Advent starts next week and we'll talk about the Christmas story throughout the season. This week, though, we're going to talk about two women who had obviously rejected God's ways and brought great shame to their families and communities by their brazenness. Except, maybe that wasn't the way God saw their stories...An Unexpected Christmas Story begins here...Questions or comments? You can put them here or email roger.mccort@usw.salvationarmy.orgPodcasts of our messages can be found as The Sh...
Long long ago, in a place far far away...The world was broken, so God used Abraham to put it back together again.Yes, Abraham.Listen to this episode of the TSA-Napa podcast to understand why that was and how it matters to you right now, today.
Purity and holiness sound like terribly boring religious concepts requiring us to lead dull lives enclosed in harsh boundaries, deprivation, and perfection. When we screw up, we're out, right? ZAP goes the lightning, then straight into the depths of depravity and destruction!Yeah, that would be every bit as horrible as it sounds. Fortunately, that's not at all what the Bible means when it talks about being pure in heart! Remember that Jesus was pure in heart but his opponents got all over him...
Sometimes people suck, and when they do they should be held up for ridicule and contempt and mockery... Oh, wait. That's what we DO, but is that what Jesus asks of his followers? Is it the example God provides us with? Or are we supposed to find it in ourselves, somehow, to show mercy?I suspect you already know the answer. Maybe looking at the examples Jesus gave for showing mercy will give us some hope that we might be able to learn how to do it. Or maybe we'll decide that we just don't care...
Now that we've spent a few weeks talking about being blessed, let's talk about what the word BLESSED means and how it may not be exactly what we've been thinking it is. Then let's talk about the deeper meaning of righteousness and how it's something for every one of us to embrace, not just a thing for holiness superstars. Something to consider: Being righteous doesn't come from following rules! It's based on something else entirely. Something we all want!
Just because things rhyme, that doesn't mean they are the same. If you use a cat for a bat, you'll never get a hit, and if you wear it as a hat, you'll probably regret it. And yet we tend to mix up meekness by thinking it is a weakness when the reality is that it takes a lot more strength to live out meekness than it does to dominate, bully, or push your way over the top of anyone else.Well then, what IS meekness? And how could we live it out, if we chose to give it a try? And what does any o...
Today we start with a lesson in the obvious: Life hurts. There are wounds which we need to tend to or they will fester and drive us to self-destructive means of altering or covering the pain because we just want it to stop hurting. Or the pain takes over so much that we don't realize we can feel anything else. How can there be any blessing in pain or loss or disappointment?But maybe there is...This week, we explore how that might work, and why we are never so alone as we think.
What does it mean to be poor and why would Jesus claim that this is some kind of blessed state? Why do we allow anxiety to drive us to cling to things we could release? What makes THIS the thing Jesus wanted to tell his followers to learn ahead of everything else?This week we cover the first of the Beatitudes, Jesus's instructions for life as a citizen of God's Kingdom.
"Guard your heart," declares scripture, "for everything you do flows from it."But what does that mean and what should we be letting in or keeping out of our hearts? It's not like Jesus left us a checklist... did he?Welcome to the new season of The Shield Online! We're starting with a life-changing dive into what Dallas Willard called, "a curriculum for Christlikeness," the Beatitudes!
There's a little story towards the end of the book of Acts that most people slip past quickly, noticing only the unusual story about a snakebite. But this is the beginning of Luke's conclusion to the full message of the book he has written! Why is he wasting space on a little travel vignette? Or did he have a more important purpose in mind when he described the Followers of the Way living together with three different pagan groups? Find out by joining us for today's look into the Book of Acts.
They were sure this was going to work, but everything fell apart in an instant and they were plunged into chaos.How often has something similar happened to each one of us? There is a secret to understanding how to remain calm during even the most threatening storm. Do any of the people in today's passage learn it? Join us and see for yourself...
Good day. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to seek out pockets of evil scattered across the world and deal with them. You and your Mission:Possible team will be given light that will dispel the darkness and power to choose to act in ways that will bring healing and wholeness to a world that desperately needs it.Accepting this mission makes you Agents of the Kingdom acting inside territory the enemy would like to believe they possess. If you or any member of your team is caught...
There is a passage in Acts 25 where Paul doesn't say a word - he doesn't even appear until the last sentence - but his witness has been so consistent that it drives people to want to speak with him, to hear him, and to learn more about Jesus.How does that work? Well, it started when he trusted in Jesus and became an aggressive dove...
In a world dominated by Empire, can a poor man from a distant province get justice from the highest authority in the world? Yes, he can!That's not exactly what's happening here, though, is it?Or is it?
People tend to confuse "justice" with just getting what they want. What do most people want? To hurt people who hurt them. Is embracing the idea of retribution going to help us attain justice?Today we look at Paul on trial, the reality TV vibe of scripture, secret motivations, and what justice and injustice looked like in one situation so that we can understand how best to seek justice in our own lives.
Paul is losing his life of freedom and privilege. And he's threatened with losing his life altogether! But somehow he is going to respond to all that as if it is meaningless. It's like he's got some secret which allows him to be content in even the most chaotic and dangerous of situations...Want to know what that is?
A long time ago, when I was in a customer service job, there was one annoying and mistaken client who, after long minutes of berating me for a problem of his own making, said, "If you don't do what I tell you, I'm not going to be your customer any more!" and I thoughtlessly said - out loud - "Promise?"He may have been a jerk, but that didn't give me license to respond in kind. It's been over 30 years and the memory of that mistake still helps keep me from going down that road again. I de...
What group or groups do you belong to? How does that set you apart or make you special? Now ask yourself why you think that makes you better than people who are not part of those groups. No, don't get defensive - we all do it. We should at least try to be honest with ourselves. We all like to think that WE are better than THEM because we are set apart. The problem here goes two ways: First, it isn't true, and second, the OTHER groups think the same things about YOUR group.Instead of excl...
Accusations of wrongdoing, a brutal assault on the one being accused, and his arrest without cause or charges having been considered...This is the story we are diving into today. And it's one that should speak into the lives of each one of us! There should be an awareness of one, very important, very key idea that goes with us in everything we do: Are we listening to what God is saying? And what if we're wrong?
The great thinkers in each group were utterly baffled as to how anyone could see things in a different way. But the two groups reached opposite conclusions about many things! There was a distinct turning towards nationalism taking place which was causing one group to exclude the other, or at least to encourage them to practice their way of life somewhere else...Politics in America in 2024? Nope, Christians in Jerusalem, about 57 AD. And key leaders in each movement are about to meet face to f...