The Power of Words

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me…” How many times did we hear that as a kids?    In our American culture, sarcasm and jesting are common.  Ever had someone make fun of you, only later to say, “Just kidding!!” According to Proverbs, words DO indeed have the power to hurt. … More The Power of Words

Drenched with the Spirit….Singing in the Rain

John Piper, in a sermon from Isaiah 44:1-5,  “A Precious Promise: The Outpouring of God’s Spirit” God promised in the eighth century BC that a day was coming when he would fill his upright servants with himself. The idea of pouring is the idea of copiousness. When we say, “It’s pouring outside,” we mean something … More Drenched with the Spirit….Singing in the Rain

“FOR US…. is not complimentary. But it is wonderfully hope-giving.”

Hebrews 9:23-28 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the … More “FOR US…. is not complimentary. But it is wonderfully hope-giving.”

The Only Answer

John Piper on Hebrews 9: So here we are in the modern age, the age of science, space travel—E-mail, heart transplants, instant replays, beepers, 911—and our problem is fundamentally the same as always: our consciences condemn us and make us feel unacceptable to God. We are alienated from God. We don’t feel good enough to … More The Only Answer

Heaping Burning Coals

Proverbs 25:21-22 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you. From the ESV Study Bible: Although interpreters differ about the meaning of the metaphor of heaping burning coals … More Heaping Burning Coals

Stop defining and limiting your future in terms of your past and start defining it in terms of your God.

John Piper, in a sermon, “Fear Not, I Am with You, I Am Your God” (Isaiah 41) When God calls you to be free from fear as you do evangelism, as you take a test, as you face an interview, as you take a stand against an unjust business practice, as you confront someone with … More Stop defining and limiting your future in terms of your past and start defining it in terms of your God.