As I was with the Lord today, reading Gen. 28-30, I was caught up on the following passage: “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go.” Gen 28:15 —CSB Spurgeon has this to say about these words: “I have tried to plumb the depths of these words that I might explain... Continue Reading →

How often is it that we make a rash decision or statement without thinking through the consequences?  Throughout the OT we see people jumping to decisions without inquiring of the Lord or acting in haste because of the situation we find ourselves in. In today’s Bible reading, Esau was famished and sells his birthright (Gen.25)... Continue Reading →

This past Sunday at ESCC we spoke about our call to bring our gifts to Jesus.  And in the process was a challenge to work towards putting God first in our finances.  In today’s Scripture reading (for those who started on Sunday), we find in Gen. 4 that Cain brought an unacceptable sacrifice to the... Continue Reading →

In Luke 14:25-35, You call us to put You before everything.  Everything is to be a far second to You (Your point in saying that we must hate everything dear to us in order to follow You).  You also tell us to count the cost.  For us this year, we are looking at the following... Continue Reading →

In reading Luke 14, Jesus shares the parable of the Great Banquet, which is a response to someone’s statement about the blessings of being a part of the great feast in heaven. In the parable, there are many who were considered worthy of the invitation, but for many different reasons they were not ready when... Continue Reading →

In Luke Chapter 6, Jesus speaks about a tree and its fruit.  He lets us know that as we store up things in our hearts, either good or bad, that they will eventually come out.   “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man... Continue Reading →

There is a purpose for everything (even mosquitoes so I hear).   So what happens when things no longer serve a purpose?  They become useless.  They become worthless.  This goes for things, and it goes for churches. In a church setting, many churches hold on to things that no longer serve a purpose.  Maybe its... Continue Reading →

In going through Matt. 25 again, we see the call to be ready, but there is also a call to act.  In the parable of the talents, we find that the the first 2 servants took what they were given to manage and doubled it .   It is interesting to note that they were... Continue Reading →

We see what appears to be a harsh statement from Jesus in Matt. 8:22, but the question is, “Is it?”  This section of scripture appears to be dealing with 2 distinct opposite views of discipleship.    The first is one who hasn’t counted the cost of following Jesus.  Jesus informs him that the cost will... Continue Reading →