Jeremiah 3:15-17 - The blog of pastor.ctj

6:45 am - I log on into the Stream of New Birth Missionary Baptist, to hear what Bishop Long is going to say. Yes service starts at 8, but in case the stream runs out of bandwidth, I want to be in… 8:05 - The stream begins a little late, and opens into a fiery passionate song of Praise. There is passion, and power in the song. There is a lot of hope, and a lot of worry in the room. It is tangible.. The Worship Leader is defiant, pumped up 8:14 - “You are the everlasting God, you’re the defender of the weak. Nothing is impossible for you, you hold my world in your hands. “The focus has turned to God, and the people pour out their hearts, and their hopes. But then the focus shifts from God, back to man, as they declare “Our god is this… Our God is that… and if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us, and if our God is with us, that what can stand against us” 8:18 – My Wife says… I wonder if anyone is considering the possibility that this is of God. (the situation). We recal...

Um… in this case, NO We are in an army, but it is not the US military. In that army, they say don’t ask don’t tell. In this army, we are to cry aloud and spare not. (Isaiah 58:1) Make a loud cry, do not be quiet, let your voice be sounding like a horn, and make clear to my people their evil doings, and to the family of Jacob their sins. Though they make prayer to me every day, and take pleasure in the knowledge of my ways: like a nation which has done righteousness, and has not given up the rules of their God, they make requests to me for the right orders, it is their delight to come near to God. They say, Why have we kept ourselves from food, and you do not see it? why have we kept ourselves from pleasure, and you take no note of it? If, in the days when you keep from food, you take the chance to do your business, and get in your debts; If keeping from food makes you quickly angry, ready for fighting and giving blows with evil hands; your holy days are not such as to make your voice c...

I grew up United Methodist. A member of the United Methodist Church (UMC) In much the same way as I grew up a democrat. Meaning that I did what my parents did, and that seemed right to me. Growing up, it meant social justice, civil rights, a sense of community, a place to express my gift, and a bunch of other things. As I got older, I realized that there was something BIG missing: Repentance. There was NEVER a call to repent, personally. We read ritual prayers which said it, we heard constantly about being a good person, and loving the Lord. We sang hymns about God’s great Love, our sin, and Jesus' great sacrifice, and occasionally about the brokenness of repentance. The classic hymn ‘How Great thou art’ , has this amazing verse which says: ‘and when I think, that God his son not sparing, sent him to die, I scarce can take it in. That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, he bled and died to take away my sin.' We would sing that every so often. ( Today, I can barely hold b...