Posts Tagged ‘Ephesians’
Counterculture of Love
You hear it all the time. We’re supposed to be counterculture as Christians. We’re not supposed to be like the world. Yet, we spend most of our time being ‘just like’ the world when it comes to our personal relationships. Brethren, putting away falsehood, let every one speak the truth with his neighbor, for we…
Read MoreGreatness Comes from Struggle
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Anything worth having doesn’t come easy.” This saying attributed to Zig Ziglar, captures a profound truth about life. We cannot expect great things to happen unless we work hard. Nothing is more true when it comes to our salvation. In those days, there was a disciple at Damascus named…
Read MoreChildren of God
We all come from someone. We all have a mother and father, though sometimes we may be estranged from them. As adults we remember what it ‘was like’ being children. I think maybe that is why we don’t understand what it means to be children of God. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the…
Read MoreKnow Your Place
There is a place for everyone in the Church. That place is not just in the pews, but in the ministry of the Church. Nobody can do everything, but everybody must do something. If the ministry of Christ depended upon only the clergy, the Gospel would never spread. BRETHREN, grace was given to each of…
Read MoreAre You Growing?
I’m sure we can all agree that learning and growing are good things. It would be extremely difficult to survive in the modern world with only a kindergarten education. If we aren’t learning, we cannot grow. If we are not growing, then ultimately, we are dying. Brethren, we are no longer to be children, tossed…
Read MoreThings Will Be Better
There is a malaise over the town after our doubleheader hurricane. Many are still digging out after record floods. Others are ‘back to normal’ on the outside but shouting on the inside. How much worse can it get? What’s next? These are natural questions after disaster. Brethren, to me, though I am the very least…
Read MoreThe Household of God
Our host parish in Tarpon Springs was in the throngs of a doubleheader hurricane in the past three weeks. At one point I was forced to evacuate my home with my family for a safer place to ‘ride out the storm’ before returning home. Leaving, wondering if you will return is emotional. Returning home is…
Read MoreAll Things Under His Feet
For many years I have struggled with the idea that God is ‘in control’ as if He was playing some sort of game with humanity. “God did…God placed…God chose…” These are expressions of power, not love. God is in control, but He doesn’t play chess. God’s control is based on love. Brethren, God has put…
Read MoreFatherhood and Faith – A Divine Partnership
“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence.” (1 Timothy 3.2-5) Summer…
Read MoreCreated for Good Works
One of my least favorite sayings is, “God has a plan for you.” It makes it sound as if we have no free will in the relationship. It makes it sound like we have ‘only one thing’ to accomplish in this life. It is true that God has a plan for us, but the plan…
Read More