John Stott wrote that “greatness in the kingdom of God is measured in terms of obedience.” Building God’s kingdom is all about obedience. It begins with people who have hearts for God who use their spiritual gifts and finances to build God’s kingdom. Next, praise, build foundations in God’s word, resist ungodly partnerships, teach a biblical…
“The best place any Christian can ever be in is to be totally destitute and totally dependant upon God, and know it” (Alan Redpath). The last two chapters in Leviticus show how disobeying God through pride and independent spirit results in both personal and city-wide tragedy, but obeying God through confession of sin and complete…
Sadhu Sundar Singh wrote, “It is not necessary that every single member of the body should become useless and weak before death occurs. A weakness of, or a blow upon, the heart or the brain will suffice to bring an end to life, however strong and healthy other parts of the body may be. Thus…
Because leaders don’t surrender to God, people under their care lead ungodly lives. Lev. 9 is a call to leaders to spend much time in the presence of God confessing their sin and praying that others get right with God. This passage teaches how to get others right with God. On the eighth day,…
Quoting Andy Stanley in his book, Fields of God: “Under the mounting weight of uncertainty, it’s easy to slowly become irrational about our possessions. We lose sight of who really owns them. We fail to grasp how we should be sowing them for God’s kingdom. And we get confused about what we should really fear…
Quoting Steve Jobs, founder of Apple: “There is no reason not to follow your heart.”“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”“We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.” In the blog explaining Ex. 35-36 to get the proper context, one builds a kingdom ministry by obeying and trusting…
Today’s predominant philosophy, postmodernism, puts a high value on subjectivity. People say, “It is truth if it’s true for me.” Everyone can have their own truth. There are bridges with strategic potential in presenting the gospel:1. Spiritual Sensitivity since postmodernists have tendency to be spiritual seekers2. Experiential Spirituality since Christians have a God who is real…
A Fuller Seminary survey of 1050 Reformed and Evangelical pastors in 2005-06 showed only 26% of pastors regularly had personal devotions and felt they were adequately fed spirituality. We get the idea that the model of success is to make something happen with programs and work hard to make people happy. Henri Nouwen said the…
If we don’t eat, we become malnourished. The same applies to spiritual food or feeding on the bread of life, God’s word. From a survey of 1050 Reformed and Evangelical pastors in 2005-06, 81% said there was no regular discipleship program or effective effort of mentoring their people or teaching them to deepen their Christian…
A person can’t make progress in living the Christian life unless he or she confesses their sin. Pride causes a person to despise God’s word. Severe consequences like family chaos and even death, will result from unconfessed sin. In addition, it gives occasion for the world to reject God. David shows both the negative and…
A 1996 Promise Keepers survey at one of their stadium events revealed that over 50% of the men in attendance were involved with pornography within one week of attending the event. More than 70% of men from 18 to 34 visit a pornographic site in a typical month (comScore Media Metrix). 51% of pastors say…
Compromise, independence and stress are modern-day issues that David also faced while being chased by Saul. What can we do to overcome these beasts that produce lies, attacks, chaos and lack of peace? We see the importance of relationships combin addition to obeying God’s word as solutions. Study 1 Sam. 21-22 to learn how obedience,…