When our family moved to Northern Virginia, we told our friends, who wanted to know how we liked the area, that we’d been “Fairfaxed.” By that we meant

 I was warned by a friend, who like myself doesn’t drink soda with caffeine, to drink Coke while oversees, because apparently it would keep me from getting sick. Not heeding his or my wife’s counsel, as soon as I got to the Sea of Galilee in Israel, several days into a New Testament Tour trip, I threw up twice…

What kind of God is Jesus revealing? And since God is our Father, what kind of father is Jesus revealing? And what does this say about the kind of fathers we should be?

Hannah’s prayer is completely unselfish. She doesn’t ask for a male child in order to remove her shame or to get back at Peninah. She asked God to give her a male child, so she could…

How do we experience God's favor, especially mothers, when your circumstances look unfavorable?

Lately every week seems to be a turbulent week for our nation.

Apparently Joshua still needed to be encouraged, because God repeats the statement that will be said to him 4 times in this chapter alone, adding the word “very” for emphasis…

Oh yeah. As I read this my chest is starting to stick out a little bit; my back is starting to straighten up and now I’m starting to stand erect, because God says you can be strong and courageous when facing a giant mission because…

I sensed the call to pastoral ministry before 2007, but after April of that year the call became even louder in my ears.

Paul is already sensing that this is going to be his last visit and he wants to encourage the church stay rooted in the gospel and to keep the urgency of the mission to making disciples as their focus. This should be the question on our minds as we read this story as well. How do we help our church grow and what’s essential to fulfilling the mission?

The devil presents Jesus with the glories of the kingdoms of the world, because he had claimed the earth as his kingdom, since getting Adam and Eve to fall into sin. He now knows that Jesus has been anointed by the Holy Spirit to be Messiah, the King who has come to reclaim the earth as the new Adam and establish His Kingdom.

The devil is basically saying he can quote scripture too. He attempts to get Jesus to act independently from His Father to presumptuously put Himself in a place where God would have to intervene to save Him.

Most people when they see my son say how nice and quiet he is. And its true. He is generally a very good and laid back little boy. But wait till he gets hungry for some breast milk and you will see my son get cranky and fussy.

From pretty early on in our relationship, Deedre would tell me that I’m a hopeless romanic, to which I would quickly respond, “No, I’m a hopeful romantic.”

 In order for you to truly feel the weight of what Jesus just said, remember who He is speaking to and the context of the His message. Jesus is establishing His Kingdom and the ultimate enemy of His listeners are the Romans. They want a violent military overthrow. Jesus says here is how we’re going to conquer Rome… love them. What?! 

Jesus says, “Contrary to popular belief, I have not come to do away with the law.”  He is not here, merely talking about the 10 commandments, but the Law, meaning the first five books of the Old Testament written by Moses. The Prophets, were the rest of the Old Testament books. Jesus, says rather, I’ve come to fulfill it.