December 31

Malachi 3-4

Revelation 22

Psalm 150

Proverbs 31:25-31

"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the Lord  of Heaven's Armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!  Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease.  Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe," says the Lord  of Heaven's Armies.  "Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight," says the Lord  of Heaven's Armies."

Malachi 3:10-12

I've heard Travis say that this is the only time in the Bible when God tells His people to test Him. He is telling them to bring their tithes to the Temple. He promises so much blessing in return that they will not be able to take it in. He tells them to test Him in this. He promises that if they give generously, then He will bless them generously in return. I think this is very significant. God wants us to give freely and without fear of having enough left for ourselves. Here God has taken away all reason to fear because He is guaranteeing that He will take care of those who obey Him.

Looking back on this year, I have been blessed so much by reading God's Word everyday and by being involved in this Bible reading group. To anyone who is has not decided to join us next year, I offer this guarantee: if you read God's Word everyday, you will hear His voice. You will hear Him speak to you. You will grow closer to Him. Just like bringing tithe's and offerings to the Temple guaranteed blessings from God, reading His Word everyday will bring you closer to Him.

I look forward to continuing this journey with all of you in 2014!

Monday Blogpost 12/30/14

Monday, December 30, 2013 

Malachi 1:6-14

I know several people who have spent years living in the Middle East.  All of them have different stories about one of the big cultural pillars in Middle Eastern culture, the meal.  Before two or more people sit down to have a meal together all animosity, differences, and/or discord must be dealt with.  The meal symbolizes camaraderie, peace between one another, and, in many ways, kinship.  So, as we take our 2013 Western eyes and look back on the sacrificial system of ancient Israel and the burning of animals on the altar of the Temple, we get an image of "the meal" – God and man sitting down together at peace.  

"A son honors his father, and a servant his master.  If I am a father, where is the honor due me?  If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the Lord Almighty.  "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name.  But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?'  You place defiled food on my altar…When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong?" (Malachi 1:6, 7a, 8)

Even if I didn't like someone, I wouldn't serve them a meal of rotten meat.  And when you give a gift to someone, don't you think about giving the person something that they'd like or enjoy?  Of course!  You don't gift your trash to people that you care about.  What about God?  The very simple question that hits me when I read this passage is this:  Are you giving God your best?

Does Jesus get the best part of my day?

Do I honor the Holy Spirit by praying about important decisions that I have to make?

When was the last time that I told my Heavenly Father thank you for more than just the meal I was about to eat?

Considering all that God has given us, how much of it do we deserve?

Considering what we give God, does it even come close to what He's worth?

We can't pay God back for all of His blessings and He doesn't ask for payment.  What God gives us is super abundant grace.  What God pays attention to is whether or not we give our best.  (Mark 12:41-44, below)

What does giving God your best look like?

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Mark 12:41-44

41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."

--

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26)

Kenny Sullivan

(201) 218-0751

שלום

Dec 29

Revelation 20   Introducing Cross Fitness to Grace Church

 Revelation 20:4   And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

 

The Word of God has an impact on our lives now and throughout all eternity. These Revelation Christians had read the Word and they knew what it said about the anti-Christ and his mark. That knowledge changed their outlook and they refused to go along with the politically correct crowd even though it cost them their lives.

 

At Grace Church we are introducing the new Cross Fitness plan for 2014.  It focuses on faith, fitness, food and friends.  At the very heart of this plan is the daily reading of God's Word. It will connect you with God, empower you to make wise health choices and change your eternal destiny. You have three more days to purchase the "One Year Bible" at church or order one online yourself.  There are over 80 of us making this commitment to daily reading God's Word.

 

Revelation 20 also says we are  going to have resurrected bodies.  God is the ultimate owner of our bodies and He will give us new improved versions in the future. But right now he expects us to take care of them. The Bible uses the word "steward". We are responsible to take care and manage our bodies now. So how are we doing?  According to the National Institute of Health, the average American consumes 29 pounds of French fries, 23 pounds of pizza, 24 pounds of ice cream, 53 gallons of soda, 24 pounds of artificial sweeteners, 2.7 pounds of salt, and 90,000 milligrams of caffeine each year. We are literally poisoning our bodies.

 

On top of that, we are the most sedentary generation in the history of the country. As a result, one in two Americans suffers from some chronic disease. We spend almost $3 trillion a year in our health care system and almost 80 percent of that is for chronic lifestyle preventable and reversible disease.

 

When I was in my late 20's my weight had ballooned up to 240 lbs and my blood pressure was in the danger zone. I made a commitment at that time to start working out and eating better. For the most part I have kept that commitment over the years. So I challenge you to join me in keeping our spiritual and physical hearts kingdom healthy. It is time for Christ followers to lead the way back to spiritual and physical health.

