Diggin' Wells, Tellin' Lies - Genesis 26

Part of our series "Land of the Giants" on the patriarchs...



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Portraits of Doubt & Faith

Taken from Luke 1, this Sun am teaching considers the different responses of Zacharias & Mary to an angelic message of a miraculous birth & how that relates to us.

"Forsaking Mercy"

Does God withhold mercy or do we forsake it? Check the vlog on Jonah 2:8 & find out!

"Forsaking Mercy" from scott mills on Vimeo.

The Gathering 4/14/10 "Dealing with Disappointment"

Sorry the audio is a little cruddy on this, but here's a look at dealing with disappointment with Zacharias & Elizabeth as a back drop (includes a video of Micah wrestling that didn't come thru' real well on this vid, but was great live!!!)

Sun AM "Taking It In Hand" fr Luke 1

Here's the video from this last Sunday. It looks at Luke's unique portrait of Jesus & how God used who Luke was, where he'd been, and the gifts God had given him to uniquely bless & build the body. This teaching also takes a look at the spiritual gifts & giftings found in Romans 12, 1 Cor 12 & Eph. 4.

Easter Sunday

Here's the vid from Easter Sunday...featuring a surprise appearance from a "king" of sorts & 3 stupid guys!

3rcf Good Friday Service - 4/2/10

This Good Friday teaching takes an in-depth look at Psalm 22 and the prophecies Jesus' crucifixion fulfilled, with an emphasis on verse 6: "I am a worm and no man..."

Wed Pm Thru' the Bible Study, March 31, 2010 - Mark 15-16

this video encountered some technical difficulties...computer was plugged into a power strip, but the power strip switch was in the "off" position...video ends when the laptop battery dies ;)

thanks for your patience with out learning curve!!!!

Video from Sunday's Teaching

"Staying Connected" Luke 19:28-44:

This Palm Sunday teaching looks at how we long to be connected to something bigger than ourselves, but how we need to make sure that connection is heading in the right direction. Includes a look at the amazing prophecies in Daniel 9 & Zechariah 9 concerning the coming of Messiah.

wed night thru' the Bible vid is up - Mark 14 everybody!!!!

VLOG #2: "Where the Good Stuff Is"

VLOG #2: "Where the Good Stuff Is" from scott mills on Vimeo.

"Oh Ten!" Part 10 - Don't Covet (Ex. 20:17)

Here's video from Sunday Mornings Teaching: "Oh, Ten!" Pt 10: Don't Covet

Footage also includes the fellowship singing happy birthday to Josiah (live & in person), Max Richardson, & Kenny Bryant (over the phone).

Enjoy!!

"Oh, Ten!" Pt 10 - Ex. 20:17 - Don't Covet from scott mills on Vimeo.

VLOG #1: "Life is in the Tongue" Prov. 18:21

Check out Vlog #1 & tell me what you think! Chime in everyone!

Vlog #1: "Life is in the Tongue" - Proverbs 18:21 from scott mills on Vimeo.

cleaning out the clutter

Jesus = brutal...

not something we generally associate with Jesus, the gentle Shepherd.

but brutal He was when He cleansed the Temple in Mark 11...overturning tables, scattering shekels, sending dove cages flying, even acting as a crossing guard - letting no one w/ goods take a short-cut through the temple to a different part of Jerusalem.

He said: "You've made it a den of thieves!"

God said: "You should make it a house of prayer - for all nations."

Jesus seemed to have to have two issues with what was going on:

1. commerce (there was ill-gotten gain goin on, according to Josephus)
   
2. short-cuts

so He dealt with both.

He cleansed the temple...He cleaned house...He set up a road blocks...

...He got rid of the clutter...

so that...the temple could be a place of communion, not commerce.

He wants to do the same thing today for you & me. He's wanting to clean house, clear clutter...but why?

let me suggest two reasons:

it's about: //1 His Design

//2 His Desire

He's designed us to need and want communion with Him, tho' we have a tendency grab hold of things that clutter up the courts.

amazingly, He also desires communion with us! us - with all our foibles, faults & failures. Creator-King desires fellowship & communion with His creation-subjects.

we need it - He desires it.

so when clutter starts doing its thing (cluttering & clogging), He starts doing His thing (cleaning & clearing). and He was brutal. no mercy for the clutter...but it was sweet mercy for the temple. if temples could sigh relief, no doubt it did that day! so will the temple of our hearts when open the door to the king of glory...that He may come in and commune with us.

what's clutter? it's anything (typically of the material, temporal realm) that clogs the flow of fellowship and communion with Jesus. it could be our toys (like cars, guitars, houses, etc), our pride in our job, our hobbies or activities, or even our busy-ness with good things like church, ministry, or service. basically, it's anything that stands in the way of enjoying our relationship with our Lord.

so, don't be shy - let Jesus be brutal with your clutter: the temple of your heart will breathe a mercy-filled sigh of relief.

What Makes "Good" Soil Good?

