Bible – Page 5 – Pathway Journey

September 1, 2022September 1, 2022

Yesterday’s Door is Shut!

Regret is a bad dream on a never-ending replay loop. I think most of us have some of those past events or choices of which we regret. “I wish I hadn’t done that!” or “I wish I would have made a better choice there!”

I know this is a rhetorical question, but I must ask it anyway, “Can we go back and change it?” Of course, the answer is an emphatic, “NO!” There is nothing we can do to change the decision or the action of the past. That door is shut and cannot be opened.

August 9, 2022August 9, 2022

Mindset of Jesus

Why do you think like that? We all have a pattern or direction of thought. Our minds are directed from something and directed to something. We all have a worldview, meaning our thinking is based on a set of principles or from a certain standpoint.

In Paul’s letter to the Philippian Church, he encouraged them to have the “mind of Christ”. If we think that having the mind of Christ is a far jump for us, consider that the Greek word in Philippians is a verb meaning to be minded in a certain way. It is like having our thinking oriented like Jesus or the direction of our thoughts and life is like Him.

July 27, 2022July 27, 2022

When the King Moves In

Jimmy Carter was president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. He was a peanut farmer from Georgia, and he tried to be a little folksy relating to the common man. I remember a few details of his trip to California where he wanted to stay in a private home instead of a fancy hotel. [This blog is not about Jimmy Carter, please read to the end!]

July 14, 2022July 13, 2022

True Conversion

If I remember the story correctly, a man in conversation with the famous evangelist D. L. Moody, pointed to a drunken man on the street and said, “Moody, isn’t that one of your converts?” Moody replied, “Yes, that looks like one of my converts.” Implying that the work of man does not change an individual but only a true work of grace by Christ can convert.

June 23, 2022June 22, 2022

Tag Along With Me to Jail

I have been involved in local jail ministry for the most part of thirty years. It is not glorious work. It is not scary as some might think. I have never felt threatened and most of the guys are usually respectable and appreciative.

The jail we visit is set up like a dormitory with bunks on two sides and tables in the middle. Lately, our jail ministry team has been alternating weeks and I have been going alone twice per month.

There is nothing fancy of what we do. No fanfare, no bells and whistles. Just an old buzzard of a preacher telling the story of Jesus to a bunch of jail birds.

June 3, 2022June 3, 2022

Disappointment

I suppose disappointment is a human condition that affects us all. We often wallow in the disappointment in ourselves and boil over our emotions in the disappointment of others.

There is a portion of scripture I often default to in times of disappointment that shakes me back into reality. It is in Proverbs 13:12a (NKJV), “Hope deferred makes the heart sick…” My paraphrase is, “Expectations not met, breaks the heart.”

May 7, 2022June 23, 2022

The First Woman’s First Day (Mother’s Day)

The fellowship of Adam with God was complete. His worship of God was flawless. This was why he had been created. Mankind was the reason God had created this lush, verdant creation called Earth.

God so desired to bring all of mankind from one created being, all people would be of one blood. In Adam was all who were ever be conceived. He was the complete creation formed and brought forth by God. Through him, all others would come forth from his genetic pool.

May 3, 2022May 1, 2022

Suffering and the Kingdom

I remember some of the old timers from our valley and ridges talking about folks who were going through difficult times and using the rhetorical phrase, “I don’t know how they have ‘walkin’ around sense?”

That’s the truth. When you look at the suffering of some folks, you think, “How do they keep their senses about them?” I am amazed how some people go through horrific things and seem to weather the storm with supernatural strength. Well, it is with supernatural strength. God gives the that extra “Umph!” to get them over the line.

March 30, 2022March 30, 2022

Old Men

I remember when I was a boy looking at old men in wonderment. They were either my grandfather or someone else’s grandfather. I knew my granddaddy was once a farmer and he still dabbled with farming. He helped my Daddy with a few things, had a garden, and sometimes had a little patch of corn. He got a few dollars every month from the plan put in place by FDR.

March 16, 2022March 16, 2022

Whatever a Man Sows…

Springtime is just around the corner and some of us with a need for dirt under our fingernails, plant a garden. Anyone who plants a few seeds revisits the ground in a few days to look for the seedlings bursting forth from the ground. The small green sprigs give a hint of a harvest to come.