A fat dude must have proclaimed that Peter is the rock upon which the Church is built. Perhaps the same type of preacher who jokes about their weight from the pulpit. I find none of it amusing; it's shameful.
Psalms 95:1 KJV O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Psalms 95:2 KJV Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
Psalms 95:3 KJV For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Deuteronomy 32:15 KJV But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
Deuteronomy 32:18 KJV Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
One thing I've always appreciated about Muslim tradition is their prayer carpets. Therefore, I've purchased one for my personal use, allowing me to kneel privately each morning before our Lord and Maker. I think it would be wonderful if this posture were incorporated into our local church services as well, instead of coffee bars and donut tables.
Psalms 95:6 KJV O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
Many of the children of Israel chose God's wrath over His grace. However, dispensationalists often fail to grasp this concept. They typically understand the parable of the wheat and tares only within the context of the New Testament Church, overlooking its relevance to the Old Testament wilderness community.
Psalms 95:7 KJV For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
Psalms 95:8 KJV Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Psalms 95:9 KJV When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
Psalms 95:10 KJV Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
Psalms 95:11 KJV Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
Judeo-Christianity (Hebrews) often neglects the widows, likely due to their limited financial return on investment. However, what is overlooked is that investing in their well-being yields a profound spiritual return, directly contributing to the Kingdom of God.
Acts 6:1 KJV And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
There is a business aspect to local church services. Men are called and ordained for this purpose, and their calling and service are neither lesser nor greater than those of other men. Those called to handle the church's business affairs ought to have a reputation for honesty.
Acts 6:3 KJV Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
I am not a man of such business; my calling and service lie in the following. Although I strive to pray throughout the day, I acknowledge the need to work on maintaining continual prayer.
Acts 6:4 KJV But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
Some men are blessed by the hands of others, while others are not. What's most important, however, is recognizing that God's hand is upon your work and calling, regardless of whether others acknowledge or accept it.
Acts 6:6 KJV Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
If you attempt to address the synagogue with anything other than the Word of God, you are a fool. They will eat you alive. Stephen, full of faith and power, understood this.
Acts 6:8 KJV And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
Acts 6:9 KJV Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
Acts 6:10 KJV And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
Acts 6:8 KJV And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
Acts 6:9 KJV Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
Acts 6:10 KJV And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
Acts 6:11 KJV Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
Acts 6:12 KJV And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
Acts 6:13 KJV And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
Stephen's face shone with truth, for what he spoke was true. Jesus did destroy their temple and change their customs.
Acts 6:14 KJV For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
Acts 6:15 KJV And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
Confession is always an act of humility that pleases God.
Leviticus 5:5 KJV And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing:
We can love each other in the faith without envy or jealousy, understanding that the will of God for each of our lives is as unique as our fingerprints.
Song of Solomon 8:6 KJV Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
Father, may we love our neighbor as ourselves today. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
