 6:9
mark this: 5:8
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.

The image of God, His likeness that His children bear, is not a passive thing that sits still, like a new paint job on the outside to make us look good.

Don't think of the image of God as a painting, but as a movie projector, showing the life of Jesus to the world.
The image of God is something we broadcast, something that shines out to the darkness. We bring the image of God to the world.

Those who promote the religion of man--faith in self, not in God--broadcast their agenda, too, trying to snuff out the image of God in the world. But they will not win this battle:
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (1).

Before I turned to follow God, I was not just in darkness, I was darkness itself:
For you were once darkness.
I, not God, brought the teardrop into my life and into the lives of others.

Now, bearing God's image restored, I am not just in the light, I am light:
You are the light of the world (2).

So shine (3). Project. Bring it.

(1) John 1:5; (2) Matthew 5:14 (3) Matthew 5:16

it's not ours to keep; it's ours to give

The Word for today: Ephesians 4:1 -- 5:2
mark this: 4:11-13

A gift is the Holy Spirit doing something through the believer in order to build others up.

Some can sing, some can lead; some can cook, or clean, or mow the lawn, or play the drums. Some can rebuild a neighbor's shattered hope--or his broken table leg. Some can fix a neighbor's car that won't start; or jump-start his faith when it's stuck in neutral. Some can convey the cross of Jesus Christ, filling empty hearts with the love of God.

Many people who don't follow Jesus have talents--which can look just like the gifts of the Spirit.
Here's the difference: God gives talents to us, to use as we see fit. But the gifts of the Holy Spirit are from God to others--through us.

Gifts are not even ours. We just deliver them. We deliver them in God's name, making it clear that "This is for you--from Jesus."

A gift is a talent we've given away. If we haven't given it away, then it's not a gift at all.

from the inside out

The Word for today: Ephesians 3:1 -- 3:21
mark this: 3:16-17
That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man;
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

We are born with a fallen, human nature. It's our nature to run from God and to put ourselves first. The image of God we once presented is distorted and tarnished, nearly unrecognizable.

But when we trust Jesus we become super-natured, Spirit-natured. We become super-natural!

We are being transformed into the image of God by degrees--from glory to glory (1)--by the Spirit, from the inside out. Eventually the new nature will surface and we will be like Jesus (2). That's our destiny (3).

(1) 2 Corinthians 3:18; (2) 1 John 3:2; (3) see Romans 8:29

How sweet the sound

The Word for today: Ephesians 2:1 -- 2:22

mark this: 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
not of works, lest anyone should boast.

I teach Bible classes. I break my brain and drain my heart in preparation for that hour. But I limp home now and then. Once, a student asked,"What's the difference between grace and mercy?"

I trotted out a lengthy reply, with some stuffy scholarly annotation thrown in to dress it up--and didn't answer the question at all.

When I got home and told Shelley, my wife, about my lame answer, she said, "Here's how I understand it: Grace is when we get good things we don't deserve. Mercy is when we don't get bad things we do deserve."

You could search 443 theology books and never find a better explanation. I know, because I did.

We're saved by grace, amazing grace. Grace comes from the heart of God, Who so loved (your name here) that He found a way to pay the wages of sin for (your name here) when you had no way to pay for yourself.

You are so important to God--so wildly, unquenchably, incomprehensibly loved--that the Creator of the universe took your place on a cross meant for you, because that's the only way He could rescue you.

That's amazing.

That's grace.

There's a cross that had your name on it. I googled and googled and found a picture of that very cross. You can see it up above.

Scripture--and Shelley!--taught me that mercy means you're not on that cross.

Grace means that God was.

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord

The Word for today: Ephesians 1:15-23
mark this: 1:18-20

If you approach the Bible skeptically, with a closed heart, its meaning is closed to you.

Paul, the author of Ephesians, prayed that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened (Epesians 1:18).

Some people say they have "intellectual reservations" about the Bible. What they really have are unwilling hearts--unwilling to change their sinful lives. Should a person be willing to turn from sin, his so-called intellectual reservations would vanish.

On the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:25-32) after His resurrection, Jesus encountered two travelers. He called them "fools, slow of heart to believe in all the prophets have spoken." They weren't foolish and ignorant of scripture because their minds were slow, but because their hearts were slow.

