Eternally Minded

Ezekiel Chapter 4-5 There are four object lessons in this passage that display the type of judgement that was coming for Israel and Judah.  First (Ezekiel 4:1-3): Ezekiel was commanded to draw the map of Jerusalem on a clay brick and demonstrate how the city would be attacked and destroyed.  Second (Ezekiel 4:4-8): Ezekiel was commanded to lie on his left side for 390 days, symbolic of the 390 years Israel disobeyed God, and 40 days on his right side, symbolic of the 40 years Judah lived in rebellion against God; and do this while starring at the model of the siege of Jerusalem and prophesying against it. Third (Ezekiel 4:9-17): He was to prepare bread to ration out while he lied on his side and cook it over manure. This symbolized how God would make them eat defiled bread in the land of the gentiles where he would scatter them and where they would starve.  Fourth (Ezekiel 5:1-4): Ezekiel was commanded to shave his hair and divide it into three equal parts. 1/3 was...

Are you a zealous Christian? Or does your lack of passion scare you? I've read about the lukewarm Church in the book of Revelation and always wondered if it was me. Upon further study of this passage, I finally understood what it means and Christ has become more precious to me! I hope you will find similar comfort after reading this post. Revelation 3:14-21  Character of God "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:" Rev3:14 In the beginning of this passage, we see who the author of the letter to the Church of the Laodiceans is. Jesus is the Amen - all things He decrees will come to pass. Jesus is the faithful and true witness - He faithfully speaks the truth about our hearts. Jesus is the beginning of the creation or the first born of God – He has received the inheritance of God in becoming Lord of all. How we see ourselves vs ho...

We have heard of the pride of Moab —  he is very proud— of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,  and the haughtiness of his heart.  I know his insolence, declares the Lord ;  his boasts are false,  his deeds are false. Jeremiah 48:29 & 30 In the rest of the chapter, we see the L ORD  dishing out destruction for Moab. He is angry with them - they sinned and would be thoroughly punished for it.  On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like a vessel for which no one cares, declares the L ORD . How it is broken! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab has become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.  (Jeremiah 48:39 & 39) But what was their sin?  PRIDE.  Moab shall be destroyed and be no longer a people, because he magnified himself against the L ORD .   (Jeremiah 48:42) ...

God is so great and holy! Too often we bring God down on our level as if He is just our buddy. I've been reading through Exodus and am seeing just how holy and majestic He is. When God came down to Mount Sinai, there was smoke and lightening and fire!Everyone needed to wash and purify themselves before God.  Anyone who came near to the mountain was ordered to be shot down so that God would not break out and consume the whole camp of Israel. Why would God make Himself fearful?  He doesn't have to make himself fearful,  He is fearful.  He is separate from everything else. No comes close to being compared with Him.  He is holy and just. Why don't we tremble in fear and worship anymore? Is He not the same God? "Serve the Lord with fear, And rejoice with trembling." Psalm 2:11 Do we worship God with trembling? Do we watch movies that take His holy name in vain? Do we speak of God in jest, or quote His holy words out of context?  Do we show our u...

Lately I’ve been reading 1 Timothy, a letter the apostle Paul wrote to a young pastor in Ephesus. As I read, I appreciated the wisdom and insight that Paul had; so I laboured on condensing the book into key passages that would help me remember the gist of the letter. I slightly paraphrased those passages, but sometimes I would copy word-for-word what the text said because I didn’t want to lose the meaning that was conveyed with the sentence structure and word choice. The idea behind this exercise was to go further into the text and really get a feel for what Paul was saying. By doing this, I learned many things I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. One thing that stuck out to me was the mentality of application Paul had near the end of the book. He’d say something like, “Set an example for the family of believers in your speech, the way you carry and conduct yourself, in your faith, and in your purity of heart” (paraphrase). I would think, “Hmmm. What does that look like for me? What changes...

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."John 14:15 David, the shepherd boy, loved his father, Jesse. When Jesse told David to bring food to his brothers in King Saul's army and see how they fared, he obeyed. He got up early and went. Jesus loved the Father. He displayed this in his greatest act of obedience, to lay down his life on the cross, so that we can be spared from the judgment our sins deserve. He submitted to the Father's will.  Do we love our heavenly Father? Do we keep His commands? Do we know what it is He commands us to do? We know the Father's will for us by reading the Holy Bible. Have we read it cover to cover? Do we know what God requires of us? Do we know God's will regarding how we are to treat our family, how to manage our money, where to pursue education, how to date or find a spouse, how to think, how to give an answer for the hope that lies within us, how to spend our time, etc.? If our answer is "no" and this is someth...

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With...

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...