Leaving Laodicea

The life of Hosea is a frightening picture of how we treat God and how He must grieve over our idolatry, sin and spiritual adultery.  But it is also a wonderful picture of grace and the all-encompassing love of God.In essence, the message of Hosea is:1.  God suffers when His people are unfaithful to Him.2.  God cannot tolerate or condone sin.3.  God will never cease to love His own.4.  God will seek to win back those who have forsaken Him.But there is so much more in this Old Testament book.  Keep listening and find out more.The following is a study of Hosea 1:1-11.

When we take a close look at the life of Philip we see a man who went from reckless faith to fear and doubt.  In fact, it is a sad sight to behold.But the sobering aspect of Philip's declining faith is that many of us in the church today can relate to Philip's descent to apathy.  Remember when we were red hot for the Lord?  Remember when we wanted nothing more than to be used by Him and for His purpose?  Remember when we gave Him our lives... only to take them back again as our love for Him grew cold?I do.  And if you're honest with yourself, you probably do also.Is there something we can do to change?  Yes, there is.  Keep listening and find out more.The following is a study of the life of Philip.

The following from Hebrews 6 is probably one of the most hotly debated passages in the New Testament.  And I simply can't figure out why? For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,  if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.You know, there is more here than meets the eye.  Much more.Listen to find out what all the fuss is about.The following is a study of Hebrews 6:4-6.

Early in the book of Isaiah he states:"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple."From that moment on, everything in Isaiah's life changed.  Have you ever had an encounter with the Lord that has changed everything?  Has the Lord ever revealed Himself to you in such a way that everything this world has to offer suddenly seemed nothing more than junk or rubbish or, to quote the Apostle Paul, dung?  Have you experienced an intimacy with the Lord that dwarfs all others? If you have a stirring in your soul for something more, something deeper, in your walk with Christ... well, keep listening. The following is a study on Isaiah 6:1-8.

When we talk about the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ which, by the way, is the very gateway to the second of two great inheritances we receive from the Lord, several questions arise.One, what will be judged at the Bema Seat?Two, who will face that judgment?  Everyone?  The lost only?  Believers?Three, when will this judgment take place?Four, what is the result of this judgment?  Or, what happens if we come up short?These are many questions that, for most, demand an answer.  Want to know more?  Then keep listening. The following is a study on Inheritance and Reward in the Kingdom.

When I think of the Apostle Paul I do not think about a man who could be scared or frightened of just about anything.  Instead, I envision Paul as a man who would look danger and death in the face and proclaim that it is better to die and be with Christ than to live apart from Him.  For Paul, death was gain.But there was something that frightened Paul to the very depths of his being.  There was something that kept his behavior in check, something that became the sovereign judge of his motives and thoughts and something that kept him up at night.And it is something that never enters the mind of a Christian today.  Intrigued?  Good.  Then keep listening to find out more.The following is a study on The Kingdom.

When Bible commentators speak of the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God they usually group the two together and conclude that they are simply different names for the same, identical kingdoms.  Matthew chooses to use Kingdom of Heaven and Luke, for example, likes the phrase Kingdom of God.   But they are both talking about the same thing.Nothing could be further from the truth!The Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God are not the same.  One is the all-encompassing reality of all that God creates outside Himself and the other is a literal Kingdom where Jesus will rule on earth for 1,000 years from Jerusalem."So what does this have to do with me?" you ask.  Oh, much.  Very much.  Keep listening to find out.  The following is a study on The Kingdom.

Have you ever felt abandoned by God?  No, not abandoned to God... but abandoned, left, forsaken, forgotten by the very God you love?Often it can feel like God's Kingdom will never come, like justice will never prevail or evil vanquished.  Sometimes, in the middle of the night, it seems like the dawn will never break."How long?" oh Lord.  "How long?""This is the very question David was asking in Psalm 13 and the very question many are asking today.  How long, Lord?  How long before Your Kingdom comes?  How long before Your will be done?  How long before the reckoning?Answer:  Not much longer.  Keep listening to find out more.The following is a study on Psalm 13.

Sometimes, when the tides of life turn against us, the church sounds like the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz:  "Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the "ape" in apricot? What have they got that I ain't got?" Answer:  Courage!Do you have courage?  Enough courage?  Overcoming courage?  If not, then keep listening.The following is a study on Spiritual Warfare.

Living in our culture we sometimes feel that we are the most blessed and beautiful people God ever created.  "After all," we reason, "we will just make heaven brighter by being there."  Really?But then David, a man after God's own heart, reveals this about himself:Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.Wow.  So much for positive thinking, David.  But, could he be on to something?  Does David have the correct picture of mankind?To find out, keep listening.The following is a study on Psalm 51:2-6.