Taking Next Steps with Jesus

Fear is a funny thing...sometimes. Doesn't that about sum it up? I find it fascinating when I hear someone tell me that they are afraid of something, and yet they want to get a closer look.  Why?  That usually has a set of humorous responses worthy of a YouTube video. I remember one of my first experiences of seeing someone truly afraid.  And it was strange. I was a small child, probably 5 or 6, and my family was at the zoo.  My brother and mom and grandma and I had come together, and we were walking into the exhibit that had the fish.  It was cool, and we were pretty engrossed with that different sizes and colors of fish that they had--huge difference from the 2 gold fish we had at home. As we were walking and chattering away, I remember seeing 2 large doors--the kind that were on hinges on the outsides, that swung back and forth when you opened them.  I remember that they were black, and thick, and each one had a small window that was taller tha...

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God  [Sin is when we break God's laws--See Exodus 20:1-17  https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ex+20&version=ESV ] 2 Corinthians 5: 21 For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 10:8-11 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);   because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.   For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.   For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”    Acts 4:10-12 [L]et it be known to all of...

This weekend we spent time discussing the odd touchpoints in the Bible of Genesis 11 and Acts 2.  The history was simply that when God created us, He gave us the freedom to be over everything that He has made.  Simply, go play, and see what we can do together.  In thinking through the ramifications of this invitation, God of the universe invites us to come and steward, to oversee, to rule over the creation...it's very difficult for my mind and heart to process that this side of the fall. To be made in God's image is more amazing than we understand--and I think that this is simply because we don't understand how awesome our God really is. Take a moment, how cool is God? -pause- All humanity fell.  The deep-six of our sin brought such an ugliness that God was sorry that He made us, and in the flood he effectively did a re-boot.  One family, by grace through faith, was saved, and the command given again--"Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth" Gen ...