Coming to the Still Waters

  Little Hills Lake in Waushara County, Wisconsin on a very still and unseasonably warm October evening.  No fish this evening but so thankful to be on the water in this borrowed row boat with my " navigator ."  Not sure about my expression at the moment but it was not a representation of the my mood on this beautiful little lake.   Here is another from that night. Before heading into something about Sunday's sermon in 1 Peter 4, I want to post a link to a great playlist to copy and paste somewhere for future listening.  It is the newest "Together for the Gospel Live V."  Some great songs to listen to and ponder over the words of these songs so God-centered.   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kWzstsR_0JnABrvVA_74pnoPTgCSymE8s Peter keeps pouring it on to these 1st century Christians who are being heavily persecuted.  He is speaking to those who are still alive but most likely have seen some of their Christians friends a...

  It has happened to me before.  I have attempted something worthy of effort but then some opposition arose that caused me to abandon the worthy task.  I put down my tools or use them for something else (usually something more of a selfish manner) and walk away.  The longer I am away from the task the easier it gets to live with this being just the way it is.  I could make excuses why I put my tools down.  It was someone else's fault.  It wasn't the right time.  It doesn't matter much anymore.  I do some verbal and mental gymnastics to justify my inactivity. Then something or someone brings up the need to accomplish what was started worthy of effort.  It is so persistent that I finally pick up my tools again and start again on the task that is worthy of effort.  I am making progress with this new encouragement to press on but another opposition arises that could halt the process.  But, this time I do not.  Why? ...

  This has been my view from the deck as I watch the colors " pop " across central Wisconsin.  We have also been experiencing some " frosty " mornings. Here is the start of one evening in the deer blind and then comes the close of the evening with Mr. Moon making his appearance.  It was a beautiful couple of hours to be still in the sometimes hectic world that we live in.  One more picture before the sermon recap to make you smile.  Here is little Roy! Peter gives us the greatest example as he directs his readers, the 1st century Gentile Christians who are being heavily persecuted, to Jesus' very example of suffering for doing good in following His Father's will in regard to our salvation.  He then directs them to the example "way back" of Noah and the days prior to the flood.   Some say that verse 19 "...in which He went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,..." is one of the hardest verses in the New Testament to interpret.  I foun...

  Hearing this word over the last couple of years brought about many different emotions and actions.  As more mandates came, it was soon hard to follow which mandates where in effect.  Is this mandate to replace the last mandate?  Is this a mandate to add to the other mandates?   For many of us, our information bank in our minds reached the point of overflowing and some of those mandates probably got lost in the spillover.   It has been a risk to use this word in our study of 1 Peter.  Peter is giving the 1st century Gentile Christians who are being heavily persecuted some mandates for those who believe Jesus is the Cornerstone that God has placed in Zion, Chosen and Precious, as the Messiah even though man rejected Him as so.  The mandates are building with a count of 4 at this point with probably a couple more in chapters 4 and 5 but these are mandates that don't negate other previous mandates.  The mandates Peter gives build upon each...