Then Jesus delivered the greatest Bible lesson ever heard:
Beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

After Jesus departed from them, the two travelers asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"

Your Bible reveals itself through the eyes of the heart. If you read it respectfully, with a heart willing to heed its message, God will reveal Jesus to you throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Jesus is the key that opens Scripture to us.

God's forgiveness is different than man's forgiveness

The Word for today: Ephesians 1:1-14
mark this: 1:7

When you or I forgive someone, no penalty is paid.

Let's say someone were to steal $100 from you. You might choose to forgive the person, meaning that the thief would not have to pay for his crime--in either money or jail time. The penalty is forgiven.

But God's forgiveness is never leniency toward sin. God can only forgive after the penalty has been paid.

So can we pay our own penalty? No, we cannot--and here's why:
The wages of sin (what we get for sin) is death (1).

We've heard that the law is life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth (2). We can't pay life for life because we are spiritually dead in our sins and trespasses (3). We have no real life with which to pay.

But the sinless life of Jesus Christ meant that he had life, real life, to give in payment for our sin. He paid life for life so that we could be forgiven.

In the New Testament, the word "forgiveness" is always back-to back-with the words "blood of Jesus Christ." When God forgives, He can't just overlook sin. He had to watch His Son die before He could forgive my sin.

A part of God's character--His absolute, unbending justice-- leaves Him with no ability to take you off death row unless someone pays the price. And He was the only one who could pay. So at the cross, He did.

The penalty having been paid, God is free to exercise another facet of His character--His absolute forgiveness. "Absolute" means that your every sin, past and future, is completely and forever dismissed by the Judge of the universe--all because He Himself could, and did, pay the price.

(1) Romans 6:23; (2) Deuteronomy 19:21; (3) Ephesians 2:1

The voice of the LORD--or the voice of the people?

The Word for today: 1 Samuel 31
mark this: 31:1-5

There is, day by day, a choice to be made. We can choose to act upon the voice of the LORD or we can choose to act upon the voice of the people.

The word of the world is all around us. It blares from earphones and car speakers, from television and computer screens, from politicians seeking power--and even from some pulpits, where many a preacher pursues his own popularity. It's coming from Hollywood, New York, Washington, London. You'll hear it at the lunch table at work. You'll hear it at church picnics, as well.

The word of the LORD is in your hands as you follow the winding course of scripture from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21.

Samuel urged Saul to heed the voice of the words of the Lord (1). If you do not obey the voice of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you (2).

But Saul feared man more than God:
I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord because I feared the people and obeyed their voice (3).

Saul's sad story ends here on the heights of Mt. Gilboa, overlooking the valley of Jezreel, with Jonathan slain beside him. His story is a reminder that the fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe (4).

Joshua had told the people to choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve--whether the LORD or the false gods of the Canaanites (5).

In the same way, may I urge you to choose for yourselves this day whom you will listen to--whether the Word of the LORD, or the word of the world.

(1) 1 Samuel 15:1; (2) 1 Samuel 12:15; (3) 1 Samuel 15:24; (4) Proverbs 29:25; (5) Joshua 24:15

The turn you didn't take.

The Word for today: 1 Samuel 29:1 -- 30:31
mark this: 29:11

David has stepped out of the land and has aligned himself and his men with Achish, a Philistine leader.

But as the battle against King Saul and Israel approaches, the other Philistine leaders do not trust David's motives. They are worried that David, in the midst of battle, will turn against them and fight once more for Israel.

So Achish must ask David to leave.

David couldn't have known it at the time, but this is clearly by the hand of God. It delivers David from fighting his own people, something he would have regretted the rest of his life.

We do not realize how many times God intervenes in our lives when we step over the boundary, out of his will.

We ask God to deliver us from evil (1). And He does--often without our knowing, out of the range of sight or understanding.

A lot of our salvation consists of the turns we didn't take.

(1) Matthew 6:13

Saul and the witch of En-dor, rightly divided...

The Word for today: 1 Samuel 27:1 -- 28:25
Mark this: 28:6

Did Samuel come back from the dead to speak to Saul?

The answer is 'no.'

Carefully reading chapter 28 is not enough to answer the question. Some Bible questions, like this one, demand a careful consideration of the whole Bible--everything scripture has to say on a given topic.