Our Cross Fitness plan includes:

Daily Bible Reading
Monthly Wellness Seminar
Weekly Weigh-Ins (private)
Group Exercises (walking, running, biking, events etc)
Friendship Accountability
January 1st to April 20th (Easter)

You can sign up to be part of Cross Fitness at Grace Church. So will you commit to making the journey with us?  --

"Multiplying leaders to change the world"

December 29: Battles fought, battles won, and Jack Ryan

Zecharaiah 14:1-21

Revelation 20:1-15

Psalm 148:1-14

Proverbs 31:8-9

I was very stressed out today.  Or, in Pastor Scott's words, I was F.I.N.E. - frustrated, insecure, neurotic and exhausted.  Bad enough I struggled to get a good night's rest (I had no idea how loudly my nine year old snored!) but then I got home and came face to face with a couple of long standing issues which, coupled with an extended lack of exercise, caused great anger and frustration in me.  I should've gotten to my Bible earlier - the readings today would have calmed me down.  After all (as we saw last week), we already know how this story is going to end - with our Lord triumphant, the faithful united with Him, and the devil "thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown".  So whatever I am struggling with today might demand attention, but certainly does not warrant frustration nor worry.  

And just when I realize I have no reason to worry, I also realize I have no reason to struggle.  The second thing that struck me was how God's people did not have to fight - God did the fighting.  All they had to do was hunker down in His love and protection.  I struggle with that concept quite a bit - I still feel as though I have to be doing something - after all, I'm an adult, I'm a man, I'm a father and husband.  I should be doing something, shouldn't I?  

The strangest associations come to you late at night, I have to say.  This one is from a book I read a long time ago, when it first came out - "Patriot Games", by Tom Clancy.  For those unfamiliar with the story, our main protagonist, ex Marine and erstwhile historian and London tourist Jack Ryan has just saved The Prince of Wales, his wife (Diana, presumably) and their infant firstborn from a terrorist attack.  Ryan took on the terrorists, while the prince, a naval officer himself, found himself trapped in the car, his body over those of his wife and his child, while a Yank he'd never met saved their collective bacon.  Cut to a scene in the hospital where the prince first meets Ryan while the latter is recovering from a gunshot wound he suffered in the battle.  The conversation is strained, the prince is obviously F.I.N.E.  Ryan reads the situation, barks at the prince to sit down, and analyzes the incident, whereupon it becomes clear (1) the prince was in no position to do anything and (2) the best thing he could do was hunker down with his family and count on reinforcements.

I don't know about anyone else reading this, but that is the story of my life.  There is a battle being fought, and I am neither strong enough nor skilled enough to join the fray.  All I can do is count on our Lord's help, and hunker down with my family and hope my actions help them learn to do the same.  The great thing is that, in two of today's readings, we are reassured that the Lord fights the battle for us.  In Zecharaiah, the survivors of the attacks do not counterattack; instead, "they go up year after year to worship the King".  Because we read before this that "the Lord will go out and fight against those nations", and we read of "the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem", and how the "Lord will bring on [any of the peoples of the earth (who) do not go up...to worship the Lord] the plague he inflicts...".  And then again in Revelation we read that while Satan will be released from his prison...to deceive the nations", "fire came down from heaven and devoured them."  That wasn't my fire - that was the Lord's.

And so as I write my final blog for the year, I am grateful for the two reminders God gives a worry-wart like me: the battle is won, and I didn't even have to fight it.  I've been blessed to have written this blog for part of this year; even more so for having come on this journey reading the Bible in 365 days.  We are going to do it again next year - I hope you will join us.

12/27/13

12/27/13

Praise the Lord! Let all that I am praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath. Don't put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there. When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them. But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever. He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The Lord frees the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly. The Lord protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked. The Lord will reign forever. He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations. Praise the Lord!

Oh how I long for this Psalm to be the story of my life. Man, do I have a long way to go. As we approach the new year, and a new challenge to be people of God's word, I want to encourage you to join me in pointing our lives toward God. To not have confidence in powerful people, to sing praises all the time, to make God our helper. People are no true help for us, our help needs to come from the Lord. I have realized over the last couple of months of digging into the word, how much my communication with God is lacking, and how much I struggle with prayer. This coming year, I want to become a man of prayer. I want to become a man that trusts in God. I want to become a man that turns to God for everything, not just the things that I know I can't do. I need to rely on God, and take my trust away from my own abilities, and put it in Him. That is my one big goal that I am setting for myself for 2014. I have been closer to God than ever in 2013, now I an trusting in God to take it one step further, to lean fully on my God.

Thursday, December 26

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2013

Zechariah 9:1–17

Revelation 17:1–18

Psalm 145:1–21

Proverbs 30:32

 

 

The Lord is gracious and compassionate,

    slow to anger and rich in love.

