Obedience – Page 2 – Pathway Journey

April 25, 2025April 24, 2025

Paul and Silas’ Response to Persecution

Join me in a little stroll through Acts chapter 16 as we journey with Paul and Silas.

We must minister to those God sends us and work with those God brings alongside us.
Paul on his second missionary journey was accompanied by Silas. Silas was not Paul’s first choice as a traveling partner. Barnabas was Paul’s first missionary partner on the first journey. While planning the second missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas had an argument about whether to take Mark who had abandoned them on the first trip. Paul did not want him to go, but Barnabas insisted. Unable to come to an agreement, they separated and went different ways.

March 6, 2025March 5, 2025

True Disciple: A Follower of Jesus

A disciple of Jesus is a follower of Jesus. Someone who merely acknowledges Jesus as a great religious leader is not a disciple. Many people have only a mental nod to who Jesus is.

The first step of becoming a true disciple is when an individual receives a spiritual revelation of the reality of who Jesus is and their own need for a Savior. The seed for this revelation is the Word of God when one hears the Gospel. This revelation creates a strong desire to follow the One, who has the words of eternal life.

January 14, 2025January 14, 2025

Spiritual Burden

As a child and young man growing up in church, I often heard people use the word “burden” quite often. Pastors would say they had a burden for their church. Friends would speak of “carrying a burden” for a family member. I don’t hear people use the term much anymore but I am very familiar with the term and the experience. I would define “burden” as a deep concern planted by the Holy Spirit to motivate us to prayer and action.

December 23, 2024December 23, 2024

Eternal Destiny Cloaked in an Unplanned Pregnancy

The village girl who had no worldly aspirations was chosen to be the earthly mother of a Heavenly Son. Her dream was to marry a common craftsman and fill his quiver with arrows called children. She saw not much more in her future than drawing water at a village well and baking flat bread. The faithful tasks of a wife and mother for the care of her family was her hope. She dreamed of moments of joy and fulfillment scattered among the mundane. This was her only view over the horizon.

November 14, 2024November 13, 2024

Fake Fruit on Dead Trees

“Fake fruit on a dead tree”, is a phrase my pastor, Bro. Bradley Petrey, recently used in a sermon. It describes the look some folks try to portray in Christian circles. I told him, “I do not like the condition it describes but I loved the phraseology.”

Jesus used something similar when He said, “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. / A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit” (Matt. 7:17-18 NKJV).

The fruit depends on the tree. Said another way, the tree determines the fruit.

November 6, 2024November 5, 2024

Saltiness of Christianity

Jesus used salt as an analogy to show the importance of being a true disciple. Salt performs two basic functions; it enhances taste, and it preserves. As Christians we bring flavor and meaning to a hopeless world. We also preserve society and order to a fallen world. How do we lose our salt factor?

Salt does not in itself deteriorate. Salt without its saltiness is contaminated salt. Salt is derived from the sea or from salt deposits in the earth. The substance we buy today is consistent and mostly free from contamination.

In the time of the New Testament it was not so pure. The water from the sea was evaporated leaving a residue of salt but the residue was not pure. It was often contaminated with other minerals and substances of the sea. If it became too contaminated, it lost its flavor or saltiness.

October 10, 2024October 10, 2024

True Discipleship Means No Alternatives

I find choosing a paint color a little frustrating because there are just too many options. I ate in a foreign restaurant where I had a choice of meat but no option for the side dishes. When it came to the side dishes, you either ate them or left them. Of course, I usually ate them!

When it comes to being a true disciple of Jesus Christ, why do some folks think they have options?

August 30, 2024September 3, 2024

Finding Joy in Surrender: Embracing God’s Plan for Fulfillment

We exist for God’s purpose not our own. Sure, we existed in the mind of God before He said, “Let there be light.” What a crazy thought but true. Yet, God does not exist so we can live happy, contented, and fulfilled lives. We exist for His pleasure and the fulfillment of His plan in and through us.

July 31, 2024July 31, 2024

Surprised by the Hatred Against Christ?

The controversial 2024 Olympic opening ceremony has created quite a stir. It seemed quite obvious to me that it was a shameful parody of the Last Supper. Some say not. Sorry, but we have become accustomed to people telling us that we did not see what we saw. And that we did not hear what we heard.

I was not shocked. Nor did I expect some well-crafted apology. By the way, real apologies do not start with “IF.” One thing I do know for sure! There is a demonic current in our world that hates Christ and His followers. Why would we be surprised? Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. / If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18-19 NKJV). I find myself in good company.

November 8, 2023November 7, 2023

Earmarked for Jesus

One of the poignant hidden gems in the Old Testament is in the Levitical law. It is one of those scriptures that is often skipped over because it “does not apply to us.” Yet in it is a moving principle of love and servitude. In the Law of Moses, if an Israelite became impoverished and was sold as a slave to another Israelite, he was to serve six years and go free in the seventh year (see Exodus 21:1-2).

There was also a provision in the law, if the servant loved his master and his situation, the servant could opt out of being free. If he decided to stay forever after his six-year term, his master would legitimize the relationship before the judges and then pierce his ear with an awl against the doorpost of the house. The voluntary slave would be “earmarked” as the master’s slave forever.