Coming to the Still Waters

Tackling the concept of "professing" Christ and "confessing" or "possessing" Christ.  I always pray to preach the deeper commitment of "confessing" Christ than a message that comes short of it.  If we confess we will be professing but we can profess without the heart change of confession. All those cold winter months of pruning apple trees with Mr. Lazaleer help this passage come to life.  So many branches needed to be taken away because they were not only not producing fruit but hindering good branches from producing more fruit.  The good branches needed yearly inspection and pruning to see greater production and therefore more glory for the tree.   I am always amazed at Jesus' use of analogies and pictures to help us see what is going on and what will happen in the future.  He also always provides an example to follow, namely Himself. Today's Wednesday in the Word covers John chapter 15 and verses 1 through 11.  Jes...

By Dennis Jarvis from Halifax, Canada - DSC_6003 - Tunnel of Love!Uploaded by Skeezix1000, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14578542 Here is the next installment in the Ezra series.  If I have the time I might as well keep up with it.  Today's is Ezra 9:1-5.  The discussion over this lesson in our Sunday Evening service was good.  We have a command from God in the Old Testament carried over in the New Testament. My first paper is sent off for grading of this semester.  For the next four weeks, it will be a paper a week on each of the Gospels.  This first one was on Mark and the irony emerged of a large narrative being about Jesus being victorious and another large narrative of the same Jesus enduring suffering.  Those two don't usually go together and it's God who makes them work because He told us that the Messiah would be both. I'm able to share here some links to the 4 sessions of the men's conference I went...

I am Canada bound for a few days.  I have the opportunity to attend a men's conference in New Brunswick, Canada at the New Brunswick Bible Institute .  The speaker will be one of my favorite, Rev. Crawford Loritts.  So I am trying to clear my desk today to be able to soak in all I can. It will also give me an opportunity to visit this school that has been so much a part of the church I am serving.  The founding pastor graduated from NBBI and later returned to teach there.  Many interns and assistant pastors came from the school to serve the church over the years.  Some of those who have grown up in this church have gone on to get their Bible education from there.  Much of practices and theology of Machias Valley Baptist Church has been shaped by this school.   I'm also thankful for a 3 hour drive with an elder of the church.  The times away from the meetings are so beneficial and I am realizing to a greater degree how import...

Here we are again.  The weather rolled in about 9 p.m. Saturday night and slated to move out this morning so some vamped services have been called for this Sunday, no Sunday School, just Morning Worship.  These types of Sundays are always interesting to see who walks through. We walk into Ezra chapter 8 and see his actions compared with another leader of Israelites, Nehemiah, who brought back to Jerusalem from Babylon workers to rebuild the wall.  There are human similarities and differences between these two but our God is constant.  These opposites will actually team up together in the next book, the priest/scribe and the cupbearer.  A little help from Rev. Kevin DeYoung, "Are you a Practical Patty or a Spiritual Suzy when it comes to faith?" I hope to post in the future about my new masters class for this spring semester.  I am thinking through my first paper, the first of 5 over the next 7 weeks.  Also, the transitional work at the chu...

Our youngest grandchild is now 1!  Here is Connor with one of his birthday presents.  We pray daily for our grandchildren to know of God's love for them through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. One more note before our study today is another event of my life that I will not post with a picture.  It was the pulling of another tooth which ended up as a surgical procedure.  I have never been punched in the jaw but I guess I know what it feels like now.  The treatment of chemotherapy for cancer does a number on the enamel of our teeth and this is a byproduct of 8 years of being able to continue on with life for God's glory!  "Consider it all joy,..." Today's Wednesday in the Word takes us farther into Jesus' conversation with His disciples around the table in the upper room.  We are covering John chapter 14 and verses 18 through 24 today. v.18-20 - “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  After a little while th...

So the New England wet winter got us this Sunday.  Hovering right at the freezing mark put the potential for hazardous driving.  I am not usually this far ahead to do this kind of thing but I was able to record the Sunday night study of Ezra chapter 7 at my desk on Saturday morning just in case.  I am so thankful for all the preachers and teachers who have come before to help us to understand this Old Testament time. We are back from our vacation trip to see family in Illinois but also back to my masters class starting tomorrow.  It is focused on the Gospels and Acts so this should be very familiar territory to me.  I have preached through Matthew, Mark and Acts, I am doing the Wednesday in the Word through John and I have preached through 18 chapters of Luke.  I am looking forward to deeper insights given by our professor. I also have the opportunity to do a "double" next Sunday.  I will be preaching the same sermon in two different place...

  About 3,000 miles round trip, 16 states, and a lot of windshield time but well worth it.  Some fun photos of Grandma and the grands and the group shot of this part of the family.  Special, in the sense that resided together for about 2+ years so one son could be in the area of work and the other could be in the vicinity of school.  We will always cherish that time together.   Today's Wednesday in the Word covers John chapter 14 and verses 12 through 17, which read, v.12 - "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father." Jesus has responded to Thomas with "I am the way, the truth, and the life."   Jesus has also responded to Philip with "The one who has seen Me has seen the Father."  Now Jesus gives full attention to all the disciples left (minus Judas Iscariot) and speaks to them about prayer and the Holy Spirit....

1432 miles (one way), 8 states (Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois), and the opportunity to connect back up with Libby and Taylor.  Worth it?  Definitely!  Thank you for your prayers as we met almost every type of weather possible.  After a few wonderful days and probably some tears to be shed then we will "rinse and repeat" the trek back to Maine!  We so cherish the time to be with our family.  These sisters are growing up so fast. Here is the first Wednesday in the Word for the year 2020!  We continue into this new year with our study of the Gospel of John, chapter 14 and verses 7 through 11, which read, v.7 - "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” Jesus has been speaking to Thomas and the rest of His disciples and gave them the definitive answer that He is  "the" way and "the" truth and "the" life and no one...