I grew up on a farm and the image of a stalk of wheat is a familiar and strong one for me. This photo was taken in New Brunswick on a trip to visit friends a few summers ago. Tonight at church we watched a DVD of John Wimber teaching on the cost of commitment. The concepts of faithfulness and commitment are not popular these days; instead, self-realisation and fulfilment and getting in touch with how we feel have become much more valued as guiding forces in our lives. However, if we want any of the good stuff in our lives to multiply and stick around after even after we are gone, we must be prepared to die and plant it again, to give it up and start from the beginning over and over again, every time God asks it of us. Learning never stops, and new growth always requires new starts. Only God can make something that is truly eternal and of lasting importance. Let your legacy be in the hands of one who can make it more that you could ever imagine.
The Hebrew word "YHWH" (read from right to left) This past Sunday I gave a talk on the Names of God, the beginning of a series on this topic. This first talk was to be a gentle introduction so I thought it wouldn't take too many hours of preparation. Well, I quickly discovered that the research is almost bottomless; every time I thought I had a somewhat definitive list of names, I found another source which added a few more or gave a different twist on some of the names I had already come across. After several hours I was getting overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data (and that was only looking at the Hebrew Bible). I wondered how I could present this to people in an orderly and accessible fashion and within a reasonable time frame. Not everyone is up for a 3-hour lecture crammed full of detail on a Sunday morning. So I took a break and spent a bit of time meditating on this problem and asking the Spirit for guidance. And then I thought that being overwhelmed by Go...
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