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Please read Deuteronomy 6. Thank you. There is much in this chapter to consider. This chapter follows one of the sections of Scripture that list the Ten Commandments. These laws have been debated over, taken down and essentially forgotten. Some have even said that the Commandments and the Old Testament are not relevant today. They are wrong and we are seeing the proof of that in society and all over the world. In Deuteronomy 6, Israel is told to be careful to follow these commandments. They are to teach them to their children. This is to be a c...
We will be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus soon. We will also have services all week leading up to Easter. It will be a great time for the community of churches to get together and worship. This is also a good time to remember who the lord of your life is. Philippians 2:9-11 reminds us, “For this reason God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow – of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth – a...
“You are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials so that the genuineness of your faith – more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire – may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:5-7, HCSB). In this passage is found the word genuineness. Peter is referring to a person’s...
What is your state of mind? This is something to consider this time of the year. Some people may be sad, some may be happy and excited, while others are out of their minds. People may experience all of those things at some time during this holiday season. I wonder what the state of mind was for Joseph and Mary? They were forced to travel at a time of year that may not have been the best. They could not find a place to stay. Not having a place for Mary to be comfortable while giving birth...
The mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters fight in an octagon ring enclosed by fencing. It is a violent sport, if you want to call it that. It is more like what the Romans did while killing the Christians. The point that I am trying to make is that we are in a similar battle now and have been for some time. This is a spiritual battle with more permanent consequences than what the fighters deal with in the MMA. This time of year we seem to emphasize this more because of one day, that being Halloween. I will not go into a history lesson of Halloween....
There is a verse in Proverbs that I am sure most people have heard, whether you read the Bible, whether you are a believer or not. This verse deals with a characteristic of each of us that we must be careful about. Here it is, “Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). This is from a collection of proverbs written by King Solomon. If you study the life of Solomon as king of Israel you will find that he knows what he is talking about. He allowed the sin of pride and arrogance to get in the way of...
I had the privilege, with several others from my church, to see the movie “Sound of Freedom.” This was a good but difficult movie to watch. I am thankful that our movie theater showed this movie and I pray that they will continue to have the courage and boldness to show other Christian-based movies and we must support them as well. As I reflect on the experience and think about some of the statistics shared at the end of the movie, I ask myself, “What can I do or should do as a Christian?” Now, I know that I cannot go to other countri...
The following is the book of Jude: a letter that was written to a group of Christians who were being led astray. This is happening today on all levels whether that be local, state, national or worldly levels. Read it and think about what is going on in the world today. We need to be vigilant in our faith in God and his plan for us. Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James: To those who are the called, loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ. May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Dear friends, although I was...
You have heard the question, “Are you thinking what I am thinking?” A lot of times we may joke that we do not want to know what the other person is thinking. There have been stories written about thought control. In Star Trek, some alien races could sense emotion and read thoughts through touch. Many husbands and wives can know what each other is thinking. Usually, this is after a period. It is believed that identical twins know each other’s thoughts and can even feel when their sibling is in...
This month we celebrate Valentine’s Day. This is a day when we show love to those around us in various ways. Love is something that should be a part of everyday life. Is it part of your everyday life? This month at Cedar Grove we will work through the book of Ruth. This is a great book to study as we consider the many aspects of love. Two of the key themes of Ruth is kindness and redemption. Both are aspects of love that Christ showed to us and expects us to show to others. When we do not show t...
Isaiah 55:8 states, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways. This is the Lord’s declaration.” What are you thinking about? Are your thoughts pure thoughts? Holy thoughts? Are your thoughts what Jesus would think? The Christmas season has started. We have eaten the turkey and watched the football games and parade. Now we focus on the birth of our Savior. It is important to remember that Jesus came to earth to show us how to live and he came to fulfill a mission of sacrifice so we would have eternal life. Without tha...
In the beginning of the letter that Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, he states something, among many other things, that we should think about today. Romans 1:11-12: “I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong – that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith” (NIV). What does he mean here? Some might think he has the power to give spiritual gifts, but he is referring to a gift that we already have been given. One that we have the freedom to use if we chose to and make th...
Well, we have received an answer to a prayer that all of us have been praying for a while. In James 5:16 the writer states, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.” We were in agreement about the need for rain and gathered together to pray and then continued to pray without ceasing when we were alone. God heard our plea and answered. We should be thankful for what God provided. Are you truly thankful or are you disa...
