Peace in Israel ?

Addressing the U.S. Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says Israel is ready to take risks for peace with Palestinians, but says his government will not yield to terrorism.

VOA News - Olmert Urges Palestinians to Renounce Violence

This could be just an open door for more war, but at the same time........Who knows?

We pray for peace in Israel. We do this because we recognize that our Lord Jesus will return when this happens. I read the headline above and my soul sort of jumped in anticipation of Jesus' return. Come, Lord Jesus, come!!!

Uncle Lane

Just got this in the email this morning, thought I'd pass it on. From a brother in Christ:

Morning all,

Just as our Lord Jesus is praying for my Uncle Lane and his family, I ask that you please remember them as well in your daily time with the Lord.

Uncle Lane and family have been in the hospital since April 7^th. He has had several setbacks......His physical body is weakened from this extended stay without exercise. Even now he can barely feed himself because the mental acuity is not there.

Serving in the face of opposition

I can honestly say that I have never felt a greater desire to serve God in my life. I wish that I could make serving God a full time job.

With that being said, what do you do when you receive opposition from loved ones regarding your service? I especially am hurt when the opposition comes from "mature Christians". I know that God wants us to serve, and he commands us to put Him first in our lives, so when my day of judgment comes, I don't want to disappoint Him. My great fear is that He'll say I was lukewarm in my spirit. He would rather me be hot or even cold than to be lukewarm. This requires me to become involved in my local church and even beyond if I'm called in that way.

Certainly, God isn't going to call us to be idle, is He? He's not going to ask us to grow without serving, is He? He's not going to be content with a stale/cold growth or lack of growth. Not at all!

My response to the opposition is to continue serving. Continue doing what God is calling me to do. And by doing so, I hope to show those who oppose me what the love of Jesus really looks like in a true follower of Christ. I will also continue to pray for the maturity of my brothers and sisters in Christ, that they might realize that maturity of faith includes serving and obedience to God.

I get great Joy from serving, and wish that all believers would be able to enjoy the same adventure that following Jesus truely can be.

eBible

The other day I stumbled across a neat little online bible tool. It is called eBible. This is an online application that has a very simple user interface with tools that allow you to view the bible in a few different versions, in parallel, and with commentary. I always like to see new apps like this pop up because it represents truth, and we can never have enough of God's Word on the internet.

I have an invite available to the beta version of the site that I will pass on to the first person interested. All I ask is that you pass on your free invite to someone else who may appreciate it.

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Let Jesus have the driver's seat and He'll drive you down the straight path. --blessings

technorati tags: ebible, bible, ebible.com

1 Cor 2:4, 5

I've been in several different bible studies lately and I can really see how differently God has created all of us. In a question/answer session, some will give answers based on life experiences, others answer from a general knowledge of a survey of the wisdom in scriptures, and some search through the scriptures for specific references that focus on the purpose of the study. All are good and each fit the person and personality of the individual.

I think I fit in with the general knowledge of scriptural wisdom crowd when I'm in that setting. However, in times when I am teaching or leading, I've been really surprised of how God uses all sorts of methods to convey His message. In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul tells us how he would interract differently with baby believers than he did with mature believers. With the new believers he spoke plainly and clearly about only Jesus. He leaned on the Holy Spirit to lead him. With mature believers he spoke biblical wisdom and broadened his teachings to more than just Jesus, but certainly keeping Jesus in the center of it all.

I'm reminded to build my faith and let God work through me. When sharing Jesus, I need to keep Jesus as the focus and just let the Holy Spirit do the work. So when I might only have general wisdom to share, the Spirit will supply specific scripture references and bring life experience to my rememberance. The following verse is encouraging to me and hopefully to you as well.

1 Corinthians 2: 4, 5 -- My message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!