Personal Reflections on the Study of God's Word

On Earth As It Is In Heaven

In: Personal Reflections on the Study of God's Word
Published:

Jesus started out the prayer with "Our Father, who is in heaven" identifying for us the center of God's dominion. Revelation 12 and Isaiah 14 remind us that due to Lucifer's rebellion he was cast down to the earth because there was no longer a place for him in heaven. With Lucifer's removal from heaven God's will is perfectly carried out within the confines of heaven - Lucifer has no power there!

Read more …

Your Will Be Done

In: Personal Reflections on the Study of God's Word
Published:

A number of years ago when I was going through a rather difficult time in my life I was introduced to a song by Jessica King titled "Keep Me In Your Will." The lyrics of this song had a profound impact on my life as it is a prayer asking God to "keep me in [His] will, so I won't be in [His] way." Sometimes my plans are NOT God's plans, and my will is NOT God's will. Two questions come to mind about this: How do I know what God's will is? and how do I stay in it?

Read more …

Your Kingdom Come

In: Personal Reflections on the Study of God's Word
Published:
When Christ came to this world as a baby the Jewish leadership knew where He was to be born. When the magi came from the east looking for Jesus they first went to Herod in Jerusalem and asked him where the baby king had been born. He sent them to the religious leaders who quickly pointed them to Bethlehem. If they knew where the messiah was to be born, why did they miss Him? Despite all of their study of the prophecies of a coming messiah they were looking for a conquering king NOT a suffering servant, born in a stable. The kingdom Jesus came to establish didn't fit with their expectations. 2,000 plus years later are our expectations any more in line with God's reality than the Jewish leaderships were? How are we in danger of missing out on the kingdom of God because we too are looking for the wrong thing?
 

Read more …

Page 2 of 4

Friday Blog

This past week has been an interesting and thought provoking week for me. Last Friday I received a phone call from Stephanie Sheehan, Dean of the School of Business at Southern Adventist University, continuing a conversation that began about three months ago. We had been dialoging about an open faculty position in the School of Business at Southern that had taken several intriguing twists and turns over the course of the months long conversation. The simple summary of the phone call on Friday was "with everything that has transpired, are you still interested in teaching at Southern." On Wednesday of this week I received an official invitation from the Academic VP's office to join the School of Business faculty. Throughout the past three months both Lisa and I have felt like every time the door seems to be closing on this opportunity God has pushed the door open again (the post from March 13 is a response to incidents that happened as part of the ongoing dialogue!) Due to the vast array of evidence that seems to point to God's direction in this matter on Wednesday evening I accepted the position.

Friday Blog

When I was younger my brothers and I would often camp beside the pond at the top of Tumbledown Mountain in Weld, Maine (unfortunately camping is now prohibited on the mountain.) Most of the time we would be the only campers on the mountain providing a peaceful solitude away from the busyness of life. We would start at the drive-in base camp located on a long dirt road off the main highway leading into Weld and hike the nearly 3 miles along the Parker Ridge trail to the top. From this bare summit we could look down on Tumbledown pond or we could look to the south and east toward Webb lake and Mt. Blue. One of the defining features of this hike was the climb through the woods to a steep ascent that lead over three succeeding rock ledges before finally ascending Parker Ridge. As you came out of the woods all you could see was the crest of the first ledge. For a first time hiker it appears you are about to reach the summit, only to be disappointed when you finally get there and discover there is another ridge. That experience was repeated two more times as you crested ledges two and three before finally reaching the (almost) summit (if you continue on the loop trail that goes around the lake you will ascend to a higher summit before descending back down through the "chimney" and "fat man's misery" - it is far better to come UP that trail rather than try to go down!) 

Resources

An interactive edition of The Great Controversy by Ellen White documenting historical references to people, places and events discussed in the book.

Order on Amazon here

Fresh Articles

Joomla! Templates by RSJoomla!