We start the month of June with a reminder of the fulfillment of the promise given to the disciples, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This was what is known as Pentecost. It is wonderful to live in a time when we have God in us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As I felt the heat and the heat of the wind, except for today as I write this, I think about what the disciples must have felt when the Holy Spirit came upon them. The Spirit is something that we all have when we accept Jesus as our Savior. The question is: How much control ar...
We are approaching Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday. It is a week when we focus and meditate on the sacrifices that Jesus made for us. We read the final words and teachings that He shared to the people and the disciples during that week. We experience the love that Jesus shows without hesitation. We receive the forgiveness given freely no matter the mistakes or choices that are made. “He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing to the cross” (Co...
I have been preaching a series from the book of Haggai. I thought that I would share some of my thoughts from the message I shared this past Sunday. Especially since no one could hear what I had to say. I am going to talk about Haggai 2:4-5. “’Even so, be strong Zerubbabel’ – this is the Lord’s declaration. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jehozadak, high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land’ – this is the Lord’s declaration. ‘Work! For I am with you’ – the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. ‘This is the promise I made to you when you came...
We all have calendars that we use to keep track of events and dates. On the calendar we have birthdays of people, usually friends and relatives, for the month. It is a time to celebrate. As we get older the birthdays for some are less important and for others their birthday represents another year that they have been allowed on earth. Each day is precious but we tend to emphasize our birthdays more. This month has one birthday that is special. I’m sure that you know who’s it is. Yes, Jesus. We celebrate His birthday this month. We cel...
In the book of Numbers, we have a passage that many are familiar with but since it is in one of the least read books of the Bible we do not read it like we should. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26). This may not be a passage of Scripture that we think of this time of year. I don’t think about this passage during Thanksgiving. But as I read it I see two things from it. I see a blessing for the future and remin...
We live in a world and society of convenience. Some coffee makers make coffee in less than a minute – which is great for coffee drinkers like myself. We have a water dispenser in our house that keeps water heated so we can have instant hot water for tea or just to drink. I like to drink hot water in the evening. It's convenient. We have seen even more convenience in the last couple of years in the world. We can have food delivered to our home and we don't have to talk to the person d...
We have just finished a weekend that honors the worker or laborer. I bet some did more work in that weekend than they do during the week. Some may need a day off to recover from the long weekend. I believe that we can learn a couple lessons, maybe more, from these two verses: “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:37,38, HCSB). First, we see that Jesus says the “harvest in plentiful.” In this he is talking about those who are lost, who...
We are going to celebrate our independence this Sunday. It is great that we are doing this on a Sunday. We can celebrate our independence as a nation and we can celebrate our independence from sin because of Christ’s death on the cross. I did not find the word independence used much, only once, in the several translations of the Bible that I have. The reference that I found was referring to man and woman (1 Cor. 11:11), which is a conversation for another time. This made me think about what it means to be independent. Webster’s dictionary has...
As I observe things happening in the world today, I see this saying more and more in the lives of people, “for thee but not for me.” What does that mean exactly? It means that certain things are for others but not for myself. That could be rules and laws. It could be standards of living. What it boils down to is selfishness. We have seen this in the last year. We have had “recommendations” of how we are to live our life by people that are supposed to be authority figures or experts in a certain field, but then those same people go out and do...
Did the title catch your attention? We see more of this delicacy everywhere we go during this month. We enjoy eating chocolate this month and every other month, if we are honest. I could spend time talking about the benefits and drawbacks of chocolate but that might cause a rift in the church. I’m just kidding. I do think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Anyway, chocolate can help make a bad day good or show that we are thinking about someone. What it helps us to do is show love toward one another. This may be different kinds of love but i...
I am tired of ugliness. This world we live in has forgotten how to be kind and compassionate. I have seen so much ugliness in how we treat each other. In the name of politics, Covid or toilet paper, we have seen the ugliness of humanity. When men turned to sin, ugliness showed up. We encounter every ugly thing in this world today due to our sins and rebellion from the Lord. When you walk away from the Lord and live life how you want, you will find things quickly get ugly. Ask any addict that is surrounded by the ugliness of their sin and they...
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13). This is the last verse of what is called “The Love Chapter.” Love is what we are also thinking about this Advent. It is usually thought about during the fourth week of Advent. It’s fitting that Christmas is part of the fourth week. What a gift that we were given. Christ coming to earth to live as one of us. He endured much of what we endured. He overcame everything, even death. Because of that we have been given gifts. We have been given the...
