Friday ramblings...who God brings into your path


I love foot paths.  Seeing where the dirt trail takes me becomes an obsession to keep going on over the next hill and around the far distant corner.  Sometimes something comes across your hike like a fawn I saw the other morning or a bush overladen with ripe wild blueberries calling to be picked and eaten.  

 Life is like a foot path and I am always amazed who God brings across my life hike.  This weekend is one of those cross passing events.  Who would have known that I would get to meet a nationally known speaker named Nancy Guthrie?  Who would have known that I would get to meet the chair of the New Testament Studies of Westminster Theological Seminary named G.K. Beale and also the author of one of my required books for my upcoming online class?  

 The scary and humbling fact is that they will be listening to me preach this Sunday morning.  Put on top of that, my good friend, Jim who is also a DTS grad with a focus on the Old Testament will be among the congregation with his wife Karen.  Nothing like a little self inflicted pressure but that is the beauty of preaching the Scriptures chapter by chapter and verse by verse.  There is no question what I will be covering or how I will handle the passage and this is an opportunity to say "thanks" to them and the many that I typically learn from, from afar but this weekend they have crossed my path.

 Let me throw out to any ladies in the Machias, Maine area an invitation to join others to hear Nancy tonight, Friday the 9th, and tomorrow morning, Satruday the 10th at the Machias Valley Baptist Church.  Follow this link to gather more information.  www.machiasvalley.org

I mentioned some "notables" today who are crossing my path but I am so thankful for those God has brought in front of me and sometimes to walk with me who you wouldn't find on a Google search.  Those "know not ables" have been as instrumental or more to me in my spiritual growth than the "notables."  

 Adam

 P.S.  A big plus is that I get to hug them and be hugged by them on a more regular basis.

A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Connect a bit of Scripture with a bit of life - Spurgeon

     I heard this phrase today along with another that if you connect a bit of Scripture with a bit of life, it will end up effecting all of your life.  This came up in my study of the book of James and specifically the verses dealing with not just being a hearer of the Word but also be a doer of the Word.  It is all about application.  I can't look at preaching the Word without giving steps of applying the Word.  It really is an incomplete sermon if I don't.      Many times I think it has to be big and many points and given cute aliteration that makes it snappy and I think easy to remember and fun to write down.  Reality is, if I would make it a bit of Scripture connected to a bit of life and just that it would probably accomplish much more.  How much time I spend on the opening statement and lame joke and research and introductions and how many points and the closing statement and so little time on connecting the bit of Scripture to the bit of life.      So I guess I ha
Read more

Galatians #15 - Galatians 6:11-18 - "On The Road Again..."

Image
  Another week closer and it involves some more travel for the Wolfgangs.  I feel like the Willy Nelson song, " On the road again... "  I don't know if I agree with the next line though. " ...I can't wait to get on the road again. " One of the members of the church in Wisconsin calculated that I will travel well over 10,000 miles to make this transition.  Traveling mercies prayers please. Last Sunday we will look at Paul's final words to the churches in Galatia.  He brought them the gospel (good news) message of Jesus and what resulted were churches forming throughout the region.  The letter is to defend that message that our salvation comes from and is in Christ alone.  Christ's sacrifice on the cross was sufficient for the forgiveness of our sins.  The summary statement of the letter is found in  Galatians 6:15 (LSB) .  " For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. "  Translated another way earlier in  Ga
Read more

Sermon prep and maybe a video...

     James 4 has brought up some interesting study.  First, "the quarrels and fights among you."  Those are usually worse than you think even though we try to minimize them.  The source is simpler than you think because it is coming from within you.  The solution is easier than you think because the solution that James gives is that we need to humble ourselves before the Lord.  Any sincere resolution is specific and brief.  Beware of lengthy resolutions that usually include explaining it away or excusing some of the behavior.      As I have seen before, the words are a sign of the heart.  I read this week that if we have a critical heart we usually start by speaking evil of another to ourselves.  Then we progress to speaking evil of another to that person with a running tally in our heads of all their wrongs.  Finally, we speak evil of another to others and broadcast in a way that we are thinking that we are helping.  Giving judgment is always easier than giving mercy.  I
Read more