Coming to the Still Waters

Today we start a new book of the Bible.  It is going to be The Gospel According To John.  I hope someday to preach through this book in a more formal way as I have for Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts but I think this will be a great way to prepare for that future event.  We will look at the history and outline of the book this morning and I am thankful for study Bibles that give us so much background information. "The Gospel According To John"  was originally just  "According To John"  and the  "The Gospel"  was added later to the title.  This Gospel is thought to be written after the other three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke referred to as the Synoptic Gospels.  This Gospel fills in a lot of gaps that the other three Gospels fly past and also give more background details that help us to get an even fuller picture of the life of Christ.  The Gospel According To John is thought to be written around 80 to 90 A.D. so 50 y...

It was in the fall of 1975, 43 years ago that I made a journey from the third pew in the overflow section to an oak altar at the front of the Turner Free Methodist Church.  The visiting evangelist was a very young Lane Loman.  It is his birthday today and I came across this video cast of him preaching today, 43 years later and still proclaiming the gospel.  I am so thankful for this man and his fervor for the Lord.  I have found out that he is in a neighboring state this next month and I think I need to take a road trip to thank him in person one more time for being so dedicated to Christ to travel this country proclaiming His name! You will find four sermons of his here:  https://salemfields.com/podcast# Adam Here is a picture of his father who was also a traveling evangelist. One last shot of what Lane looked like 43 years ago when he rolled into Turner, Michigan, population 150 and on the outskirts of town was the Wolfgang family an...

In a previous church I started the practice of preaching through whole books of the Bible, chapter by chapter and verse by verse.  I think this is one of the best decisions I have ever made in the ministry.  In the morning preaching session I covered the book of Acts and also the book of Matthew.  When coming to my present church I extended this practice to Sunday evening, Wednesday evening, and my morning devotional e-mails.  On the Sunday mornings have I went through the book of Titus, Nehemiah, Ephesians, Mark, and I am currently in the book of Luke, chapter 11.  I keep looking at John and want to handle this last Gospel in the morning preaching sessions in the future in a more formal way but wondering if I should venture into it during my devotional e-mails as prep for that possible future event.  So I think that is what I am going to do starting on Wednesday.  I am so thankful for this opportunity to cover so much of the Bible in a short amount...

Today's devotional is the final in a series on prayer.  The focus today is vision.  So we have gone through harvest, tarry, unity, love, contrition, confidence, agreement, and now vision.   2 Chronicles 16:8 and 9 says, Were not the Cushites and Libyans a vast army with many chariots and horsemen?  When you depended on the LORD, He had handed them over to you.  For the eyes of the LORD roam throughout the earth to show Himself strong for those who are wholeheartedly devoted to Him.  You have been foolish in this matter.  Therefore, you will have wars from now on.    There was a time when the people of God depended on the Lord.  There was a time when they were wholeheartedly devoted to Him.  There was also a time when they stopped being dependent and a time when they were not wholeheartedly devoted.  God calls these actions of not being dependent and not being devoted to God as being foolish.  When o...

Here is the latest edition of "Down To The River" aired on WLPO 103.9 FM from Oglesby, Illinois.  I was able to make a broadcast about the "Oreo Construct" that I posted here previously.  It seems to be a lesson to learn again in our world that goes to the extremes to make a point but really doesn't accomplish it.  These extreme efforts bring more confusion, heartbreak, and division.  Our hearts go out this morning for those suffering in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  --Adam--

Today we look at some more verses dealing with prayer.  Our prayer focus is that of agreement and having soundness and solidarity.   Our first passage is Exodus 24:3 which reads, Moses came and told the people all the commands of the LORD and all the ordinances.  Then all the people responded with a single voice, "We will do everything that the LORD has commanded." I want you to notice what the people of God have unity in.  They have unity in the Lord but it is seen in being obedient to His commands and ordinances.  It is not a unity based just on our words or the shaking up and down of our heads but with our very actions to show authenticity to what we say.  The unity of all helps each individual of the group to walk in a way glorifying God.  Unity and accountability go hand in hand or unity requires there to be accountability to keep the unity.  It is one of the highlights of my Sunday mornings when I hear the congregatio...

To those who are following our lives and the transition we are making,  I came across this video from a local television news broadcast about Interim Pastor Ministries serving a church that was losing its pastor because of cancer.  It gives a good picture of what we might be doing in the near future.  --Adam-- p.s.  When following the link there are three different short videos of this story.   https://www.ksfy.com/content/news/Discovery-Church-in-Yankton-remembers-Pastor-Jon-Cooke-492558531.html

Today we continue our devotionals on prayer.  We have prayed for workers for the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  We have learned about tarrying in prayer.  We have seen the need to continue to pray for unity and also for love, an increasing love for God and for each other.  Last time we found ourselves on our knees before God in a prayer of contrition, that of sorrow and submission.  We venture into prayers of confidence today.  Let's look at some more of God's scriptures to us and start with Isaiah 30:15, which reads, "For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said:  'You will be delivered by returning and resting; your strength will lie in quiet confidence.  But you are not willing.'" Observe here the confidence of God and also the unwillingness of the people of God to accept this message from Him.  God is going to bring them back and they are not going to just return but they are going to return to a place...

Another conference was attended this last weekend which was actually a repeat of a session I attended about a year ago.  Sometimes it is very helpful to come again to the same material and even this time with the same presenter.  I found myself in a different church with the same presenter and the same material but definitely a different response by the hosting church. The presenter was from SonLife and the material used is called 4 Chair Discipling.  This is a resource that I will definitely use in the future in upcoming interim work as I have used some of it in the present church I am in.  The difference was that a year ago I was sitting in a church that was hearing something that was a reinforcement of what was already going on.  This time, a year later, I am in a church that the material was so very foreign.  Actually, there was some push back to the challenge of the Great Commission given by our Lord Jesus Christ to go and make disciples.  I ...

Today's devotional and the next 3 will be about prayer.  I will also take this time to be praying about our next book to walk through during our devotional times.  We have looked at prayer in regards to the harvest, to the practice of tarrying, its importance to maintain unity, and being driven by our love for God and one another.  Today we will look at prayer in light of contrition.  How does prayer help us to have proper sorrow and submission?  Let's look at some relevant scriptures.  The first is Psalm 34:15-18, which reads, "The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry for help.  The face of the LORD is set against those who do what is evil, to remove all memory of them from the earth.  The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and rescues them from all their troubles.  The LORD is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in spirit." We have a contrast between the treatment of the rig...

Good Sunday morning all.  It is a crisp fall morning here is north central Illinois.  I am in my office with my fleece still on getting ready for another great Sunday at OUC!  An update to the transition is that I have completed the paperwork to be under a mission organization so that supporters can give to us in the venture of serving churches that are in transition.  We desire to see churches be strengthened to refocus on the Great Commission given by Jesus.  I hope you have a great day and here is the radio spot from this morning on WLPO.  Jesus continues to talk to His disciples and us about prayer and uses a little story to get His point across.  --Adam--

Today's verses are Zechariah 14:16-21.  We finish the book of Zechariah today and next week we will take a break to look further at prayer and its importance. v.16 - Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. Sometimes to make sense of passages like we are experiencing in the book of Zechariah is to attach it to a view of future events.  The 1000 year reign of Christ, called the Millennium, will have those who believe in Christ and those who do not, those left that went against Jerusalem.  During this time there will be festivals and journeys to Jerusalem to worship the Lord of hosts.  This will be a requirement of all those in this 1000 year reign of Christ.   v.17-19 - And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LOR...