| Isaiah 61:10- 62:3 by Don Neuendorf |
I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.
It's nice to think about gardens right now, isn't it? But it's also a bit unrealistic. It's not only very remote in an ecological sense, seeing as how we're buried in snow right now. But it also seems unrealistic in the longer term, national sense... |
| Luke 1:26-38 by Don Neuendorf |
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary...
It's worth remembering how these books were written. We call Luke one of the "synoptics" because it contains similar material to that which is in Matthew and Mark, and yet there are great differences. No other gospel includes the events of Luke 2 - perhaps because Luke wrote his gospel by interviewing eyewitnesses... including Mary. Does that change how you read these verses?... |
| Book Now Available by Don Neuendorf |
Many of you know that James Neuendorf went into the Darien Rainforest in Panama 2 years ago to find out more about the Christian people there and what their life and faith is like. Now, at last, his book about their stories is available at Amazon.com. (Direct link here)
NOTE: The price is a lot higher at Amazon than it will be when the book is made available at church, but if you're in a hurry you can order it direct already.
About the book... |
| 2 Samuel 7:1-16 by Don Neuendorf |
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The books of Samuel, for instance, have stories of romance and recklessness, great battles and one-on-one duels, adultery and assassination. It begins to sound like "The Princess Bride" but Samuel has one thing that even that popular book (and movie) doesn't have... |
| Mark 1:1-8 by Don Neuendorf |
I will send my messenger ahead of you... And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
If you were to decide to start a new business, would you be OK if you planned NOT to succeed? That sounds crazy. Who would invest themselves in something that was just a dead end? Why spend the time and the headaches, when you could just work for someone else and get by?
Nevertheless, my father did that once... |
| 2 Peter 3:8-14 by Don Neuendorf |
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.
We love to ask children "what they want to be" when they grow up. It's a funny question, don't you think? What they want to BE? I mean, we could ask them what kind of job they hope to get - what kind of work they want to do - how much money they want to make - where they hope to live - or how they want to spend their time - but instead we ask them what they will BE.
Who can answer that? Compare it to this... |
| Isaiah 40:1-11 by Don Neuendorf |
"In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God."
Nice words. It's always nice to come to church and hear familiar words. It's even nicer when we don't have to actually DO what they say, isn't it?
Let's leave it to Isaiah, or to John, to prepare a way and make straight highways. After all, if WE are responsible, what might we have to do?... |
| Matthew 25:31-46 by Don Neuendorf |
When the Son of Man comes in his glory... all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
I'm told that a new popular video clip on the internet shows Alaska Governor Sarah Palin granting a pardon to a Thanksgiving turkey (one of those goofy political traditions) and then granting an interview to the press afterward. The sensation is that during the interview the business of the turkey farm continues as usual in the background with turkeys being fed into a guillotine of some kind right there on camera.
The shock! The horror! Many people never realized that their Thanksgiving turkey didn't grow on a turkey tree. In the same way, many people like to talk about going to heaven, but never consider the other side of that coin... |
| 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 by Don Neuendorf |
Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Paul begins this chapter, "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you..." And he calls this "of first importance." It seems so obvious to us, and yet we are quite capable of forgetting it. In fact, even when we remember it we too often fail to allow this truth to affect our lives.
How does this work? "I am worried that I might lose my job." Do you respond, "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead"?... |
| Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 by Don Neuendorf |
I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.
To appreciate what God is saying here you really need to back up and read the chapters before. Ezekiel describes the unfaithfulness of the Jewish leaders - priests participating in or permitting pagan celebrations in his temple - the people wandering away to worship in the high places and sacred groves - injustice throughout the kingdom that was supposed to be a witness to God's righteousness. And then God says... |