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Build the Wall - More Than A Wall (Part 4)

This is about so much more than a protective wall around the Church.  This is so much more than about serving in the ministry of prayer.  The wall is the physical benefit of the work, but the rewards are other than that.  Let's talk about what happens when there's a wall of prayer around your church family.   The first reward (and what might be my favorite reward) is this - outsiders recognize God's hand on us.  Nehemiah 6:16 talks about what transpired after the work to rebuild was done, and it says, "when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and feel greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God." I mean, come on!  Could there be any greater reward for our role in the ministry of the church than for the reputation of God to be made known and for all those who oppose Him or His church, even those who criticize "organized religion" to have to admit that God st...
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Build the Wall - Don't Go AWOL (Part 3)

When anyone endeavors anything for the Lord, there is a fair (or unfair) amount of opposition.  As we talked about in the Equipping:Prayer event, our enemy has very few new tactics.  He has been far too successful using discouragement, intimidation, mockery, gossip & hearsay to really develop something new.   In my years of serving the Lord, I've never seen a leader or spiritual influencer "fall" with out seeing the full affect of these weapons in their ministry.  They become discouraged, they no longer seek to work whole-heartedly out of intimidation or because the blow back that comes from making changes.  I would even say, all moral missteps begin this way, and all fall under one of three temptations.  Study of Scripture will reveal that Saul, David, Jesus and in our study of Nehemiah the people building the wall were tempting three ways.  They are common temptations of not only pastors, but of anyone with spiritual influence or fervor, any...
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Build the Wall - From Inspiration to Determination (Part 2)

 In our previous post, we've seen why the city of Jerusalem is important and have come to the conclusion that we too are being called to the work required to build a wall of defense on behalf of the city also known as the local and global Church.  For some who attended our recent Equipping: Prayer, some of this will be a review, but read on so that we remain on the same page, so to speak, in the next blogs on this subject.  The book of Nehemiah is the account of a man who was not a builder nor was he a man of status or station.  He was a cup-bearer - one who would taste the king's wine before he drank to make sure no one had poisoned it. He served the King, and apparently he served him well because when he told the king his heartache over the condition of his hometown, the king gave him everything he needed to do the work - materials, time off, authority, etc.   Can we find encouragement in this?  As followers of Christ, and servants of the King, won't...
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Build the Wall - God's Hometown (Part 1)

As a Christian, there is no denying the importance of the Land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem.  Our New Testament faith rests firmly on the foundation of Jewish history and practices.  One would be hard-pressed to find any part of their Christianity not initiated by, preserved by, or enacted through the people of Israel or the land we call Holy.   In a word, Jerusalem is Home for the believer, and I can't explain that to you unless you've been there. When you are in Jerusalem, you sense that you are home even though it may be the first time you've set foot there.   God's affections and attentions are for Jerusalem so strongly one of His identifying names is Jehovah Shamma - the Lord is There.  This name was spoke by those in exile from Jerusalem as they were approaching their hometown.  They'd lived in Babylon with no way to make sacrifices, no way to exercise their faith as God prescribed.  They couldn't wait to be back in fellowship wi...
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Hanukkah for Us Gentiles - Day 8

 December 14 - Day 8 BACKGROUND : The final day of Hanukkah, we again go back to the third blessing of Hanukkah recited only on the first night - "Bless are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season ." Let's go back to the first night of Hanukkah this year.  For many of you, this is your first celebration of the holiday.  God brought you to this season.  God directed your steps to find these posts, to trust an amateur writer who loves the Jewish people however imperfectly.  He brought you to the lighting of the candles.  Many of you, He also brought through these last eight days.  Thanks for hanging with us! REFLECTION : Reflect on the last eight days.  How have they blessed you or challenged you?  Do you feel a pull on your heart for the Jewish people and their traditions?  PRAY :  Holy Spirit, would you lead us in prayer this night.  Reveal what you have don...
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Hanukkah for Us Gentiles - Day 7

 December 13 - Day 7 Ebenezer shown here in the bottom right  of the picture. BACKGROUND : The third blessing of Hanukkah recited only on the first night of the holiday starts "blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe, Who has kept us alive, sustained us ..."  Can we just stop for a moment to thank God for His sustaining grace today?  I don't know what you've been through since we lit the last Hanukkah light in 2022, but if we rehearsed it to one another I believe our mutual responses would be, "God brought you through a lot!"  Losses would be overwhelming, sicknesses and surgeries would be countless, worries and frets innumerable.  But God - God sustained us through them all.   In our lawn as I was growing up, we had this oddly shaped stone - it went everywhere with us and sits in mom's yard to this day.  We call it Ebenezer.  My parents wanted to remember a time in their life when God really came through for them.  T...
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Hanukkah for Us Gentiles - Day 6

December 12 - Day 6   BACKGROUND : The third blessing of Hanukkah said only on the first night begins with this, "Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who has kept us alive ..."  There was a day when praising God for keeping us alive had less weight.  That day was before Covid, I think.  I was recently lamenting to a friend the number of people in my life who have passed recently, and how people who by normal expectations shouldn't die, but they are.  I'm outliving far too many people of my own age, and I'm not that old.  (Not THAT old.)  It's becoming more and more astounding that God has kept us alive.   My SIL Laura.   So thankful I'll see her again in Heaven. I've become more thankful for waking up every day because of my auto-immune disorder.  One of its complications can be aneurysm.  Last scanned, I'm good, but it's always a possibility.  I'm also more thankful these past few years because I'...
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