Verse 28:6 tells us that God was not communicating with Saul. So Saul turned to the woman of En-dor.

Suddenly Samuel walks onto the page of your Bible? But is that really Samuel?

Let's consult the rest of the Bible:

Communicating with the dead is expressly forbidden in Deuteronomy 18:9-14.

Beginning at Luke 16:20, Jesus tells of the rich man and Lazarus, the beggar. From this parable, we learn that there is a great gulf fixed--a chasm standing between the dead and the living--so that no one can return from the dead to warn us.

Furthermore, we are told in 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 that Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance. But he did not inquire of the Lord.

When we consider the whole of scripture, we can conclude that what happens here is supernatural, but that God doesn't have a thing to do with it. This was Satanic from beginning to end. Saul has laid himself wide open for Satan, and Satan has moved in. So what we see in this episode is a false spirit--demons can impersonate (1)--masquerading as Samuel.

It is of the utmost importance that we study the whole Bible systematically:
Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2)

There are 66 books in the Bible. If they are not carefully studied and considered as a whole, your picture of Jesus will be distorted.

(1) 2 Corinthians 11:14; (2) 2 Timothy 2:15

bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD

The Word for today: 1 Samuel 25:1--26:25
Mark this: 25:29

Abigail appeals to the best that is in David, and turns him from vengeful bloodshed.

As she does, she makes one of the most remarkable statements in all of scripture:
Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall sling out, as from the pocket of a sling (1).

From the moment we trust Christ as Savior, we are said to be in Christ:
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. (2)

Don't break your brain contemplating how this can be. God has provided many pictures which show us how persons are so close they are one with each other:

Marriage: Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (3)

Church: For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (4)

Trinity: God Himself is a part never apart.

Like I said, don't break your brain. All you've really got to know is that you don't ever have to face life alone again. You're part of something. You're part of Someone. You breathe His breath (5).

(1) 1 Samuel 25:29; (2) 1 John 4:15; see also Galatians 2:20; John 17:21; (3) Genesis 2:24; (4) 1 Corinthians 12:13; (5) Genesis 2:7

Jonathan strengthens David's hand in God

The Word for today: 1 Samuel 23:1--24:22
mark this: 23:14-16

David is hiding in the caves and dens and hills, where God will teach a shepherd boy to be a king. The wilderness is God's classroom, where deliverers, kings, prophets and apostles are trained. Moses went to Midian, David went to Adullam, Elijah went to Horeb, and Paul went to Arabia.

And Jesus was trained there. To prepare Him for his public ministry, the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness (1).

The wilderness comes in many forms. God trained David by allowing Saul to pursue him continually (2). Or God might withdraw His presence from us temporarily, a season described as “the dark night of the soul.” In the wilderness comes the revelation that we have nothing within ourselves that sustains us, nothing to cling to but God and His Word.

David was hunted down by Saul. Our adversary, Satan, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (3).

But Jonathan went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God (4). How did he strengthen his hand in God? By reminding David of the Word of the LORD--God's promise that David would be king.

Learn your Bible well enough to be able to remind others of God's promises. When a friend is in the wilderness, during the dark night of her soul, go to her and strengthen her hand in God.

(1) Mark 1:12 (2) 1 Samuel 23:14; see also Psalm 54:2-4; (3) 1 Peter 5:8; (4) 1 Samuel 23:16

The poor in spirit gather around the Captain of their salvation

The Word for today: 1 Sam. 21:10-22:23

mark this: 22:2

While Saul--Satan's man--wears the crown, the rightful but rejected King David--God's man--is hounded by Saul and reduced to hiding in the caves, where everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him. (1)

We live in the day of Jesus' rejection, when the world is ruled by the prince of this world (2). Our struggle is against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (3).

A picture of the church in the present hour is seen here as well. Those who gather themselves to Jesus, the captain of our salvation (4), consist of the poor in spirit (5), who live their lives against the flow, against the prevailing winds of their culture. Christians do not always get along, nor go along, with the temporary world system (6).

(1) 1 Samuel 22:2 (2) John 12:31/KJV; John 14:30/KJV; John 16:11/KJV; see also Acts 26:18; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; (3) Eph. 6:12/RSV (4) Hebrews 2:10; (5) Matthew 5:3; see also 1 Cor. 1:26; (6) see Romans 12:2a; 1 John 2:15

David--and the Son of David

The Word for today: 1 Samuel 20:1 --21:9

David—shepherd, poet, warrior, prophet, king—is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David.

