Preacher Diaries Archives - Page 28 of 32

THE ROADMAP TO NOWHERE

September 11, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know WHERE you are going; so how can we know THE WAY to get there?”

John 14:5, Good News Translation.

In this Bible passage, Thomas was saying to Jesus, in effect, “If we don’t know WHERE, can we know HOW? If we don’t know where You are headed, how can we tell the way to There?” He seemed to have been saying that destination precedes preparation; that purpose often births process. Nobody meets someone nowhere. Someone has to be somewhere for anyone to meet them there.

The Wrath of a Lamb

August 26, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

Bible theologians have generally spoken of the lamb and the lion sides of Jesus; one side as representing His meekness and love, the other, respectively, as representing His fierceness and fury. I have come to see, however, that the meek Lamb is not so ‘meek’ after all, and should never be taken for granted. According to a revelation that one holy man was exceptionally privileged to see, a lamb can also be furious – such shocking fury and wrath that even the rocks and the mountains cannot withstand.

IDOLS OF GOLD

August 16, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden statue made. It was ninety feet tall and nine feet wide. He erected it on the plain of Dara in the province of Babylon.

Daniel 3:1, New English Translation.

An idol is an idol, whether made of attractive gold or of ugly wood. Idolatry goes beyond the material of the object, beyond the aesthetic appeal or repulsion of it. It is in the link it has to the human soul.

The Limits of the Best

September 5, 2022August 13, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

5 I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in my bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me. 6 So I commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me. 7 When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners came, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me. 8 Finally, Daniel came…

Daniel 4:5-8, NIV

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PROSPERING IN THE PALACE: LESSONS FROM AN ANCIENT KING

August 1, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace.

Daniel 4:4.

When Kings Speak

People should listen when great kings speak, especially successful ancient kings who made their contributions to the wonders of their time. Before us is the insightful confession of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, famed in history also for his contribution of hanging gardens to the wonders of the ancient world.

LOOK UP: WRONG SIGNS OF A RIGHT SEASON

September 22, 2022July 13, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

We usually speak of right times for right actions, or right actions in right places, but we find in the holy scriptures that sometimes it doesn’t work that way with God, or our sense of the ‘right time’ and ‘right place’ differs so much from God’s perpective that we get perplexed sometimes to the point of depression, feeling that God abandoned us.

THE SPIRIT OF SUDAN

July 9, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

Early in September 2011, while fasting and praying for the national prayer retreat of The Preacher scheduled for later that month, the word of the Lord came to me, “Pray against the Spirit of Sudan.”

ANGELS DON’T OPEN EVERY DOOR

June 6, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

1. The Mortal Door that God Would not Open

No matter the angels that accompany you, they won’t open every door. Some doors, weaker as they might seem, may only be opened my mortal will rather than by divine might. When Peter was imprisoned by bloody Herod, to be killed after Passover, the angel of God effortlessly opened the very fortified consecutive iron gates that that wicked king in alliance with Hell had raised against Apostle Peter.

A GIFT FROM YOUR FOE

June 6, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

Charity is not in the character of Satan. No apple is as free as it seems in the garden where the Serpent speaks. When Satan makes you a concession (which is not a retreat from a victory inflicted), be careful to never think that you’ve got a Christmas gift. Charity is not in the nature of that wily foe.

The Preacher
June 5, 2022.

The Weapon of Words

May 29, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

God’s Wrong Grammar

Occasionally, one comes upon a Bible verse with an awkwardness as if the writer must have made a mistake. One such verse to me was Genesis 11:6. As a young Christian in school, I felt grammatically uncomfortable each time I read that verse: “And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language.…” How could “the people,” a plural subject, take a singular verb “is” instead of “are”? Could God speak such wrong English, I wondered? Or maybe the transcribers of the Bible didn’t know enough English, I concluded. I was, however, careful not to think that too loud for fear of committing an unpardonable sin. I was to accept much later that the expression was an emphasis on how strongly those rebels of Babel had become united, losing their distinct pluralities into a strong and seamless oneness. I ceased to bother my young school brain with that Middle English of King James.