“So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons” (2 Samuel 9:11 NIV).

Who in the world is Mephibosheth and what possessed his momma to give him such a name?  Well, I can’t answer the second question, but I can shed some light on the first. Mephibosheth was a man who was living way below his potential.  He was the grandson of King Saul and the son of Prince Jonathan, but he lived like a pauper.  When he was a boy, his nurse dropped him while fleeing from their enemies.  As a result, he was crippled in both feet (2 Samuel 9). Read the rest of this entry

Every day, every moment in a Christian’s life is soaked in spiritual warfare. Whether we’re aware of it or not. I know I struggle with stuff all the time with the attitude that it’s just sort of generic “struggling”; often, I don’t consider the spiritual fight-what’s really taking place. These battles are usually launched by yet another encounter with my sin nature, and they typically begin with a self-demeaning thought.
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Leviticus 12:8 (NIV) If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”Luke 2:23 (NIV) (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord” a), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.

Mary and Joseph were obviously poor people. They could not afford a lamb for the ceremonial sacrifice, so they purchased a dove. This young poor couple left what little they had, to travel far away. They traveled to Bethlehem in obedience to the Roman law. While the Romans were in charge, God was in control. Today for example, we make work in jobs where someone else is in charge, but God is always in control. Read the rest of this entry

John 8:10-11 And straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 And she said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go your way. From now on sin no more.” (NAS)

The charger for my cell phone died. Fortunately, I had a spare charger unit and switched to it. I looked at the old one and wondered briefly if it could be fixed. It seemed somehow to be a waste to just toss it in the garbage. But the parts and the effort to fix it would probably be far more expensive than the cost of a new charger. The simple conclusion is that the old unit was indeed useless and beyond reasonable repair. Read the rest of this entry

The topic of this text and this message is confessing sin. Or in other words, it’s about agreeing with God that we have done something wrong; that we’ve either done something he says we shouldn’t do, or failed to do something he says we should do.

We are addressing this topic because sin affects our fellowship, especially unconfessed sin, so this is a matter of importance to us. Read the rest of this entry