Psalm 47:1–2
1 Clap your hands, all you peoples;
shout to God with loud songs of joy.
2 For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome,
a great king over all the earth.
Meeting yesterday with a few Trondhjem youth, I asked them what songs or hymns we should sing on “graduation” Sunday. The answer was “fun” songs like at Camp Wapo. I had a ready list of songs and we picked from those. This passage in the Psalms seems to be in line with the suggestion from our youth. (more…)
This weekend marks the beginning of our summer worship schedule.
Memorial Day through Labor Day:
Sunday morning worship at 9am
Wednesday evening worship at 7pm (beginning June 19th).
Acts 26:24–25
24 While he was making this defense, Festus exclaimed, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane!” 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth.
“Too much learning is driving you insane!” Festus was wrong about Paul. It was not Paul’s learning that was causing problems. It was his conversion on the road to Damascus. We read about it in Acts 9. Paul talks about it in Acts 22, and he is about to speak of it again in Acts 26. It was a life-changing experience for him. (more…)
1 Samuel 1:12–18
12 As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was drunk. 14 So Eli said to her, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine.” 15 But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD. 16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time.” 17 Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.” 18 And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your sight.” Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.
When I think about prayer and how to pray, my mind always goes to this passage of scripture. I once heard Professor Joseph Sittler teach about prayer, and it was very moving. He used this passage of scripture as the foundation for what he taught. He pointed to the line at the end of the passage, “and her countenance was sad no longer.” (more…)
Acts 27:4–8
4 Putting out to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5 After we had sailed across the sea that is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy and put us on board. 7 We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind was against us, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8 Sailing past it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.
Do you ever feel as if the winds of life are blowing against you? This daily devotional is late to get on Facebook and Trondhjem’s website today because the “winds of the internet world” have been blowing against me. I can barely remember what life was like before the internet, but I know I lived in it, and life was good even then. (more…)
Ruth 1:16–17
16 But Ruth said,
“Do not press me to leave you
or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge,
your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.
17 Where you die, I will die —
there will I be buried.
May the LORD do thus and so to me,
and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!”
I hope other people enjoy this passage of scripture and are inspired by it as much as I am. It is an expression of commitment of one woman for another, of a daughter-in-law (Ruth) for her mother-in-law (Naomi). While it is the story of two women, I have often chosen it for the scripture reading at the wedding of a man and a woman. Commitment is in short supply in our world. Ruth is an inspiration to me. (more…)
Judges 21:25
25 In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.
As we come to the end of reading of the book of Judges, we read the same words that we read in Judges 17:6. These verses set the stage for the people demanding to have a king just as the surrounding nations have kings. I feel a sense of eeriness as I read these words. Things were not right, and people were doing whatever each of them felt was right. (more…)
Acts 24:2–8
2 When Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying: “Your Excellency, because of you we have long enjoyed peace, and reforms have been made for this people because of your foresight. 3 We welcome this in every way and everywhere with utmost gratitude. 4 But, to detain you no further, I beg you to hear us briefly with your customary graciousness. 5 We have, in fact, found this man a pestilent fellow, an agitator among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. 6 He even tried to profane the temple, and so we seized him. 8 By examining him yourself you will be able to learn from him concerning everything of which we accuse him.”
Paul seems to be in debates all the time. I would think he would be tired of it all. He is debating with people he is trying to evangelize. He is debating with the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem. He is having to defend himself in front of a variety of Roman leaders. (more…)
Acts 23:1–4
1 While Paul was looking intently at the council he said, “Brothers, up to this day I have lived my life with a clear conscience before God.” 2 Then the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near him to strike him on the mouth. 3 At this Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting there to judge me according to the law, and yet in violation of the law you order me to be struck?” 4 Those standing nearby said, “Do you dare to insult God’s high priest?”
This is the third “Ananias” that has shown up in the book of Acts. I did not realize it was such a popular name. This one is a high priest. In Chapter 5 we read the tragic story of Ananias, one of the early believers, who held back part of what he had promised to the community of believers, and then dropped dead. The third Ananias was the believer in Damascus who helped the “blinded” Paul after Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus. (more…)
Acts 21:30–36
30 Then all the city was aroused, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. 31 While they were trying to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 Immediately he took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. When they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the tribune came, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; he inquired who he was and what he had done. 34 Some in the crowd shouted one thing, some another; and as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. 35 When Paul came to the steps, the violence of the mob was so great that he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36 The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Away with him!”
Have you ever been in a mob? Have you ever been in a large crowd that seemed to have a personality all on its own, despite the diversity of the people in the group? We are in a mob when we attend a sporting event with 50,000 people in the stadium, but usually that is a peaceful mob. I was in a peaceful mob, once. We were protesting the Vietnam War. While the protest I was attending was peaceful and non-violent, it still made me nervous to be part of that large crowd. To this day, I am not the person who likes to be in large groups of people. (more…)