 

The Lord is good to all;

    he has compassion on all he has made.

All your works praise you, Lord;

    your faithful people extol you.

They tell of the glory of your kingdom

    and speak of your might,

so that all people may know of your mighty acts

    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

    and your dominion endures through all generations.

 

The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises

    and faithful in all he does.

The Lord upholds all who fall

    and lifts up all who are bowed down.

The eyes of all look to you,

    and you give them their food at the proper time.

You open your hand

    and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

 

The Lord is righteous in all his ways

    and faithful in all he does.

The Lord is near to all who call on him,

    to all who call on him in truth.

He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;

    he hears their cry and saves them.

The Lord watches over all who love him,

    but all the wicked he will destroy.

 

My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.

    Let every creature praise his holy name

    for ever and ever.

 

(Psalm 145:8–21)

 

 

To continue with Nikkie’s theme from yesterday, these words from Psalm 145 provide a hopeful interlude during these last days of 2013 and a welcome spot in which to plant our hearts for 2014.  Given that we worship the living God, Who is faithful and loving to all He has made, we may trust in His provision and purpose for our lives.  We have great reason to celebrate at the coming of our Lord Jesus in the Incarnation.

 

Here, the psalmist David remembers God’s graciousness, compassion, goodness, might, eternity, provision, righteousness, proximity or imminence, joy-giving, and protection.  For all these qualities, God deserves praise “forever and ever.”

 

Let’s just touch upon God’s proximity or imminence, a promise to which we all cling in challenging moments:  “The Lord is near to all who call on him,/ to all who call on him in truth.”  What an amazing concept!  Because of our sin, we deserve nothing but wrath from God, and yet He instead turns to hear the cries of His people.  David clearly anticipates struggles in life, and He provided an excellent example of beseeching God’s mercy and favor.

 

I would like to grow in trusting God.  Rather than maneuvering to determine a self-driven solution, I am grateful for circumstances that require more than snap fixes.  In these instances, God receives more honor and praise as He works on our behalf.  Lord Jesus, please bring the right heart for our dear sister Heidi so that You may receive more glory and praise.  We need Your help in this hour.

 

In our efforts to serve and love people, we also seek to provide this incarnational presence.  Many of you have participated in love projects during this Christmastime, both through Grace Church and among your family and friends.  Praise God!  May we carry forth this spirit of others-mindedness into 2014.  Please find below some direction for this journey from Henry van Dyke’s 1905 book, The Spirit of Christmas:

 

“Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and the desires of little children; to remember the weakness and loneliness of people who are growing old; to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough; to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear on their hearts; to try to understand what those who live in the same house with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you; to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you; to make a grave for your ugly thoughts, and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open – are you willing to do these things even for a day?  Then you can keep Christmas.”

 

 

Merry Christmas, friends!

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Zechariah 8, Revelation 16, Psalm 144:1-15, Proverbs 30: 29-31

Zechariah 8, Revelation 16, Psalm 144:1-15, Proverbs 30: 29-31

Merry Christmas! For the last three weeks or so if someone would ask how I was (especially when I was working,) I would answer, "Great!" With a big smile. To the select few who I'm more comfortable (at work,) my response would be "I can't wait for January." I know I work in retail, for Corporate America, and this is the material world that has been created around us. I also know though, that even though I love my job and the holiday season, this time of year is the busiest, people can be the meanest, and it can be very challenging for me to remember "the reason for the season:" Christ. Over and over today I kept telling Divan that it just didn't feel like Christmas. I was expecting to wake up with the warm and fuzzy feeling and secretly wished that Santa came with presents waiting downstairs. I saw lonely people eating a Christmas dinner by themselves, homeless people walking a cold street in Queens, and my heart has been heavy and aching,praying that Heidi would get a new heart. We are all broken. I am broken.

On a 4 1/2 hour long flight to Albuquerque, I watched JetBlue's free tv... The Bible was showing on the History Channel and I started at the end of Jesus's ministry, through the cross, to the last words of Revelation. It was the second time today that the picture of the cross was put in my path. On Facebook I read a blog about how Christmas brings out the weary, the heartbreak, and the need for. Christ. This is what Christmas is about. It's the beginning of hope. The birth of hope. It's the birth of God's son to save us from ourselves. This is the time we need Him most.

Reading Zechariah 8 reminded me of all this. It's about hope. A new Jerusalem is about God's promises fulfilled. It's about joy in suffering (that has occurred for centuries) and it's about giving all glory to God. That is the kingdom that is ahead, Mount Zion, and the truth and promise we have that God delivers. He will deliver the Jews, His chosen people... A remnant that he will preserve. It's about God's promise to deliver us... Just as lost and just as broken.

