“Hanna’s Secret” – Seeking Jerusalem – Day 46

Do you remember the book called The Secret by Rhonda Byrne that they also made a movie out of? It was really popular for a while and promoted what they called The Law of Attraction which claims that thinking positively about something can make it appear in your life. A dubious idea at best. It was clothed with some religious language (ask, believe, and receive) and fits well into the Prosperity Gospel that has swept through the American churches in recent years. It sold 20 million copies at least and was translated into more than 50 languages. Rhonda Byrne certainly attracted a lot of money and fame into her life.

Seeking Jerusalem – Day 43 "Hosea and Gomer"

Who knows how Hosea might have breached the subject of marriage to Gomer? You have to take into account the culture, the fact that he was known as a prophet of God, and the fact that she was a loose woman. Talk about a rebound. Apparently, she was married before and committed adultery and had children by her other lovers. The timeline isn’t all that clear. The storyline is a bit confusing but something strange was going on.
First of all, are you kidding me? God tells his prophet to go marry an adulterous woman who has children out of wedlock. Talk about the lowest of the low. The Pharisees gave Jesus a hard time for letting a prostitute wash his feet with anointing oil just before his death in Jerusalem. He should have known what kind of woman she was. Preposterous. Ridiculous. God told you to do what? God would never do that. I’m certain of it. Yeah, right.

Seeking Jerusalem – Day 41 "The Sanctification Gap"

When I was a young pastor, full of ideals, studying at a great seminary, wondering what the Lord had in store for me, I used to pray that God would show me where the fighting was the fiercest, the issues essential, where lives were being transformed, and put me right there in the middle of it. It took me a while to understand that all that came from arrogance and that I was woefully unprepared for ministry, that I was educated far beyond my obedience, that I was easy prey for the schemes of the Devil.

Seeking Jerusalem – Day 39 "Spiritual Trust"

I have a bone to pick with Pastor Rick Warren. I like him a lot and I promote his daily devotionals on my facebook account and read all of his material. He is a wonderful Pastor. I’ve read his books and I would normally say that he is “dead on” in his ministry. But not this time.
A couple of days ago, he published a post about reconciliation that he called, Requirements of Restored Relationships in the “You Make Me Crazy” Series. Basically he says that Restoring a Relationship Requires Repentance, Restitution and Rebuilding Trust.
Most of the post was very helpful but the last part brought in some very popular but unbiblical material. Let’s go over what he says together…

Seeking Jerusalem – Day 37 "Healing Power"

Money may make the world go round, but love is what makes it all worthwhile. Without love, without relationships it just isn’t worth the trouble. Everybody knows that.
People don’t wish that they spent more time at work or made more money when they are on their deathbed. They just want to be with their loved ones. They wish with all their heart that they could recapture those wonderful moments with their children on Christmas eve when they were young. They regret the hurts and misunderstandings that still hover over their heads and relationships. They want nothing more than that their estranged children, their brother, their ex-wife or friend would come back, that somehow, someway, a miracle would happen and love would be in the air, that Christmas would come in the middle of summer, something, anything that would close the distance and heal their hearts and make it better again.

Seeking Jerusalem – Day 36 "FaithWalking"

So my daughter and I were on our way to the mall the other day to watch a movie. I’m not sure why but she asked me a question about something I was writing about and I decided to ask her the “Chicken and the Egg” question. It’s a good question.
“What came first, the chicken or the egg?”
“That’s easy,” she said. “The chicken, of course. God had to create a chicken before you can have a chicken lay an egg.”

Day Twenty (Pre-Launch)

Good morning, Lord.  Thank you for another day in the desert with you.  It rained hard all night, and stormed […]