Eternally Minded

At the Father's side creating the world, now clothing Himself in humanity. Holy and spotless, now taking on the likeness of flawed man. Self existing one, now in need. High above all, exalted one, now lying in a feeding trough in a barn. Wrapped in majesty and glory, now wrapped in swaddling clothes. Ever watching and caring for creation, now sleeping in the care of Mary. Worshiped by angels who ceaselessly cried out holy, holy, holy, now looked at by shepherds who marveled. Worthy of all respect and fear, now rejected and sought after to be put to death. Served by hosts of angels, now serving the sinners around Him. Deserving of every right, now accepting none but giving to those who deserved nothing. Worthy of riches and rewards, now overcoming temptations and trials. Showing kindness to many, now betrayed by His friends. Honored above all, now humiliated before the crowds. Blameless, now sentenced to death. Robed with splendor and beauty, now beate...

...His wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the L ORD his God... For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the L ORD and did not wholly follow the L ORD , as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.  And the L ORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the L ORD , the God of Israel...   1 Kings 11:3-9 Take careful note of this passage. What did Solomon do to make God angry? What was his great sin? Idolatry.  I didn't totally realize the concept of this sin until recently. Sure, I ...

" Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." Matthew 13:31-32 Jesus often spoke in parables to communicate a singular point or truth. A parable is a method of communication like an illustration. The word parable means: to throw something alongside something else. So, Jesus would throw a parable alongside his declarations of truth.  The main thing to keep in mind when trying to interpret a parable is that it isn't usually an allegory. Not every word in a parable has some hidden meaning. In this parable, as in most of His parables, He is communicating a truth about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, it starts small but it finishes being great. ...

Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon saying, “Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father. I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.” 1 Kings 6:11-13 This is a promise from the L ORD to His chosen people, Israel, while Solomon is building the temple. Intentionally, in chapter 5, we see God fulfilling a promise He made to Solomon,  "The L ORD gave wisdom to Solomon, just as He promised him..." (1 Kings 5:12) But there is a contingency linked to this particular promise in chapter 6: That His people would obey His statutes, rules, and commandments, and to walk in them.  Maybe, if you're like me, this sounds like a lot of what is modernly called 'works religion'.   But the phrase 'walk in them' points to a devotion. ** D...

Has there ever been a moment of passion and zeal where you wish you could do anything and everything for the sake of Christ? Where you've counted the cost and would be willing to loose all, to risk all, to live completely abandoned for Christ? Has eternity ever scorched your mind and make you wonder why you aren't spending every moment pleading with lost? Has the parable of the talents left you striving to make the most every moment (Matthew25)? Does life seem so short, that you feel guilty for resting? Does the promise of eternal rewards make you want to be involved in any ministry, outreach, evangelism available? These are the thoughts that often run through my head, and yet, as much as I try to give up everything and go "all out", I never feel like I'm doing enough. Why? It doesn't seem like I've got bad motives. Yes, I may die younger from exhaustion, but that doesn't seem so bad in light of eternity. Why can't I find fulfilment? The Right ...

I was doing my morning reading through the book of Judges and was shocked at how twisted this man named Micah was. The chapter starts off with him stealing from his mother, then returning the money, then she makes him an idol out of the returned money, and he makes his son the priest of his idols. Later, a Levite comes by and he hires him to be the priest instead of his son and says: "Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest." Judges 17:13 How can this guys definition of right and wrong be so thwarted? How can he think God is pleased with his actions? Sure he hired God's ordained ministers to be his priest (Lev7:35), but he was worshiping a idol! He wasn't even worshiping the one true God! So he wasn't obeying the Levite Priest law, because he broke a much more serious law: "Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is...

In the last few months at my church ( Cornerstone Church ) my pastor, Chris Sippley, has been going though the Gospel of Mark. There are things I'm seeing for the very first time about the reason for the book of Mark, his teachings about Christ, and Christ's teachings about Himself. Not only what Jesus said matters, but also what He did: what He valued and what He prioritized.  I'd like to share with you - as a sort of informal post - my notes taken from the sermon on Mark 5:1-20, spoken on July 29, 2018. (You can listen to this sermon - and plenty more! - for yourself  HERE ) Demons wrecked this man who lived among the tombs. He was rejected, feared, and insane. They made a living hell in him and immediately falls down when he sees Jesus - when the demons see Jesus . They know their fate to hell - they know and try to do as much as possible before they're put away for eternity. They had to have permission from God to go into the pigs. They left the man...

Hello! This week's post is another audio recording uploaded to YouTube of part 2 in our gospel series. These posts are the foundation of our blog, and therefore we wanted to make them available to you to listen to as well as read. Enjoy! Click here: The Gospel Series: Part 2: The Glory of God not Honoured

This is a question I think everyone has asked at one point or another. (If you haven't, I'm sure you will.) Some ask with personal experience to suffering in mind. Others ask in response to the news they hear in the world. Still others ask, because they have been asked and don't know the answer. So however you may be approaching this question, I pray that you might see the truth, as I try to tactfully share what God has revealed in His word - the Holy Bible. Firstly, we cannot deny that there is great suffering in this world. Death, sickness, war, crimes, relationship breakdowns, poverty, etc. The list could go on! We don't have to look very far to see that we do not live in a perfect world, in fact, we don't have to even look past ourselves. So where does this suffering come from? Ultimately, it is the consequence for sin. Suffering has existed since the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). The first two people God created, Adam and Eve, brok...