My prayer tonight is for the land of Israel and his people: that they believe and follow Jesus. My prayer tonight is that my friends and family (you...us) that are hurting, disappointed, lonely, and broken will surrender to his love. My prayer tonight is that Heidi will get a new heart and that we remain patient until then. Merry Christmas.

December 24

Zechariah 6-7

Revelation 15

Psalm 143

Proverbs 30:24-28

I am losing all hope; I am paralyzed with fear.

Psalm 143:4

Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.

Psalm 143:8

Tonight, the message of the Christmas Eve service at Grace Church was hope. We are just tiny little specks in a great big universe. If we are left on our own to find hope and to find significance then we will never find it. 

Thankfully, that's not all there is to it. Jesus came to his earth to live among us. God, the Creator of the Universe, was born into a humble existence. God Himself came to this speck of a planet. It was all apart of his plan to give us hope. Because of all that He has done for us, we can have hope. 

Merry Christmas, everyone. I pray that you will all find hope in Jesus.

Monday Blog Post (12/23/13)

Monday, December 23, 2013 [Small Beginnings, Big Power]

"This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven's Armies. Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel's way; it will become a level plain before him!" (Zechariah 4:6-7a, NLT)

"Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin." (Zechariah 4:10)

Recently back from Babylonian exile, Zerubbabel and a number of Jews had returned to rebuild the Temple, the place that represented the presence of God.  The Temple was in ruins, much of the city was in ruins, and there was local opposition to the rebuilding efforts.  Though they were making strides toward rebuilding, progress was slow, the work they had done seemed small and everything they did was difficult.  It just felt like it was easier to give up than to keep going forward and finishing.

Many of us can relate to this situation, where it seemed hard to get back to God (aka rebuild the Temple).  I remember when I first started reading the Bible on purpose.  I say "on purpose" because I can remember times beforehand when I would just read Scriptures either once a week, only in church, and only because I had to look like I was following along.  However, there came a time when I wanted my life to change and I knew that if I wanted change I had to do the things that my pastor said would cause change in me – that meant reading and doing the Scriptures.  The problem was that every time I would read I could hardly understand a word that I was reading.  The Old Testament (apart from the stories) was a mystery and only the Gospels made sense in the New Testament.  It seemed like I just couldn't get it at times.  Then there were times when I would start reading the Scriptures and I'd get so tired that I'd fall asleep after reading a verse or two.  These were my small beginnings (Zech. 4:10).  Nevertheless, I kept reading and asking my pastor questions at the Wednesday night Bible study.  He told me to pray before I read and to ask God to help me understand.  Slowly but surely, I began to understand more.  I didn't realize it, but every time I prayed I was asking for the power of the Holy Spirit to understand His word.  Understanding was something that I couldn't do in my own power – it came by the power of the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:14).

The discipline of reading God's word starts with small efforts and there is opposition.  We're busy, we get tired, and sometimes the words are just plain difficult to understand.  But, there is power available to us.  God makes this power available because He knows the difficulty we face. He knows it's hard for us, but He's determined to help us get closer to Him (4:10).  On my journey, I'm still asking questions, still coming across things that are really difficult to understand, and still fighting to stay in the word.  The only difference is that I have learned how to ask for the power and help of the Spirit.

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1 Corinthians 2:14

"The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit."

--

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26)

Kenny Sullivan

(201) 218-0751

שלום

December 21: We already know how this story ends...

Zecharaiah 1:1-21

Revelation 12:1-17

Psalm 140:1-13

Proverbs 30:17

I've never been one to do it, but it appears there are quite a few people who like to see how a story ends before reading the whole thing, the type who used to scan the VCR or DVD forward to the end of the movie without seeing all the main protagonists were going to have to endure to get there.  (OK, that's not entirely true - I couldn't get past the big family battle in Crazy, Stupid Love to finish the movie so I asked my daughter's friend how it ended).  Sometimes, I guess, we just want to know that it all works out- for all the suffering and trial and hardship we endure today, we want to know - we need to know - that it all turns out well in the end.

Which is why today's reading was so powerful  Today's reading is the answer for every single moment I've been overwhelmed by any of the challenges and situations I've faced, from childhood to my teenage years, from college to work, from dating to marriage to parenthood.  Today I am reminded that my worry is for naught.  The battle HAS been won - the movie has been shot, the book has been written...I just have to get all the way through to the ending, when all these concerns will be resolved to the good.  Everything I worry about - job and career, money - for the mortgage, for my children's college - health (my own, my family, my friends), my children's future - their careers, their relationships...ALL OF THIS has been written and finished,  ALL OF THESE BATTLES have been won.  Because long ago, "a woman clothed with the sun...was pregnant [and] gave birth to a male child who 'will rule all the nations with an iron scepter".  And because war broke out in heaven and the dragon and his angels were not strong enough, and was hurled to the earth.  And because "now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God.  And while the devil will continue to wage war on those who keep God's commands, well...we know how this is all going to turn out.  

