Aug 27

Aug 18

  • faithntim
    faithntim added a video contribution Victory by Surrender
    A monologue from Granger Community Church about the victory that comes when we surrender fully to God Read more »
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    faithntim added a text contribution Deep-Spirited friends
    The MSG translation of this verse jarred me: "Agree with each other. Love each other. Be deep-spirited friends." I know what that means, but I've never heard that term. And I think I've only had a handful of deep-spirited friends throughout my life. My wife is definitely one of them. Just following those 3 simple commands would make it hard to be argumentative, selfish, irritable, annoyed or negative with each other. Wouldn't it be cool if we were surrounded by relation… Read more »

Jun 23

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    faithntim added a text contribution Ineffective Parenting
    How is it possible that one generation follows God, and the next generation "didn't know anything of God or the work he had done." God...help me to embed in my kids the goodness of you and your work. Read more »

Jun 16

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    faithntim added a text contribution Take a Day Off, Dude
    When it's been many days of straight work and no rest, we like to say, "It's just a busy season." It looks like God isn't giving us a pass during a busy season. He tells the people of Israel to take a day off even in the busiest season of the year. Read more »
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    faithntim added a text contribution Moses Calms God Down?
    It is amazing to think how a God who can see the future can lose his temper when something happens. It is even more amazing that "Moses tried to calm his God down..." Whoa. Read more »

May 27

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    faithntim added a text contribution Why didn't Pharaoh kill Joseph?
    It is interesting that Pharaoh didn't kill Joseph. It obviously wasn't beneath him to do so (just see the plight of the baker in 40:22). I wonder if it is because he didn't believe his wife. He knew Joseph wouldn't do that. But he couldn't prove it and needed to save face with his wife and staff...so he went along, but gave Joseph a light punishment. Read more »
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    faithntim added a text contribution Joseph Was Doing My Job
    It is interesting to me that Joseph accomplished what was my stated goal when I first came to Granger. I told Beeson, "I want to put feet to your vision." I wanted to run everything so smoothly that Mark could concern himself with 3 meals a day, and with preaching and casting the vsion. I don't think I've ever read this passage with that in mind before. Very cool. Read more »

May 22

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    faithntim added a text contribution A True Picture of Forgiveness
    What happened in Esau's life between Genesis 27:41 and 33:4? His brother tricked him, manipulated his father, stole what was rightly his, and Esau was so mad he had plans to kill him. Jacob has been on the run...but the next time they see each other Esau embraced him and wept. God has done something deep in Esau's life to allow him to forgive his brother. At the same time, Jacob has lived a life of guilt and despair--always looking over his shoulder to see if Esau is going to be coming… Read more »

May 21

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    faithntim added a text contribution An Encounter With God
    I love what my devotional says about this passage: "No family is perfect. God uses broken people to accomplish his purposes. He has no other choice. Take Jacob for example. He let his mother manipulate him, he used a costume to steal his brother's blessing, and then he had to run for his life. But Jacob's failure isolated him so that God could deal with him in a personal way. As painful as they may be, the broken parts of our lives are some of our best opportunities to have an… Read more »
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    faithntim added a text contribution Abraham Gets Up to Kill Isaac Without a Question
    I don't see any indication that Abraham questioned God, or got other opinions. I find that unbelievable! Did he trust God so much that he absolutely knew in his heart that God was trustworthy, that God would not harm his son? Or did he have such an eternal mindset that he knew if Isaac was in heaven it would be awesome? Whatever the reason, I know I would not respond in the same way. Read more »

May 19

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    faithntim added a text contribution Abraham was jealous!
    Abram was a jealous man evidently. And I find it interesting that God didn't rebuke him for it. Abram is saying, "That guy has it better than me." And rather than saying, "Don't be jealous", instead God says, "Don't worry - you'll be better than him soon enough." Read more »
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    faithntim added a text contribution A beautiful wife
    I can't help but note that Abram and I have something in common...a stunningly beautiful wife! But what the heck was he thinking? Saying she's his sister and letting her live with another man? Just a few verses early he's showing how much a man he is to follow God and move his family across the country. Now he is proving he needs to grow a set of balls cause he's hiding behind his wife's looks. Even the pagan Pharaoh knows better. Read more »
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    faithntim added a text contribution One Language
    The reading today in Kuniholm's book (reading #5, yes I'm behind) had a great point about language. It made me think of the language we as a church try to use to reach people. It's almost as if God is saying speaking the right language is a good thing--except for the pride deal. But, imagine what could be done if everyone spoke the same language! Read more »

May 16

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    faithntim added a text contribution Marking significant moments
    It almost sounds as if God put the rainbow in the sky as a reminder to himself. Verse 15 says when he sees the rainbow, "I'll remember my covenant..." I think we can assume that God doesn't really forget things, so why is it stated this way? I wonder if it is a model to us...that when God does something signficant in our lives...we should somehow mark it as a reminder. Kind of like a wedding ring reminds us of our vow to our spouse. I wonder what I can do with my kids to help… Read more »
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    faithntim added a text contribution Noah killed off an entire species
    Not a deep spiritual thought here, but it is interesting to me that God brought a pair from every species to the ark to be saved...and as soon as the flood had past and God opened the door, Noah caught a few of them and killed them. That means he killed off entire species as an offering of thanks to God. Interesting. Read more »

May 15

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    faithntim added a text contribution Day 3 - Getting God to Notice
    What does it take to get God to notice me? In the Message, these verses say, "But Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah...Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God." How would I have to live in 2008 to get God to notice me? If God wiped out the earth today, would I be on his short list of people he would want to save? Read more »

May 13

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    faithntim added a text contribution Did Adam get off easy?
    Since I really love to work, it's hard to imagine that the man's punishment was as painful for him as the woman's was for her. However, I do realize that the pain they both received was a severed relationship with God and pain, sorrow and guilt in our earthly relationships. Read more »
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    faithntim added a text contribution Blaming Others
    I guess this is where it started, huh? I know my first response is to blame others when I do something wrong. I see my kids doing the same thing. I guess we come by it naturally -- through natural sin, that is. Read more »