Blog Posts containing "Lent"

OLD TESTAMENT: Genesis 12:1-4a Literal Religion: God called Abraham to leave his homeland to go to a country He will show him. Read this scripture literally for its religious meaning. Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.” Spiritual grace: God calls us to leave our worldly homeland to go to a spiritual country He will show within us. Now quietly move into God's Presence and read this scripture. Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.” Can you feel the difference?  Read more

Prosperity followers believe God wants Christians to be rich! There are millions of faithful followers of Christ who live in poverty. If this is so, why isn't everyone in the church a millionaire? Their answer: It's God's will for you to live in prosperity instead of poverty. It's God's will for you to pay your bills and not be in debt. God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to fulfill the destiny He has laid out for us. I want to be wealthy and God wants me to be wealthy too! “Who would want to get in on something where you're miserable, poor, broke and ugly and you just have to muddle through until you get to heaven?” God wants us to be prosperous. To be happy we need to have money to pay our bills, send our kids to college bless, be a blessing to other people.  Read more

OLD TESTAMENT: Genesis 2:15-17 Literal Religion: To “die” is physical. Read this scripture literally for its religious meaning. The serpent said to the woman, “You will not die.” Spiritual grace: To “die” is spiritual death. (They both died spiritually not physically). Now quietly move into God's Presence and read this scripture. The serpent said to the woman, "You will not die.” Can you feel the difference? Legalism is a five mile walk punctuated with disappointments!  Read more

Passion Week. “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” The Passover meal starts with the lighting of the candles and the breaking and hiding of a piece of the Afikomen. Afikomen means “after the dinner” and refers to a kind of cookie dessert. The children search for the broken piece after the meal. Whoever finds it gets a special treat. Then they all were involved in the sharing of a desert. Each person has a cup for the meal. There are four times the cups are filled, each with special meaning. There is a place set for Elijah to come with a plate and a cup of wine as well. The door is left ajar for him to come as a sign the Messiah has arrived.  Read more

Sixth Sunday in Lent: Worldly thinking only knows the physical. Godly thinking knows both and can choose which is best for them. Which would you choose in each case? The Season of Lent is an opportunity to strengthen our spiritual abilities to look within ourselves. These exercises can help us discover the different meaning looking at the same scripture from the spiritual side can make. Thinking worldly, deliverance is protection from physical attack. Godly, deliverance is protection from spiritual attack.  Read more

“The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.” His words are for us today. There is a time right now for us to take care of ourselves. The poor we have with us always. If we do not take care of ourselves and those we love, there will be no one who can take care of our ministry. This is true for the World Wide Anglican Communion as well. We need to take care of our Church if we are to be able to do the outreach ministry we are called to do.  Read more

Fifth Sunday in Lent: Worldly thinking only knows the physical. Godly thinking knows both can choose which is best for them. Which would you choose in each case? The Season of Lent is an opportunity to strengthen our spiritual abilities to look within ourselves. These exercises can help us discover the different meaning looking at the same scripture from the spiritual side can make. Thinking worldly, the path is physical. Godly, the path is spiritual grace. Which would you choose?  Read more

Jesus loved being human. His greatest joy was being with people. That is why the sinners gathered around Him. He was non judgmental, loving but best of all they all had a good time. The Pharisees did not interrupt Jesus and His group. They preferred to murmur away from them but loud enough so their griping could be heard by all. "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." Jesus then leaves His group and calmly walks over to the Pharisees and tells the familiar story we call the “Prodigal Son.”  Read more

Fourth Sunday in Lent: Worldly thinking only knows the physical. Godly thinking knows both can choose which is best for them. Which would you choose in each case? The Season of Lent is an opportunity to strengthen our spiritual abilities to look within ourselves. These exercises can help us discover the different meaning looking at the same scripture from the spiritual side can make.  Read more

Jesus tells the parable of a tree that has been given one chance after another by the gardener. The master is tired of waiting for it to produce fruit. Chop it down. The gardener replies, give me one more chance and I will fertilize it and perhaps it will start to produce. Alright, one more chance. We never know what happens to the tree. That is because Jesus wants to leave what happens to it up to us. We are the tree. Repenting in a worldly way is to confess our sins because that is what we did. The emphasis in the parable is on the sin, not sins. Sin is separation from God. Apart from God, we can do nothing. There is no fruit. John 15:5   Read more