As difficult as it is - and yes, it is very difficult sometimes - I have to learn to live the victory that has already been won.  I have to learn to stop carrying burdens God has already lifted off my shoulders, to live like David describes in today's psalm who, rather than going out and engaging the evildoers and the wicked himself, relinquishes the burden to God and asks for His protection, HIs deliverance.  We already know how this story ends...we just have to learn to live like it.

December 22

Revelation 13:3-4  One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. ⁴ Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?"

What is the most important issue in life? 

 

The answer is who you worship?

 

I was confronted with the issue of worship on October 13, 2010 in Kenya. Erik, Chad and I were on a missions trip to teach church leaders. Breakfast the second morning was two fried eggs, with two nicely sliced raw tomatoes. Any time you are on a missions trip you must be careful to eat safe food. But you are also aware of the danger of offending your hosts. So I compromised and ate the eggs and only the insides of the tomatoes.  By 11:00 that morning I realized I had made the wrong decision. And by 2:00 I had become violently sick. Over the next hours I only went from bad to worse. That was when I also faced a spiritual attack. Satan started whispering in my thoughts, "You are a failure; you can't even get out of bed. You came all the way over to Africa to do this; you are a fool."  But then the truth of God came to me and I pictured Jesus suffering on the cross.  And I saw all the good that came out of his "failure".  So I prayed, "Lord, all I have to offer you is a sick body with no power, no abilities, no strength but even from this bed I am going to worship you."  Then I lifted up my hands to the Lord and started singing praise songs. In the next moments an emotional dam broke inside of me and tears of joy started streaming down my face. I was an absolute physical wreck but my heart was filled with incredible joy. Months later I reflected on that day and I noted that it was the best day of 2010. 

 

So what is the purpose of your life?  The Bible reveals that the purpose of life is all about worship. This is the central theme of the book of Revelation. In Revelation 13 we deal with a world that has been tricked into worshiping a counterfeit god.  Satan's goal is always to get us to worship something other than God.

 

This is a reason to stay connected to our daily Bible reading journey, because each day we are pointed to God and this gives us the best chance of worshiping Him.  

 

So the question is, how many minutes will you worship the Lord today?   We have been given 24 hours to invest in whatever way we choose. Take time right now and enjoy and worship your God. There is nothing more important than that!

 

 

 

 

--

"Multiplying leaders to change the world"

12/20/13

12/20/13 Life, blessings and tomato seeds...

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I'm far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me! (Psalms 139:1-18 NLT)

Life, blessings and tomato seeds

Psalm 139 is all about the little things. The things that our God put into motion that make us unique. It says here that the Lord created us so wonderfully complex, and each of us is unique. One of the things that make me unique is my bottom row of teeth. They are jammed together, and right in the front, they kinda overlap, creating a pocket, which food likes to get stuck in. Right before I decided to write this, I was eating lunch with my wife and I got a tomato seed stuck in that pocket in my teeth. I have to be honest, it is annoying, and I was annoyed by it. But, as I flossed the tomato seed out of my teeth, I realized that this is what God is trying to tell me today. I may not be happy with the way that I am created, how my body looks, how straight my teeth are, how my hair is all cowlicky in the back. But God is. He created me to be just exactly like I am. He knows each and every detail of what makes me me, because He knit me together in my mother's womb, and He breathed into me His breath, just as He has for every human that ever walked on the face of the earth. And I believe that it goes even deeper than that. God created us to be held together by His very Son. One of my favorite passages in the Bible is found in Colossians 1, and it looks like this:
"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together." (Colossians 1:15-17 NLT)
The part of this passage that intrigues me the most is the last verse. We are created through and for Christ...and He holds us together. Perhaps our uniqueness, and our craziness, is all held together by...Christ. That is why we, as mere humans, can be so different, and yet we all have the potential of being Christ-like. God created my, even my tomato seed catching teeth, to be mold able into the image of Christ. That is what our Psalmist is praising God for. We have been wonderfully made! Go look in the mirror. You have been made to be like Christ!



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Thursday, December 19

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2013

Zephaniah 1:1–3:20

Revelation 10:1–11

Psalm 138:1–8

Proverbs 30:11–14

 

 

I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;

    before the “gods” I will sing your praise.

I will bow down toward your holy temple

    and will praise your name

    for your unfailing love and your faithfulness,

for you have so exalted your solemn decree

    that it surpasses your fame.

When I called, you answered me;

    you greatly emboldened me.

