Focus on Eternity

           When we venture into Luke's Travel Log in Acts 27, there is far more story packed into these forty-four verses than meets the eye.  It may appear like a personal diary giving play-by-play details, yet I wish to show the noteworthy lessons packed into this Scriptural text.   First, let's give some thought to how Paul, not because he's a prisoner but because of his focus, might look at this journey from a different perspective than the captain and the crew aboard these sailing vessels.   Our views determine how we respond to challenging situations and can easily impact the way we make decisions.   Can we find some patterns or principles within this account to apply to our current-day lives?        I thought it might be fun to remember two voyages that we may have been familiar with as children.  Each journey comes from a different perspective.  Let's look at the openi...

        Have you taken the time to consider the relevance of your personal story?   As I read Paul’s testimony in Acts 22, I marveled at the clarity in which Paul shared his story with others.   Paul had the gift of examining his life and recognizing the need to use the account of his life when sharing the gospel message.   Just like Paul, we all have a story.      Let’s start with verse 3, where Paul’s testimony begins.   Paul begins by expressing the things he is proud of, his heritage, his hometown, his education, his faith, and his passion.   Like Paul, we all have attributes and achievements in our life we don’t mind exposing.      Dropping down a few verses, we see in verses 4-5, Paul digs a little deeper.   He begins to share things that make him feel just a bit vulnerable.   These are actions or attitudes that he no longer supports.   Paul knows that his story is a dichot...

       It was John Piper who opened my eyes to a better understanding of God's Will as he diagramed the first two verses found in Ephesians 1.   First in a lengthy article called, "Are There Two Wills in God?" dated January 1, 1995, then in a short video called "What are the Two Wills of God?" Before I share my new understanding, I will ask a question.   Would you agree that it is always easier to understand a word's meaning if we hear it correctly?   Unfortunately, when we read the Word of God silently to ourselves, we miss the passage's inflection, and we fail to pick up on a subtle difference had we read it aloud or listened to someone else's interruption. For a short time, I was attempting to learn another language.   In this endeavor, it came to my attention that tone mattered.   Depending on the tone of a syllable, I could be saying an entirely different word.   It hadn't dawned on me that the same was true for English; it is ...

   When was the last time you researched a topic, like prayer, lamentation, forgiveness, anger, or marriage in the Bible?  Were you able to do this without the aid of a pre-packed Bible study?  Did you know that this type of research has a name?  It is called Systematic Theology.  Systematic Theology is a method of extracting information about any given topic from a Biblical perspective.  You might ask yourself the question, " What should I believe  about pray from a Biblical standard?" or " What can I know  about prayer by observing references to this topic in the Bible?" This type of study focuses on understanding and insight, which gives us the ability to answer questions we receive regarding prayer (or any topic).      Christian Ethics, on the other hand, asks a different question.  The question it asks is, " How should I live  based on my understanding of the Bible?  In this kind of stu...

         In several places in Scripture, we read about God organizing man's work by involving them in major construction projects.   Think of Noah and the Ark, Moses and the Tabernacle, or Solomon and the Temple.   What these three projects have in common is God's Organizational Plan.   There are also stories of man devising his own construction projects, like the Tower of Babel.   I find it fascinating to travel through familiar stories and uncover a new lesson that I've not noticed before.   On my journey through Exodus, I discovered that I have something in common with Moses and God's pattern when He is involved in the plan. Unlike Moses, I'm happy to say that I didn't have to scream at upper management, "Let my people go!" I wasn't involved in a rescue mission, nor have I been engaged in a boycott in making bricks without straw (see Exodus 5), but I have assumed the responsibilities of being a Project Manager.   ...

  In the third chapter of Exodus, a conversation ensures between God and Moses. You’re probably familiar with the story of the Burning Bush.   In this story, we read Moses’ response to God’s assignment, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt,” see verse 11.    I hadn’t noticed before, but God uses a different word than I would have expected.   God says, “Come, and I will send you.”   Wouldn’t you agree that like Moses, we too would have heard the word “Go” rather than “Come?”   In verse 8, God subtly revealed that He had come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians.   Moses had not yet learned to listen closely to God’s Word.   Moses was not yet familiar with the nature of God when he asked his “who am I” question.   Just a few verses before, God needed to instruct Moses to remove his shoes because the Creator who was addressing him was holy.   God’s presence consecrated the...