Waiting For?

by Ed Allen | Apr 1, 2025

“LORD, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days;
            Let me know how transient I am.

 Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight;
            Surely every man at his best is a mere breath.       

 Surely every man walks about as a phantom; Surely they make an uproar for nothing;
            He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.

And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
            My hope is in You.” 

The Weakness of God

by Pete Wood | Mar 16, 2025

Did our God have a weakness?

Jesus was crucified through weakness and it became foolishness to the perishing world. Jesus took upon himself our weak and infirm nature.  His weakness and foolishness of ours was imputed to him so that we might live. Our Heavenly Father took this on out of His love for us.

Jesus was made capable of suffering, and of laying down willingly his life for us on the cross.

But, he was raised from the grave, He is alive and He lives again by the divine power of God. This Spirit who raised Christ Jesus from the dead dwells in each of us.

But, we are to be strong in our weakness.  As we are to be weak in him, like Him, being liable to sufferings, undergoing sufferings by his example; but we shall live with him by the power of God, of which also we have living within us. 

“…Act like men, be strong”

by Pete Wood | Feb 25, 2025

When studying this verse, 1 Corinthians 13:16, in capturing the essence of this scripture, it should produce a new understanding, a new vision, a new anchor in the chamber of your heart.

“BE” is a word that should not be taking lightly.

First we need to understand that the word BE is considered a linking verb that is called “substantive.” Most importantly we need to carefully dig deep and look at the meaning of substantive, and specifically how it relates when using the word “BE” in 1 Corinthians 16:13.

Substantive: It means to have a firm basis in reality and therefore important or meaningful, to be fixed; to exist; to have a real state or existence, to be made, to be, to become. to remain. This is forming a particular future tense and expresses a duty, a necessity or a purpose.

What makes this so important is that this understanding should ignite a passion and our desire to Be alert, stand firm in our faith, act like men and Be strong.

So now let’s combine the word “BE with STRONG”,  and take a fresh look at what it means to “BE STRONG”,

To “BE STRONG”: Being Strong should have a firm basis in everyday life and is important and meaningful. We are called to be fixed in a position of strength.  

What Does this Year Hold for You?

by Jim Gustafson | Jan 28, 2025

“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force” (Matthew 11:12).

For many of us, this time of year is an activity for remembrance of last year and what God has orchestrated, what He might have planned for this New Year–and what would be a faithful response.

Regardless of the anticipation of future events, a few perspectives have come to mind that are imperatives:

“Therefore I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you” (2Peter 1:12).

THE CHIEF SINNER

by Jerry Bangert | Dec 17, 2024

“For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” Romans 12:3

How does one make such an evaluation and what constitutes sound judgment?

Paul reveals his candid evaluation of himself at three different times in his life. He first calls himself “the least of the apostles” (1 Corinthians 15:9 NASB); then “the very least of all saints” (Ephesians 3:8 NASB); and finally the chief sinner (1 Timothy 1:15 KJV). This is the chronological order in which these letters were written. But how does this help me in my own self-inspection, if none of these descriptors are my own honest judgment?

Since Jeremiah says the “heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”, then my own “honest” judgment cannot be trusted. But the Bible’s judgment can be. What else does it say about me?

The Race Ahead

by Ed Allen | Dec 16, 2024

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:1-3).

The verses above follow the examples of the “witnesses” of faith given us by those who acted on their faith in preceding chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews.

Now we each run our own “race that is set before us.”

Why is this HAPPENING? vs. WHY is this happening?

by Mitch Hershey | Dec 3, 2024

Recently I was having a conversation with a friend about some of the challenges he was facing. Whether it’s business, health, financial, or anything else we hold dear, when we face challenges it is easy to ask the question – why is this HAPPENING?! (emphasis on happening, in the way you would hear a 4 year old lament when their juice box spills).

As I pondered this more, I was reminded that a proper response would be to ask God – WHY is this happening? (emphasis on why)

I crave peace and comfort. My temporal self tells me that the definition of peace is the absence of conflict. When adverse circumstances come into my life, my initial reaction is to try and get rid of them as quickly as possible. The Bible, however, reminds us that trials and tribulations are brought into our lives for our good and for God’s glory.

HOLD FAST YOUR CONFESSION: A SUMMARY OF HEBREWS’ WARNINGS

by Jonathan Koehler | Nov 18, 2024

A key theme, if not THE key theme, in the letter to the Hebrews is that of holding fast, perseverance, endurance-terms that indicate continuing a sometimes difficult and long course for a purpose and with an end, which may not necessarily be in view at present.

The warnings are meant to help readers in the first century all the way through today and beyond to hold on to their faith in the work of Christ that one day they might be counted in those who have “loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8) A brief summary of the warnings and the responses to them follows.

Pay closer attention to what God has revealed in His Son Jesus and do not drift from it (Hebrews 2:1-3a). The Greek for “pay attention” in a naval context means to “hold one’s course toward a place”. The context is the spoken Word but would also include the written Word. Stay close to the Bible and its proclamation and obey it. There are no shortcuts.

Fifth Warning from Hebrews: See To It…That You Do Not Turn Away

by Jonathan Koehler | Nov 5, 2024

One final appeal is issued to the Hebrews in this fifth warning encapsulated in 12:25-29 with echoes back to vv.15-17. There are admonitions that no one should come short of grace, that bitterness not be allowed to take root and bear the fruit of group defilement, and that there be no one like Esau who sold his birthright as the eldest son for a meal.

The mention of bitterness refers to Deuteronomy 29:18ff. in which God warns the Israelites against abandoning the covenant He had made with them and adopting idolatry which results in disastrous consequences. Esau gave way to temporary physical desires and in the process sacrificed his inheritance which included participation in the messianic promises (v17).

Esau’s situation is particularly poignant as an illustration that there are certain “trapdoors” through which we traverse with irreversible consequences, for when he sought to regain his birthright, he was refused.

Fourth Warning from Hebrews: A Terrifying Thing…

by Jonathan Koehler | Oct 7, 2024

The author further ratchets up the severity of the language surrounding this fourth warning in the series. The text is found in Hebrews 10:26-31. As is often used in the New Testament, there is an argument from the lesser to the greater to emphasize the severity of the warning. Under the Mosaic Law, multiple eyewitness testimony was required to convict of a capital crime and a resulting merciless sentence which involved the physical and the temporal (v.28). But for the sin referenced in this passage, the author poses more severe consequences, expanding to the spiritual and eternal.

There is a terrifying expectation of judgement and a consuming fire (v.27), with the summary that it is terrifying to fall into the hands of the living God (v. 31). The word “terrifying” is the same used in 12:21 by Moses when present on Mt. Sinai in the presence of God, such that he trembled or “quaked” with fear. We who have the revelations of the finished work of Christ and the Word of God have greater responsibility as well as accountability.

Verse 26 is another of the verses that makes us squirm and seek for alternatives to the plain reading. Let us again be reminded that loss of salvation for the elect (possessors) is impossible but those who only profess faith in Christ, i.e. non-elect, are in peril. Also, while certainty of one’s status (professor vs possessor) is impossible before death, assurance of salvation is not only possible but encouraged.