 

May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord,

    when they hear what you have decreed.

May they sing of the ways of the Lord,

    for the glory of the Lord is great.

 

Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;

    though lofty, he sees them from afar.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

    you preserve my life.

You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;

    with your right hand you save me.

The Lord will vindicate me;

    your love, Lord, endures forever—

    do not abandon the works of your hands.

 

 

The words of Psalm 138 touch beautifully upon the juxtaposition of humility and pride.  As we read here, David may celebrate that “the glory of the Lord is great.”  God alone is worthy of glory, honor, and praise; any human achievements or accomplishments ultimately flow the creative energy and genius of God Himself, passed through human minds and hearts. 

 

Earlier this week, Danielle and I began watching a fictionalized account of Beethoven’s completing his Ninth Symphony, called Copying Beethoven.  In this story, the fictional character Anna Holtz, a young composition student, plays a key role in preparing Beethoven’s symphony for its first production.  The entire screenplay hammered home the challenges of composing music, particularly without a computer.  How to keep everything straight?  Yet, Beethoven struggled even to sense the vibrations of the instruments, sawing the legs of his piano in order to experience the notes.  In the movie, Beethoven’s character explains that his recording of music – a constant song running in his mind – represented, for him, God’s vehicle to communicate with man.

 

David sings of the supremacy of God’s “decree,” His will, over everything.  As part of His will, He has determined to esteem the lowly but humble the proud, whom He “Sees from afar.”  In their own minds, the proud believe that they have indeed approached God, perhaps even becoming His equal.  Yet, in reality, God remains quite distant from the proud and chooses not to associate with their haughtiness.

 

As a king himself, David recognizes that his strength emerges from His looking first to God:  “when I called, you answered me; you greatly emboldened me.”  David’s humility had borne strength.  In the world’s eyes, the humble appear weak, meek, and mild, but God views them as Gideon, “mighty warriors.”  While the common notion of humility includes thinking lowly of ourselves, the Scriptures teach that it involves viewing ourselves from God’s perspective:  vulnerable on our own but protected by our loving Father; weak on our own but “emboldened” by our mighty God; and short-sighted on our own but guided by heavenly wisdom.

 

As with many of our Grace Church family, I struggle with viewing myself and each day’s circumstances from God’s perspective instead of my own.  As an example, I often battle with the concept of success.  It appears that God remains much more concerned about the “how” vs. the “what.”  Giving honor and glory to Him in both triumph and difficulty, we live out the prelude to “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  May God bring to reminder these truths as we ponder His perspective.

 

 

“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;

    he delivers them from all their troubles.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:17,18)

 

 

Lord Jesus, we pray for Your approach for those who are hurting, healing, and lonely at this Christmas.  May You comfort them with Your love and shower them with Your grace.  Help us to view ourselves and our circumstances from Your perspective – and not to lean on our own understanding.  May we live for Your honor and glory, knowing that You are the Giver of all good gifts.  In Your precious Name, amen.

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December 17

Nahum 1-3

Revelation 8

Psalm 136:1-26

Proverbs 30:7-9

O God, I beg two favors from you;

let me have them before I die.

First, help me never to tell a lie.

Second, give me neither poverty nor riches!

Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.

For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say,

"Who is the Lord?"

And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus

insult God's holy name.

~Proverbs 30:7-9~

If you could ask God for anything, what would you ask for? We all know that God has the power to do anything and He desires to give good things to His children, but this doesn't mean that He will just grant us whatever we want. He is not a genie in a magic lamp. He is not a divine Santa Claus. But what if God told you He would give you whatever you asked for, no matter what. What would you ask for?

In these verses, Agur tells us what he wants most from God. And I find this incredible. First, he asks God to help him never to lie. Then he asks for just enough for his needs to be met. The reason he wants all his needs to be met is so he will not sin against God. He knows himself well enough to say that if he were rich he would become arrogant and proud. If he were poor, he would resort to stealing. What Agur wants most from God is for God to help him to not to sin. Wow.

I have to admit that this would not be the first thought that would pop into my head when thinking about this question. There are plenty of things I would want, and some of them are good things. But would I even think to ask God to help me not to sin? Would I ask for something that would only bring me closer to Him? The more I think about it, I have to say that if I asked Him for this, I guarantee that He would be more that happy to give that to me.

What sins in your life do you struggle with? What gets in the way of your relationship with God? Ask Him for help with your struggle. If you ask Him to help you not to sin, you will not be disappointed with His answer.

Monday Blogpost 12/16/13

Monday, December 16, 2013 [One Culture]

 

"After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, "Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!"

And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God…These are the ones who died in the great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white" (Revelation 7:9-11, 14).

