For this devotional, we will look at a name for God from the Old Testament that has a profound New Testament impact.
The Names of God 3 – Abba
The Names of God 3 - Abba In the second installment of this series, we discussed the holiest name for God – YHWH. This installment will look at the most intimate name for God. This word is not a Hebrew or Greek name but an Aramaic name. Aramaic was the common language of Israel and …
Quick Thoughts on God’s calling
How God calls a person to ministry is a very personal call. What Scripture provides us are brief sketches of how individuals heard and responded to God's calling. While they are not exhaustive passages relaying precisely what transpired between the individual and God, they do offer a glimpse into how our heroes of Scripture reacted …
Quick thoughts on Works vs. Faith
The balance between grace and discipline – or justification by faith and works – is a New Testament tension. Usually, those who emphasize grace point to Paul’s letters. Paul emphasized grace through faith over works-based salvation. This fact is evident especially in Galatians and Romans because there was pressure from some Jewish groups to adhere …
Sermon Video: The Awesome Power of Worship
This is a video of the sermon I gave 02/12/2022. There was an outbreak of COVID at Grace Community United Methodist Church, so we closed church for the day, and I made this video for the congregation. https://youtu.be/xTVNfYFDOk0
The Names of God 2 – YHWH / Jehovah
The Names of God 2 – YHWH / Jehovah Last month, we started talking about the names the Bible uses for God. Last month we looked at Elohim. This month we will look at the holiest name for God – YHWH or Jehovah. This name is the most used name for God in the …
Sermon Video: The Power of one small word – Hesed -Psalm 136
Here is a video of the sermon I delivered 10/31/2021
The Names of God 1 – Elohim
The Names of God #1 Elohim My series for 2022 will be talking about the different names of God in the Bible. Why would this be important? First, think about how a name identifies someone. When I hear my friend Rocky's name, I think of the man I ride motorcycles with who loves God and …
Evangelism Part 7 – Three Unexpected Evangelists #3: The Healed Blind Man
Evangelism Part 7 Three Unexpected Evangelists #3: The Healed Blind Man Continuing our discussion on evangelism, I turn now to the third unexpected evangelist in the gospels. Like the woman at the well in John 4 and the formerly demonized man in Mark 5, the man born blind in John 9 has a fantastic encounter …
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Evangelism Part 6 – Three Unexpected Evangelists #2 The Demoniac of Mark 5
Evangelism Part 6 – Three Unexpected Evangelists #2 The Demoniac of Mark 5 Continuing with our discussion on evangelism, I am looking at three unexpected evangelists in the Gospels. Last month we looked at the women at the well in John 4. This month we will look at a man whom none would ever think …
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Evangelism Part 5 – Three Unexpected Evangelists #1: The Woman at the Well John 4
Evangelism Part 5 – Three Unexpected Evangelists #1: The Woman at the Well John 4 Continuing my look at Evangelism this year, I will spend the next three devotionals dedicated to some unexpected people who encountered Jesus and then went and told others about their experience of the good news – the gospel. The first …
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The Eucharist and the Church
Introduction On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus celebrated a meal with his most intimate friends. Based on the Passover Seder that would have been observed the following night, Jesus spoke the liturgy of the Seder while at the same time preaching the Gospel. After he had broken the bread, he told his disciples, …
Evangelism Part 3 – Speak the Language Acts 17:16-34
Introduction When my wife and I were married in 1988, we embarked on a honeymoon that was a bit different than most folks. We decided to go on a student trip to Europe, visiting and studying in England, Western Europe, Scandinavia, Poland, East Germany (as it was known then), and the Soviet Union (back …
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Evangelism Part 2: Speak their language
Introduction When my wife and I were married in 1988, we embarked on a honeymoon that was a bit different than most folks. We decided to go on a student trip to Europe, visiting and studying in England, Western Europe, Scandinavia, Poland, East Germany (as it was known then), and the Soviet Union (back …
Evangelism Part 1
Evangelism Part 1 When I was a member of the CMA Danvers, MA chapter, New Life Riders, our chaplain was a special guy. Pastor Dick May was the kind of guy you wanted to hand around if you were a Christian. He had a deep love for those who did not know Jesus, and he …
Reddit Questions #1 – Prayer, beginner Bible reading, and imaginary friends
Reddit Questions #1 – Prayer, beginner Bible reading, and imaginary friends I have recently joined the throngs at Reddit (look for greggpj333), and one of the subreddits I am a member of is a place where non-believers can ask honest questions of believers. I have been active in this subreddit and wanted to publish some …
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My mother’s wedding
The devotional I gave at my mother's wedding.
