Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

What kind of world is this? Matthew 2. 16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” [ d ] God had a plan for this world which was evil and violent. A king could and did kill numerous children just to make sure no one challenged his claim to power. What kind of world is this? It is a world that is loved by God. This part of the Christmas story is often overlooked. Children being killed. Mothers and fathers weeping for their children. What kind of world is this? Into this kind of world God loves so much that He sent from heaven His one and only Son. ...

  What Moves You? We were driving to visit a family who had lost their father.   The car was one of the most expensive cars I had ridden in.   It was quiet and well equipped.   It had leather seats and a video display screen that showed a map of the road.   The stereo system was truly amazing.   The driver was a follower of Jesus who had been through a hard three week trip to a poor country to teach about Jesus to adults and children.  These were people who had not been exposed to disciples of Jesus from America.   My friend and I went to the home of the couple who had lost their father and they weren’t home, perhaps at the funeral home.   As we drove there and back I asked my him about the events in his recent days that had truly moved him.   He had great trauma going on health-wise in his family.   He had twelve suicides among his family and friends.   He is a successful businessman who has 100’s of frien...

July 20, 2012 Details of this long day in Aurora, Colorado. Probably many of us get up in the morning to workout on exercise bikes and watch the news. Usually nothing much on a normal day. I watch business news. Big news, market up. Big news, market down. Not really anything big, just a distraction from my workout. Today at 4:00 am, it was different. Aurora Theatre shooting, 50 shot 14 killed. I'm ashamed to admit my thought, “I hope it’s not my town, hopefully Aurora, Ill?” No. It’s my town.                                                                                  ...