Christine's Blog (2,610)

A Prayer for Giving of Ourselves … a prayer for giving others Christ.  Romans 9

Our greatest fulfillment lies in giving ourselves to others.1 

In fact, Paul said, ‘Tis more blessed to give than to receive.’2   

Hmm . . . I think I feel like praying . . .

Dear Lord,

We read that Paul was so deeply burdened for the souls of his brothers that he would give up the one thing that meant more than anything to him—your love!—if that would mean the Jews would come…

“Do you See What I See?”    Romans 9.1-5

Christmas, 1969—school Christmas pageant.  I was sure that when Darlene Goss sang ‘Do You Hear What I Hear?’ there was no more beautiful girl alive.  Now, I was in 5^th grade and she was in 6^th, but I thought she was magnificent, and her song alluring.  Of little lambs and dancing stars and shepherd boys… all asking, “Do you Hear What I Hear?  ‘See what I see?”  Then the shepherd boy asks the king, “Do you know what I…

Good Morning! 

Just the other day, we saw how plainly, how passionately Paul articulated the value of God’s love in his life . . . and that, no thing and no one would ever separate him (or us) from the unconditional, all-consuming love of God.  Reading further, I have to ask myself if Paul was schizophrenic; he now says he would be willing to forego his relationship with God  . . . IF it would mean that the Jewish people would come to saving faith in Christ. Let go of…

Two people. podcast:

There is an old guy . . . there is a young guy.

Both are Christians . . . both are controversial.

One has violated a Scriptural truth, and maybe the other has too.

Let’s start with the old guy.  He has predicted that Jesus Christ is coming back next Saturday, May 21st to judge all of humankind and to gather up the faithful.(1)  That, Friends, is contrary to what Jesus said about his second coming.  "No one knows about that day or hour,…

Two things.  (and then Romans 9)

I am not in control.  Oh sure, I can make plans and even commit them to my calendar, but in the end, I do not control whether this thing or that thing will come to pass.  ‘Fact is, I can make all sorts of plans, but the final outcome is in God’s hands.  It was many years ago when I memorized these verses, “Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit. Yet…

It is hard to believe it was eight months ago when we first cracked open Paul’s letter to the church at Rome.  And now we find ourselves with eight chapters under our belt.  (New readers join us all the time, so for those who would like to go back and reread earlier Romans briefings, go to www.pastorwoman.com, and click on Bible teaching, Morning Briefings, and scroll down to Romans.  All 66 studies from Romans are…

Good Morning, my friends-

You are the Beloved. You are much loved by God.

And, as we read yesterday in “Love and the year 1970,” NOTHING can separate us from God’s love.

Being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence. 

I am putting this so directly and so simply because, though the experience of being the Beloved has never been completely absent from my life, I never claimed it as my core truth.  I kept running around it in large or small circles,…

Chosen—it means God is FOR US.  Romans 8.31-34

I was speaking on the subject of friendship.  Specifically, I was trying to give a definition for a true friend.   A true friend is someone who says to the object of her affection, ‘I am FOR YOU’.  It means:  I will cheer you on ... I will believe the best in you …  I will release you of my expectations of you … I will hold you close to my heart, but not demand you be close at my side … I will endeavor to ‘hear’ you when you have…

“HOSANNA in the Highest!"

I was sitting in my home office, with my Bible open, and thinking of just how good and gracious God is to us.  I cannot revisit the life (and death) of Jesus Christ without thinking of his great love for us.  A line from a melodious worship song ran through my mind, ‘hosanna, hosanna . . .’ and I thought of the townspeople waving their palm branches and saying ‘hosanna’ to Jesus.  But I couldn’t think of the origination of the word, so I looked it…

Prayer MATTERS.  

“Could I ask you an honest question?”  I asked, looking around at the faces of my Women of Passion last week.  Responding to their nods, I said, “Why is it so difficult to pray aloud?” Mini conversations broke out on both sides of our long luncheon tables …  It seems that people are just afraid they won’t ‘get it right’.  Their prayer won’t sound right—well, at least not as good, or as right as another’s!  ‘She practically sounds like a minister when…

A song . . . a 1966 movie.  And sometimes in my mind when I step back from something, ‘try to see the bigger picture, it is those words than run through my mind—‘what’s it all about, Alfie?’  Funny thing is—looking up the lyrics today, I see that they really are quite meaningful; we’ll get back to that . . . in the meantime, where have we just been? 

We looked at Jesus’ final night with his disciples-

How he pleaded with the Father to change what would be his…

GOT HIM.  9/11—do you remember?

Yes, I read when I am on the cardio machines at the gym . . . and in addition to studying Scripture and various commentaries, I read books on the power of prayer, and other inspirational Christian writings.  Interestingly enough, on the morning after Osama bin Laden’s demise, this was where I found myself today:  “I was an office worker assigned to the Tunnels, Bridges, and Terminals Department of the Port Authority of New York.  On the morning…

Would you know it was Jesus?

Who else saw Jesus see after he had shed his burial clothes?

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaeus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. (Luke 24) They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them, but they were kept from recognizing him. This I do not understand--somehow, his…

The Epicenter of Christianity.  Today's Scripture from Luke 24 and John 20

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was…

Christ is risen . . . He has risen indeed!   Did you say that at church yesterday?  This year, my Easter celebration was uniquely punctuated by sunset at the beach.  I’ll get back to that, but for now, how blessed are we to go to church two thousand years after the resurrection and celebrate what took place on that Sunday so long ago?!

Remember?  “On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they [the women] went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the…

Crucified, buried . . . Finally, the procession reaches the top of Mount Calvary--Jesus and two criminals are to be crucified.  Jesus is stripped naked, his bruised and bloodied arms outstretched on the rough wood--a five-inch long, three-eighths-inch square nail is driven through each of his hands--actually, more the wrists. Crucifixion is meant to be humiliating beyond compare, excruciating without any other equal, as each painful hour drags by before death by suffocation eventually…

A FRIEND LIGHTENS THE LOAD.  And as they led Him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country and laid on him the cross to carry it behind Jesus. And there followed Him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for Him. Luke 23.26 and following. . .

Good Morning, Friends.

We follow Jesus on the road to the crucifixion . . . I was trying to devise something encouraging out of this very heavy passage, realizing how…

The biblical accounts from Luke 23 and Matthew 27:

JESUS BEFORE HEROD ANTIPAS. When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had wanted to see him; in fact, he was hoping to see him perform some sort of miracle. He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave no answer. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing our Lord in an elegant robe, they…