Taking Next Steps with Jesus

Hello this is Eric again.  A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?”  So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.  (Read the previous blogs here ) Malachi 3:1 says, “‘Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,’ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” Someone is coming.  When that person comes, you will know that the time is near.  God said so. Do you like playing ‘Hide-and-Seek?’  What is it that you like about the game?  Do you like counting with your eyes closed and listening to people run and whisper, or do you like to hide, and try not to giggle when you look at your friends hiding spot?  Do you like to search, and see if you can find someone, and try and make them laugh and gi

Hello this is Eric again.  A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?”  So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.  (Read the previous blogs here ) Sometimes we need to just stop.  To stop and think.  To stop and take a deep breath.  To stop and allow God to re-align our hearts with His—to make sure we are going where He wants us to go.  And, sometimes, God needs to stop us and do this for us—this is called discipline. Zechariah was in a 9 month stop.  Last time we talked about him, he had doubted whether or not God was really big enough to do what He said He would do.  Zechariah hasn’t been able to talk for these past 9 months, and his son has been born.  In Jewish culture, on the 8th day, their son would be circumcised and named, and everyone had their opinion on what the boy should be called—they wanted to name him after dad, Zechariah Jr.  Elizabeth sa

Hello this is Eric again.  A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?”  So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.  (Read the previous blogs here ) How do we respond when God invites us on this Gospel Driven Disciplemaking Adventure with Him?  What should we expect when we begin to follow God on this journey?  The Bible has much to say about this topic, but since we are talking about Mary, let’s look at the first leg of her journey in Luke 1:39-45, “A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth.  At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, ‘God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed.  Why am I so honored, that the mother of

Hello this is Eric again.  A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?”  So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.  (Read the previous blogs here ) When God comes and invites us to walk with Him and join Him on His amazing adventure of faith, we can respond with a yes or a no.  There isn’t an in-between.  We like to tell ourselves that there is, but in reality the middle ground is a no.  This is what the Pharisees were known for.  They set up rigid and detailed rules, and high and lofty goals that they had to attain; But, they were still making God into their own image, and treating Him like an idol by doing this.  If I do thus and such, I am good.  Some call this “being religious.”  Others might call this “hypocrisy.”  Both titles fit.  There are good intentions, but the ultimate end is to simply contain God in a box and have Him in our lives on our

Hello this is Eric again.  A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?”  So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.  (Read the previous blogs here ) The Christmas story, which seems so familiar, has a richer plot line than the 15 minute nativity skit can address on a Christmas Eve evening service.  The heartbeat of this plot line is a God who gives His word, and then keeps it, and we can trust Him to do so.  This is what we celebrate at Christmas.  Yet, people are…weird.  I know, I resemble that statement too—but we are, and we respond differently to Christmas.  Think about it… Who is the “Year-Round-Christmas-Planner” in your life?  You know them.  They are the ones who have to go shopping the day after Christmas to begin planning for next year.  They are the ones with a specific line-item in their budget for each person on their Christmas list, and they c

Hello this is Eric again.  A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?”  So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.  (Read the previous blog here ) Matthew 2:19-23 says, “When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.  ‘Get up!’ the angel said. ‘Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.’  So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother.  But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee.  So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: ‘He will be called a Nazarene.’” OK, this one was a new one for me and I’m excited to share what God’s taught me

Hello this is Eric again.  A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?”  So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.  (Read the previous blogs here ) We have been walking through the story of the Israelites with our kiddos this past season.  The whole story of God’s rescue of Israel is truly amazing.  Today we are used to special effects, and a surround sound experience—but even that doesn’t compare to God showing up and “flexing His pinky finger” and displaying His glory.  Egypt was THE world superpower.  They had the most powerful army.  The strongest economy—thanks to the Nile river overflowing it’s banks annually.  Egypt was the intellectual powerhouse—consider their architecture, and writing, and medicine—and, Egypt was the spiritual power.  Pharaoh was considered a ‘god’ by their culture, and the magicians were able to perform with demonic power.

