Good afternoon friends, I continue to be amazed at how short these early devotions from last year were.  Maybe I knew that they were not going to be in the blog for awhile and didn't spend as much time as I should have. I think I was reacting to much of the "identify politics" issues that have become more and more prominent over the past year.  I was also listening to MLJ sermons on Romans where the only two options are being "in Adam" (under the law, spiritually dead) or "in Christ (under grace, spiritually alive).  Now we have all the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer plus options, the various ethnic options.  All playing into intersectionality where the degree of oppression is the source if identity.   This passage shows that there is nothing new under the sun.  God is at center stage, but people try to force Him out of the way.  Thankfully, He will have none of it. Blessings, Jeff The concept of identity being "in somebody" is on full

Good afternoon friends, Well today's devotion is really dated.  Looking back on what I thought before the election last November is a challenge.  Obviously, the January 6th insurrection has come to a low point in the American experiment in ordered self government.  Yet this was not the revolution I was thinking about.  As a political movement, Black Lives Matter is essentially Marxist.  And Marxism and constitutional representative democracy are not compatible.  And reference to fleeting power is the French Revolution.  No one was safe from the scaffold. Finally, our first revolution was against the crown, the second was against the union.  So the next one will be the third.  However, using this passage as a basis for political analysis is really not valid. So what have I learned?  I think I am still learning. Blessings,  Jeff The submission of Esther in the midst of trying time.   Suppose that a third revolution occurs as a result of upcoming election. What lessons doors Esther te

Good morning fellow exiles and pilgrims, For those of you who have never been in the Navy, I want to share an example of how the secular world just can't shake the reality of biblical history.  You see, a rope ladder was called a Jacob's ladder.  This handy device allow a sailor to climb up from a small boat to a main deck of the ship.  So you get the idea of "angels ascending and descending".  Of course Jacob's dream is more of a stair case than a vertical ladder, but the imagery is dramatic. Blessings, Jeff  God graciously reveals this aspect of His active involvement in the affairs of man.  A sign to confirm Jacob as the line of the promised line back to 3:15. So why this stairway to heaven?  Is the only reason so that the messiah could refer to this event?  Certainly angels don't really need a stairway to go back and forth between heaven and earth.  Calvin points to the ladder as a type  of Christ as mediator between God and man.  When Jesus fulfills this

Here is my catch up post.  Jonathan has pointed out that one of the proofs of authenticity is inclusion of unnecessary details.  Today we have an example. Blessings, Jeff Why would anybody makeup a story like this?  Especially since it was so easy to disprove. If any one claim was false, the whole argument would fall apart. All the Jews had to do to silence Paul and put an end to Christianity was produce a witness to refute just one of his claims. Killing him is only reasonable if his claims are actually true.   Open statement of facts only works if the facts are true.  Why do we seek additional proof?  Use of personal testimony of what Jesus has done for me or others for example. Why is subjective unverifiable information used instead of objective unrefuted evidence?   Thanksgiving - a rational logical personal God creates a rational logical cosmos.

Good morning friends, Have two excuses.  Missed yesterday as daily routine interrupted by Apple Festival baking day.  Left around 7:30 and didn't get home until around 2:00.  Completely forgot about updating the blog. Second, this was a very short devotional.  It was written on the day of the CareNet charity golf tournament last fall.  Pretty much consumed the day.   I hope that this will encourage you to write our your thoughts even if they are not very detailed.  I have found that asking questions of a passage can get me to think about the passage during the day. Blessings, Jeff Did wonder about the difference between trying to parade Vashti before the leering officials and losing virginity in try out to be the next queen. The only qualification to be queen is beauty and gratification of Ahasuerus lust. The year in the harem prior to a night with the king was surely training for sexual performance. How does this fit with '"His glory and our good"?

Good morning friends Just a short reflection on 20 years of prayer as an encouragement to all of us to be constant in prayer. Blessings, Jeff Rebekah is barren for twenty years while Isaac prays for her.  The young woman from whom her family expected thousands of ten thousands. The daughter in law of the one who was promised descendants as numerous as the stars. Yet in all this, God was working His purpose.  Do you trust Me?  As Paul asks, who hopes for what he sees?  Do You know me?  Am I better to you than 7 sons?   Is this what " strengthened with all  power, according to Your glorious might for all endurance with joy" means?  Submitting to His will is what strengthens my faith, not getting my desires.