Author Archives: betransformed78

And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: “O LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the wordsContinue reading “That They May Know”

How Close? How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD. How blessed are those who observe his testimonies, who seek him with all theirheart. Psalm 119:1-2 NAS In my years of ministry I have often been asked, although not always in these exact words, “as a Christian,Continue reading “How Close?”

My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end. Psalm 119:112 NIV Someone says, “Suppose your Christian faith is a delusion. Suppose you close your eyes for the last time and that’s all there is. Think of all you will have missed because you stuck to all those stupid rules.” Missed? Yes,Continue reading “Missed Chances”

“O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this, your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was bcupbearer to the king.                                             Nehemiah 1:11 ESV            Continue reading “A Leader’s Prayer”

The Apostle John tells us that there are three great lies about life, and three great corresponding truths. Lie #1 You’ve been a good person (or at least better than most other people) and you don’t need Jesus Christ to come into your life with forgiveness. 1 John 1:10 Lie # 2 You can beContinue reading “Lies and Truths”

One hears a good deal about values these days. But the emphasis is quite regularly on “my values” or “your values” or “their values.” That is, each of us chooses what is important to us, and whatever each of us chooses is just as significant and “valuable” as what anyone else might choose. That is,Continue reading “Values”

Who considers the power of your anger? Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.  So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart. Turn, O LORD! How long? Have compassion on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that weContinue reading “The Wrath of God”

Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you would only listen to me!          Psalm 81:8 NLT Psalm 81 seems frighteningly appropriate for America in these days.  What does it say? “Praise Yahweh who has saved you – don’t go after some alien god!” What is theContinue reading “O That You Would Listen”

But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him. Habbakuk 2:20 ESV Not only is applause an expression of pent-up emotion, it is also a way of expressing appreciation for some performance that we especially appreciate, either for its excellence, or because we want to encourage someone whoContinue reading “Applause in Worship 2”

One of the consequences of the rootage of current Christian worship practices in the rock concert is the increasing prominence of applause in worship. I would like to suggest that applause is never appropriate to Christian worship, particularly the egregious “Yes, let’s give God a hand.” Where does this instinct for applause come from? InContinue reading “Applause in Worship 1”