The Kingdom of God Part 9: Living in the Already and the Not Yet
The Kingdom of God has not come to its full reality. Revelation 20-21 describes the Kingdom of God in its fullness. Jesus returns and sets everything to rights. There is new Creation with a new Heaven (where God’s presence dwells eternally) and a new Earth (His very good creation). The sin of our first parents damaged the connection between God’s presence and His creation. In those two chapters, God finishes the reclamation project started in Genesis and reclaims His people as His own. His people are then put in charge of this New Creation to enjoy His works eternally and steward His New Creation. But that is the “not yet.”
The Kingdom of God Part 8: The Kingdom of God is at War
The great British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge once said that "The depravity of man is at once the most empirically verifiable reality but at the same time the most intellectually resisted fact." The human condition of war is evidence of that. War involves pain. War involves sacrifice. War involves death. While war is identifiable, the pain, sacrifice, and death are the results of the kingdom of the enemy. That is what is resisted.
What does it all MEME #1 – Jesus was a Socialist, NOT!
I have a presence on social media, but I am careful with what I consume in that arena. One of the elements of social media that annoy me in particular is MEMEs. If you don’t know, a MEME is a picture or a graphic that has a short saying to make a point. Sometimes they are funny, but most times, they are profoundly annoying and terribly incorrect. Fallacies abound, and false information is ubiquitous. Therefore, I thought I would start a series breaking down some MEMEs that especially irk me. With that, let’s get to this edition’s disaster.
The Kingdom of God Part 7: The Kingdom of God is like…
So far, in this series, we have looked at the Kingdom of God from many different angles. In this edition, I want to take a look at a steam of Parables in Matthew 13 that speaks directly to the nature of the Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God Part 6: Come as a Child
My kids are grown now. Both have moved out of the house and are living lives that are independent of their parents. I am exceedingly proud of my kids and what they have accomplished in their lives. But in that pride is a bit of sorrow. I miss picking up my daughter and her beeping my nose, saying, with a laugh, “Boopies, I got you first!” I miss having deep conversations with my then four-year-old son. “Daddy, what ‘cuz the world to go in circles around the sun?” Yes, they had their times of disobedience, and they needed to be corrected from time to time. However, those memories have faded into the past. Mostly what remains are memories of happy, joyous times with my children.
The Return of the Prodigal Son
Until recently, I had never read any of Henri Nouwen’s work. I have a feeling that my choice of starting with The Return of the Prodigal Son was an excellent place to start. Nouwen’s reflections on not just the parable Jesus told in Luke 15, but also reflections on the famous painting by Rembrandt. Tying in these two elements, I was deeply challenged by Nouwen to reflect on the three main characters in the story: the younger son, the elder son, and the father.
The Kingdom of God part 5: There is only one King!
For this series on the Kingdom of God, we have seen how the Kingdom of God is something that is both now and future, that we live in the Kingdom by following Jesus’ words in the Beatitudes, that the gospel is not just when we die we go to Heaven but is centered on the work of Jesus, and that we can approach the throne of the King in prayer. This installment, I want to focus on the fact that there is only one King
Jesus Breaths: The Reception of the Holy Spirit in John 20
In John 20, Jesus does something entirely unexpected. The resurrection itself was quite surprising, but now, in the upper room, Jesus breaths on the disciples and states, “Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:22 (CSB). This essay will review the background understanding of the Holy Spirit for the Jewish disciples, exegesis of John 20:21-23 with observations and interpretations, and conclude with an application.
The Wandering Wesleyan 