(from Sunday's teaching on Mt. 13, btw)


farmers & scientific types tell us that soil good for growing crops (often called "loam") contains a mixture of

1. clay (40%)
   
2. sand (40%)
   
3. silt (20%)
   

clay helps retain moisture;
sand helps release moisture;
silt is the result of water or rock grinding out just about everything but the really fine flour-like particles of soil ("dust in the wind" - thank you, Kansas).

our lives likewise must retain (hold fast) certain things, release (turn loose) certain things, and mix in certain things.

what i see the Scripture telling us to hold fast to (retain) is:

1. the Word (1 cor 15:2)
   
2. our Hope (1 tim 6:12)
   
3. His Name (rev 2:13)

what i see the Scripture telling us to turn loose of (release) is:

1. the early stuff (heb 6:1)
2. every weight (heb 12:1)
3. the sin (heb 12:1)

what i see the Scripture telling us about mixing in is

1. it's all good (rom 8:28)
2. He's making something out of us (1 pet 2:5)

ok, that's my $.02. what else do you see the Lord telling us to lay hold of, turn loose of, & mix into our lives?


chime in!

Susan Boyle - Loving Mercy

perhaps you've already seen the clip of susan boyle, the 47-year old singer who stunned the audience & judges (notably simon cowell) on "britain's got talent" - the UK version of "american idol."

she was getting zero love from the judges & audience until she began to sing - jaws dropped, eyebrows were raised, and soon the audience was on its feet.

here's the clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk

i'm struck by a couple of things...

first - human nature is so piggish - no one cared about her until they saw what she could do. it's as if she really wasn't a person of worth until people saw she had great vocal talent. then, and only then, was she "worth" something. i'm so glad the Lord is just the opposite, aren't you? he values us, sees us as worth something - not because of what we can do, but rather, in spite of it.

second, Micah 6:8 tells us that God wants us to "love mercy." oh, we all love mercy when we are on the receiving end (as in when the officer says he/she is letting us off with a warning!). but giving out mercy (the Bible often translates the same word as love) is another story.

when susan boyle stepped out on stage, she got no love - no mercy from anyone. i'm not sure any of us would have been any different had we been in the audience. i'm sure most of us would have been rolling eyes & shrugging shoulders with simon & the audience.

the point is this, growing up in the Lord means that we need to grow in loving to show mercy - just get it. how to do that? 1) ask for His help & 2) go out & practice it!

"Crown of Thorns" Galaxy - (Hubble Picture)

the hubble space telescope has just given us this image - called, appropriately, the "Crown of Thorns" galaxy...



from foxnews (article here):

An unusual large galaxy with a shape bordering between spiral and elliptical has been spotted by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

NGC 7049 sits in the southern constellation Indus, and is the brightest of a cluster of galaxies, a so-called Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG). Typical BCGs are some of the oldest and most massive galaxies, which provide excellent opportunities for astronomers to study the elusive globular clusters lurking within.

The halo, a ghostly region of diffuse light surrounding the galaxy, is composed of myriads of individual stars and provides a luminous background to the swirling ring of dust lanes surrounding NGC 7049's core.

Small faint points of light sprinkled throughout the galaxy represent globular clusters, which are gravitational groupings of several hundreds of thousands of stars. They contain some of the first stars to be produced in a galaxy.

NGC 7049 has far fewer such clusters than other similar giant galaxies in very big, rich groups. This indicates to astronomers how the surrounding environment influenced the formation of galaxy halos in the early universe.

Hubble captured this image using its Advanced Camera for Surveys, which is primed to hunt galaxies and galaxy clusters in the remote and ancient universe. The space telescope recently imaged a group of colliding galaxies chosen in an online voting contest.

Psalm 19:1-3 "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.

Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard."

jonah found a boat

jonah found a boat to take him the opposite direction the Lord had asked him to go.

isn't that always the case? any time we run away from God, it's amazing how a boat (ie, a relationship, a substance, an activity) will be waiting to take us there.



but jonah also found something else: there was a price to be paid for hiring that vessel. running away from God always comes with a price. relationships fail & bring heartache, substances imprison, activities become expensive & empty.

haven't we found that running to God is always better than running from Him?

learning to fly...

...but i ain't got wings...

comin' down...is the hardest thing."

that would be Tom Petty, folks. And speaking of doing dangerous things (see previous post), how 'bout this vid of B.A.S.E. Jumping w/ a wing suit...hold your breath - it's better than disneyland!

(*sorry - there is some brief profanity at the end that i didn't catch when i posted this - mute if needed.)

i think we've all had dreams of flying - to wake up grabbing the bed to break our fall.

something tells me God embedded that in our dna - to long to fly, to experience life above terra firma. i'm just about fully convinced that in our heavenly bodies we'll be equipped to explore the cosmos at very very fast speeds - but without the need for wing suits...or parachutes! just think: perhaps being free from the gravity of the world will apply to us in more ways than one!