 

There are more than 7 billion people living on this planet right now; just over 300 million of us live in the United States.  There are so many different people, so many different nations, tribes, languages, and cultures throughout this world.  How does God view all of this difference?

 

I have good reason to believe that God loves our diversity.  John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him [the Son] may not perish but may have eternal life (NRSV).  To love the world is to love it in all of its different-ness.  But, God did not send a different Son, one of every culture, to each nation, tribe and language – He sent His One and Only Son, Jesus.  This shows me that even though He appreciates all of our diversity, God is determined to bring us together in unity through the Son (see John 17:21).

 

I grew up in a very diverse neighborhood.  As a kid, my birthday parties looked like a meeting of the United Nations.  As a choir student in high school we sang the songs of people from every continent.  I simply love experiencing different cultures!  And, I believe that God loves culture, because people are tied to culture and, God loves people.  When we arrive in heaven and raise our shout together before the throne of God our voices may sound different; our accents may be apparent; and, some of us may use different words to say it, but we all will shout in unison:

"Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!"

 

--------------------

21  That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

(John 17:21, NRSV) 

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"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26)

Kenny Sullivan

(201) 218-0751

שלום

December 15

Revelation 6 December 15, 2013

We are in the final stretch of our Bible reading journey. There are only 16 days left in the 2013. I hope you have discovered the great value of reading God's word this year. In our passage today, when the fifth seal was opened, John saw the souls of those who had been martyred because of the WORD of GOD and the testimony they had maintained. There is a correlation between knowing the WORD of God and maintaining your testimony.

In the book, Reveal: Where are You?, Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson interviewed eleven thousand church attenders and gathered 2.6 million data points for their three-year study. The goal of this survey was to discover the most important factor for a person to grow spiritually.  They had assumed that the more people are involved in the church, the closer they grow to Christ. They had assumed that Sunday morning attendance was the key to spiritual growth.

So what do you think they found was mentioned as an influence twice as much as any other practice?  

Reading the Bible was by far the most important commitment for growing as a Christ follower. All spiritual growth is based on the foundation of spending time in God's Word. There is nothing that can come close to the holy habit of reading for keeping your heart right with God.

The study also found that more than twenty-five percent of those surveyed described themselves as spiritually "stalled."If you want to jump start your spiritual life, there is no better place than spending time with God each day reading His Word.

I hope you will join us in 2014 as we continue to grow in our knowledge of God through His Word.

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"Multiplying leaders to change the world"

December 14: Hunger, The Beatles, and John (not Lennon)

Jonah 1:1-4:11

Revelation 5:1-14

Psalm 133:1-3

Proverbs 29:26-27

I remember a photograph I saw (which, for some reason, I am unable to find on the web these days), of a young lady, crying, clutching a handful of dirt.  It was only after I read the caption that I realized they were tear of amazement and joy, and the dirt had just been trod by one of the Beatles, who were in the US for their concert tour in...when was that, 1964?  I was - and this is not a word I use very often, or lightly - gobsmacked that someone would hunger for some form of connection with four kids who sang good music that they would be brought to tears by dirt that had touched their shoes.  Not to judge this young lady (I am of the belief, after all, that the Beatles are the single best musical group to have walked the earth, with all due respect to fans of the Rolling Stones and U2), but I cannot help but wonder how different our world would be if we felt that same hunger for our Lord?

John had that hunger.  Today's NT reading tells us he "wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside".  He hungered so badly to know what God had to say that he was brought to tears by the possibility he wouldn't.  Jonah didn't hunger for that sort of relationship with God - at least not as much as he seemed to want the acceptance of man, which is why he didn't like feeling like a fool when Nineveh repented and God didn't bring down the fire and brimstone He told Jonah to prophesy.  

Today I find myself asking what I hunger for, and I am somewhat discouraged by my answers.  Like Jonah, I find I still want other people's acceptance and respect; I still want to make a good living and have a comfortable life, and I want a good education, a good career, and good families for my children.  And while there does not seem to be anything wrong with any of that, the importance I give them over a hunger for a relationship with God, for myself and for my family, seems less dramatic but no less ridiculous than hungering so painfully for any form of connection with a rock band that one would scoop up dirt they'd trod upon and weep because of it.  And just because it all seems respectable does not make the absence of God any more stark, nor does it make my desires any less sinful.  

I want a heart for God, and am frustrated when my sins - my desires and my actions - get in the way.  There is a further lesson I take from Jonah today, though - it is that, however grievous our sin, however grievous the consequence we might be suffering because we have rejected God, we are never, ever going to so far away from Him that He cannot hear our cry of repentance - even in the belly of a whale, in the ocean depths.  And we are never so grievously sinful that He will not forgive.  I hope to learn and live, sooner rather than later, that "Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God's love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you...I will say 'salvation comes from the Lord.'"