Hello this is Eric again.  A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?”  So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.  (Read the previous blogs here ) There is one part of the Christmas story that I don’t know any songs for.  I don’t think anyone has ever penned a rhyme that will remind us of this part of the story, and I don’t think that I’ve seen a Christmas pageant highlight it either.  But, God does—He even gave a prophecy to let us know that this was going to happen—and we must ask why.  Jeremiah 31:15 says, “This is what the Lord says: ‘A cry is heard in Ramah—deep anguish and bitter weeping.  Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted—for her children are gone.’” And, Matthew 2:13-18 tells the story of the fulfillment of this prophecy, "When it was time to leave, they [the wise men] returned to their own country by another

Hello this is Eric again.  A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?”  So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.  As we are looking at some of the fascinating parts of the story of Jesus’ birth—the Christmas Story—and searching for the fingerprints of God’s Prophetic word; the story of the Magi (or Wisemen) stands out as a complex and intriguing example of God’s handiwork that is full of prophecy.  My hope is that this excursion will give us a picture of the thoughtful care and loving precision that God has invested in His Redemption plan—and that will grow our faith and help us to know that the Bible is true. (Read the previous blogs here ) Who doesn’t love getting and giving gifts!  Where did this come from?  If your mind went to the Magi who visited Jesus, you’d be close.  Yes, they certainly bring gifts to Jesus, but it isn’t where we get the id

Hello this is Eric again.  A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?”  So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.  (Read the previous blogs here ) The front end of the Magi’s story is filled with wonder and amazing faith.   But, there is a part of the story that the Bible spills much ink over, and yet, we by-pass it as quickly as we can—probably because we can too easily relate (if we were honest with ourselves).   Jealousy and hatred, lying and violence, pain and fear.  A king who’s insecurity drives him to madness.  Why is this included in the story of Christmas?  Because our lives are marred by these very things.  How many of us find Christmas to be a season where instead of joy and family, we find ourselves stirred up with jealousy because we cannot have what someone else has?  How often do we nurse anger over old hurts, or allow insignificant inconve

Hello this is Eric again.  A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?”  So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.  (Read the previous blogs here ) As we are looking at some of the fascinating parts of the story of Jesus’ birth—the Christmas Story—and as we are searching for the fingerprints of God’s Prophetic word; the story of the Magi stands out as a complex and intriguing example of God’s handiwork.  My hope is that this excursion will give us a picture of the thoughtful care and loving precision that God has invested in His Redemption plan—and that, will grow our faith. Walking with God certainly is a journey isn’t it.  There are verses in the Bible that we breeze by, just by the nature of the medium—a book—But, it would do us well to stop and consider the powerful significance and implications that they have for us today. “Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer,

Hello this is Eric again.  A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?”  So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.  (Read the previous blogs here ) There are a number of fascinating parts to the story of Jesus’ birth, but the story of the Magi is one that stands out in my mind as a complex and intriguing example of God’s handiwork—And this story gives us a picture of the thoughtful care and loving precision that God has invested in His Redemption plan. Since this story is so involved, I want to take the time to look at it from a couple of different angle’s—let me begin with the Magi. How many Wisemen came and worshiped Jesus?  You said three, didn’t you—nope.  The Bible doesn’t tell us how many there were.  The song “We Three Kings” says three, but the Bible just says Magi came from the east.  Who were these Magi?   Why did they come?  How did they know wh

Hello this is Eric again.  A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?”  So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.  (Read the previous blogs here ) Isn’t it fascinating to watch people during the Christmas season.  Oh, I’m not just talking about the folks in the stores—although they offer a rich set of material for future illustrations.  I’m truly fascinated watching leaders during the Christmas season—especially those in politics. For most of the year I watch politicians as they navigate the minefield of their arena’s, looking for ways to engage and influence for and with those around them.  There are the party line’s that need to be pushed for; and, the personal projects that they promised to honor when elected.  There are the obligatory talking head moments, and the negotiating while connecting with others who may or may not hold to their points of view