“He showed himself prepared to do the will of God and reveal his Kingdom in word and deed. That’s would he sought to teach his disciples to do. That’s what we are taught to do through Word and Spirit, lamp and oil.”
Author: Jeff Ponder-Twardy
That Joy
“Jesus transcended their here and now. No disease, affliction, demonic oppression could withstand his divine power. No religious corruption could distort his lessons of grace and mercy, power and love for all. JESUS HAS COME.”
Grown Accustomed
Haggai 1: 3-6, 12 Maybe you’ve grown accustomed to how things are right now. You’ve come to grips on how life is, and you dare not hope for anything better. Maybe any effort to change things might throw your circumstances into chaos. Maybe you are content, grown accustomed to your life. I wrote in my…
Who Do You Belong to?
Matthew 22: 15-22 Caesar had his coins, and God has God’s coins, I suppose. A man asked God how long a million years was to God. God replied, “It’s just like a single second of your time.” So the man asked, “And what about a million dollars?” The Lord replied, “To me, it’s just like…
Who Would Want to Miss the Party?
Matthew 22: 1-10 A California scientist has computed that the average human being eats 16 times his or her weight in an average year, while a horse eats only eight times its weight. This all seems to prove that if you want to lose weight, you should eat like a horse. This being somewhat believable,…
The Harvest Time Has Come
Matthew 21: 33-46 There were hard times in Palestine when Jesus told this story. Hard times like when a woman in a grocery store bent over to reach some apples. Her back gave out, she froze in position, and shrieked in pain. Another shopper leaned over and with empathy in her voice said, “If you…
Ahead of Us
Matthew 21: 23-32 The pastor announced during worship there would be a meeting of the board following the service. After the benediction the group gathered for the called meeting. All looked confused when a visitor who never attended their church before joined them. “My friend,” asked the pastor, “did you understand that this is a…
God Is Generous
“Let’s celebrate. The dead ARE alive, the lost ARE found. We ALL get paid the same wage. No one is left out. No one is forgotten. The kingdom of heaven is like this.”
What Would God Do?
“The gospel story plays out with our sinless Lord dying at crucifixion, dying as a sinner, a law breaker and blasphemer, for our sakes, atoning for all sin for all time. We then plead for mercy throughout the ages, and our God forgives. Time after time after time. Century after century. Millennia after millennia.”
Don’t Lose Them
“The crux of it all remains verse fourteen: “SO IT IS NOT THE WILL OF YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN THAT ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES SHOULD BE LOST.” — NO SEPARATION. Establishing, maintaining and reconciling relationships between God and God’s people.”