12/13/13

12/13/13

Those who have been rescued will go up to Mount Zion in Jerusalem to rule over the mountains of Edom. And the Lord himself will be king!" (Obadiah 1:21 NLT)

I have to be honest, I am struggling at getting through the prophets, and when our New Testament reading is Revelation, that compounds the struggle. Prophesy, prophesy and more prophesy. There are things that I love about the prophets, like the book of Daniel, the book of Jonah, Eziekiel 47, and many more. But I just have a hard time, especially with all the destruction prophesy. Here is one thing that stuck out to me today: "The Lord himself will be king!" Can you imagine living in a country that has no president, or no king or no prime minister? A place where the King of Kings and Lord of Lords sits on a throne and rules over all of nature? A place where people cannot help but bow down and cast down there crowns and wholeheartedly exult the One who is worthy? Can you picture it? Read closely this next passage, it might help.

And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it. The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones—like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow. Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit of God. In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal. In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty— the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come." Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, "You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased." (Revelation 4:2-11 NLT)

See, the two tie together brilliantly, because The Lord Himself is King!

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Thursday, December 12

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2013

Amos 7:1–9:15

Revelation 3:7–22

Psalm 131:1–3

Proverbs 29:23

 

 

The Book of Revelation points to the fulfillment of the restoration that God had initiated in Genesis 3.  After Adam and Eve had willfully disobeyed God’s directives, God set in motion a course of events that would ultimately lead to all creation returning to its rightful state, with everything subject to the glorified Christ.  While much of the Old Testament imagery and prophecy about Jesus found its fulfillment in His incarnation, suffering, death, and resurrection, the full extent of His Lordship becomes apparent only in the time to come, as relayed in Revelation.

 

Some of the imagery and descriptions in Revelation may seem confusing or beyond our understanding.  Many people, including me, may have trepidations about approaching this book.  Despite some difficult-to-picture sections, Revelation does provide a clear promise of redemption, renewal, and triumph for the Kingdom of God and the culmination of God’s purposes.

 

But, with some study, it will quickly become apparent that God will be greatly glorified in this age to come and that all creation will bow before Him.  Revelation records an intense spiritual battle that has proceeded throughout history, though its details have often been hidden from worldly man.  Revelation calls for watchfulness and hope among the church:  watchfulness because we do not know the day or hour of the fulfillment of these words and hope because we know that God through Jesus Christ will ultimately triumph and reign.  Furthermore, we may stand in worship along with the assembled worshippers around the Throne and the Lamb.  Jonathan Edwards described heaven as a world of love, where the affection of the triune God flows forth into His people.

 

As an aside, the imagery and context presented in Revelation makes me question whether people’s desire for heaven may be misplaced.  If we do not seek to worship God in this life, will we wish to do so for eternity?  That perspective challenges me to consider the depth of my commitment and the purity of my love for Christ.

 

A few notes from the first three (introductory) chapters:

 

1. The First and the Last.  Please notice the unity and coexistence of both Almighty God (the Father) and Jesus Christ, His Son.  Both are called “the First” (Alpha) and “the Last” (Omega), and both are declared to be the “Living One,” Who has existed forever in the past, in the present, and forever into the future.

 

2. The admonitions for the churches.  It appears that the words for the seven churches were indeed meant to address their present-day realities at the time of John’s writing.  This assurance gave the churches confidence that God indeed is sovereign over the affairs of men and that their plight had not been forgotten or in vain.  Through the vision, God calls the churches to return to Him and to live holy lives, pleasing to God our Savior.  The words to Ephesus and Laodicea are particularly pertinent, even today:

 

                a. Ephesus:  “Yet I hold this against you:  You have forsaken your first love.  Remember the height from which you have fallen!  Repent and do the things you did at first.”

 

                b. Laodicea:  “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

 

Yet, Jesus does not abandon the wayward.  Instead, “those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.  So be earnest, and repent.  Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

 

 

3. The promises for those who overcome.  To each of the seven churches, Jesus offers promises to those who overcome:

 

                a. Ephesus:  Will receive “the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God”

 

                b. Smyrna:  “Will not be hurt at all by the second death”

 

                c. Pergamum:  Will receive “some of the hidden manna... [and] a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him”

 

                d. Thyatira:  Will receive “authority over the nations,... just as I have received authority from my Father... [and] the morning star”

 

                e. Sardis:  Will “be dressed in white.  I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my father and his angels”

 

                f. Philadelphia:  Will become “a pillar in the temple of my God.  Never again will he leave it.  I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.”

 

                g. Laodicea:  Will receive “the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne”

 

 

QUESTIONS

 

1.  What temporal things might you be trusting more than the eternal, living God?

 

2.  What would you like to discover as you study Revelation?

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