Loneliness can be a heavy cross. Someone doesn't even need to be alone to be lonely; sometimes a lonely soul can hurt the most when physically surrounded by people. There may not always be a solution to acute loneliness, as it may have been brought upon by many different sources: physical abandonment, someone moving away - maybe you yourself has moved away, or the ending of a relationship. There isn't a lot of comfort to be found sometimes. God alone understands our pain - the ache, the longing, the sorrow - as you uniquely feel it and deal with it. If you're like me, then you bury your hurts. But God sees where I bury it, He knows - and can define my feelings better than I can. I have to remind myself to turn to Christ, because it's what we were made to do: As the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to Me, declares the Lord, that they might be for Me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory...

Acing a test. Writing a book. Finishing your homework. Coordinating an event. Cooking a meal. Graduating from high school or college. Completing a good workout. Cleaning the bathroom. Finishing a Bible study workbook. Doing the dishes. Figuring out a new dance routine. What do all of these things have in common? Think about it for a minute. They’re all hard. Or at least, require some amount of work. Why am I talking to you about hard things? Well, I think that we (teenagers, that is) should do more hard stuff. That’s because they push us persevere in doing the next hard thing. Hard things are good for us. But guess what: there aren’t a lot of young people doing hard things anymore. We’re not getting much encouragement from today’s culture to do things that are actually worth doing. Because doing those things is for older people with the expertise, the education, the resources, and the stubborn perseverance to do so. . . Right? Wrong! Those people aren’t the only ones who are capabl...

Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.   Acts 5:41 & 42 North American, first-world Christians, have a hard time wrapping their minds around persecution. We don't pray for foreign believers as we should. We oftentimes forget that in other parts of the world (and maybe subtly in our very own country) children of Christ are being persecuted for their faith.  Martyrdom always fascinated me. I used to lay awake in bed and wonder what it would be like to die for Christ... To be worthy  to die for Him.  Millions of believers have been - and are being - killed for their faith in God. Sad, yes, but oh! Think of the joy that awaits them! Leave this sinful world 'early' and be face to face with Christ the Saviour forever?? Sounds like a sweet deal to me....

We thought it would be helpful to record our blog posts as well as write them, so that you wouldn't have to set time aside to read it, but could listen to them while washing dishes or folding laundry, etc.. So this week, I've gone back and recorded one of our foundational series on the gospel, since it is something we want everyone who comes to our blog to know and be encouraged in. This is Part 1 of our Gospel series entitled: Who is God. Click HERE  to be sent to the audio recording of The Gospel, Part 1: Who is God?, on our YouTube channel.

Once God brought Israel out of Egypt, some of them began to doubt. They tested and tempted God for 40 years to see if He was really with them (Exodus 17:7). God was doing miracles and working among them, but they had hardened their hearts in unbelief (Hebrews 3:12). Because of this, God swore in His wrath that they would not enter into His rest (Psalm 95:11). And so, the unbelieving in Israel did not enter the promise land, but died in the wilderness (Hebrews 3:17-19). In Psalm 95, David applied this same story and gave the command not to harden our hearts like the Israelites who could not enter God's rest. He said, "T oday if you will hear His voice..." (Psalm 95:7). So if God had given Israel rest in the promise land, why would David talk about another day (Hebrews 4:7-9); except that there is another day when we will enter God's rest - a rest that the promise land only pointed to. Just like Abraham looked for a city beyond the land of Canaan whose builder an...

Therefore I still contend with you, declares the L ORD , and with your children's children I will contend. For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see, or send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has been such a thing. Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the L ORD , for My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters , and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.    (Jeremiah 2:9-13) Jeremiah (more specifically, God, through Jeremiah) is warning the people of Judah about their great sin: IDOLATRY. Idolatry is anything of higher importance in your life than God Himself. It's crazy in our age today, just as it was rampant in ancient Judah.  (1)  Therefore I still contend with you, declares the L ORD , and w...

I’ve never really thought much about my identity. I never really knew what it meant and I thought it was rather self-centered to read through the Bible to pick out what it says about who we are. At Bible study (that my friends Judith and Kathryn started), the topic we read was about finding our identity. It forced me to think about it more and what I discovered was that I struggle with where I place my identity. So what is a person’s identity? We hear the term thrown around so often, it is hard to put our finger on what it actually is. So here’s my working definition: A person’s identity is who they are. It can often be portrayed or changed by the individual to fit who they think they are or who they want other people to think they are. Our culture today often pressures us to fit their ideal mold. We feel the need to be identified as beautiful, self-sufficient, capable, intelligent, captivating, financially secure, humorous, accepting, etc. Not that any of these th...

                                                   Recently our family drove from Nova Scotia to Ontario to visit family and friends whom we had not seen in a while. Before I went, I sent a message to a relative. It said, "Can I ask a favour of you?" The reply was "Of course!" I replied, "I was wondering if you could please read the following pamphlet at least twice before [we arrive in ON], and then we can we get together and talk about it."  I included 6 pictures: one for every page of John Piper's Gospel tract entitled Quest for Joy . Thankfully the reply I received was, "Ok. Looking forward to that." I was prepared for a different answer. I wish I could convey in words how encouraged I was to hear that the light was green. This would turn out to be the second (and hopefully not the last) conversation with this person about the Gospel. ...

Is there anything in your life, that you wished you had a higher, more intentional view on? Something you wish you'd taken more seriously or put more time into? Maybe you realize if you had done these things, everything would have fallen into place a lot easier? For me this thing was my schooling. I could have given it a lot more: had a higher view of it. Maybe later things would have fallen into place better. For my secondary education, I plan to be much more intentional, because it may effect my entire working career. To me, if there was one thing in our Christian walk that we could view higher and think more critically about, it would be the holiness of God and honouring His power. We've lost our devotion to knowing Him and His attibutes, specifially, His holiness...or, never had it in the first place. We tend to be caught up in what God can do, and does indeed do for me and you , that we don't bother searching the scriptures specifically to learn about, and und...