David was born in Bethlehem and misunderstood by his family; he was an obedient son and a conquering hero. The name ‘David’ means ‘beloved,’ and Jesus is the Father’s “beloved Son” (1).

David was anointed king long before he took the throne and ruled—and Jesus Christ is King of kings even though He is not yet reigning on this earth.

Like David, Jesus has had to experience rejection and exile before returning to reign.

(1) Matthew 3:17

Click to listen to audio clip from 3-19-2006 Lifted Up Bible class:
"David and the Son of David"

Relinquishing the crown

The Word for today: 1 Samuel 17:55 to 19:24

Jonathan, as Saul's son, would someday be the king of Israel. So he wore the royal robe which marked him as the prince of Israel.

But God rejected King Saul because of his disobedience and chose David as king.

Jonathan recognized David as the rightful king by willingly relinquishing the outer garments and instruments that had signified his position as prince of Israel and heir to the throne:
Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and belt (1). "You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you." (2)

In the same way, in the New Testament, John the Baptist recognizes that Jesus must become greater and greater; I must become less and less (3).

Like Jonathan and John the Baptist, you will take yourself off the throne and install Jesus as king. Every day, more and more, He will become the central issue in your life.

(1) 1 Samuel 18:4; (2) 1 Samuel 23:17; (3) John 3:3

Click to listen to audio clip from 6/21/2009 Cross-Ties Bible Class:
"Jonathan and John the Baptist"

The battle is the LORD's

The Word for today: 1 Samuel 17:1-54

David is a shepherd, a king, a prophet, a poet, a warrior. His life is a prophecy, a picture of Jesus to come.

When Jesus won the battle against the forces of sin and spiritual darkness, he fought alone. You and I were not with Him when He won the battle which saved our lives.

David went against the giant with a slingshot. What foolishness, to think that a lone soldier with a sling could topple the giant.

Against the champion of the Philistines, a young lad brought a slingshot. It's ridiculous. Later on in the New Testament, Paul talks about the foolishness of the cross (1)--when an itinerant teacher, without a dime in his pocket, dies alone on a cross at the hands of Rome and at the hands of religion. And that is the moment that turned the universe upside down.

It makes no sense, except for the fact that God is showing us that the battle is the LORD's, alone (2); and that it is not by might nor by power, but by His Spirit (3).

It is not by marching around Jericho blowing horns, nor by slingshots, nor by defeating Rome at their own game in the streets of Jerusalem. But it is by His Spirit, and by His cross, and by His hand, alone.

(1) 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; (2) 1 Samuel 17:47; (3) Zechariah 4:6

Click to listen to audio clip from 6-28-2009 Cross-Ties Bible Class:

"Slingshot, Jericho, Gideon, the Cross"

David takes the stage

The Word for today: 1 Samuel 16:1-23

Saul was the people's choice, but David is God's man, a man after God's own heart (1 Sam. 13.14).

God chooses the least likely, the youngest of the seven brothers, because God doesn't see things as man sees things (16:8).

It takes a lot of practice to see things the way God does. But you're practicing right now! The Bible is God's transformative agent, enlightening the eyes (Psalm 19:8).

God sees from the inside out. Although David would fail, God knew that beneath the faith that failed was a faith that never failed.

Take a minute to see something--a person, a situation, a problem--through God's eyes. You'll be amazed at what you see.

Stand in the Rain

We hope you'll join us as we stand in the rain!

"Stand in the Rain" is a three-year Bible reading program which will begin at LAC on October 1, 2009. The reading schedule will be printed in booklet form and posted on the LAC website.

The objective is individual spiritual growth through personal Bible reading. We will promote this effort through the small groups and an advertising campaign featuring Ben Walker (of course!) and a cast of thousands! Franklyn and Shellster and Pastor Joe will blog through the three years to help maintain interest and understanding.
If you want to see why this Bible reading initiative is called "Stand in the Rain," just look up Isaiah 55:10-11. There you will see that Bible reading has a purpose. The purpose is to grow us!


As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)

Bible reading has a purpose. That's God's promise.