Month: January 2017

Categories
Podcasts

PWTE Podcast Episode 041: What’s So Great about the Bible?

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Many people struggle with reading the Bible. They don’t know where to begin or why it’s important to spend time in the Bible. Richelle Hecker and Pastor Doug Brauner talk about their joys and struggles with reading the Bible and about its importance. They ask two questions: 1)why should we read the Bible, and 2) how might we begin reading it.

Praying With The Eyes Blog: Fascinated by Fire

One Method for Reading the Bible

#1 Start with What Is Most Important: Read one of the Gospels. Richelle’s suggestion: The Gospel of Luke, Pastor Doug’s suggestion: The Gospel of Mark.
#2 Face Your Fears and Go a Little Deeper: Read one of Paul’s letters like Romans or Galatians
#3 Challenge Yourself to Read the Entire Bible: Find a reading schedule that works for you. This doesn’t have to be done in any set time or any set order. Here is a link to Biblegateway’s webpage with reading plans.
#4 Pray, Pray, Pray: Let the portion of the Bible you are reading form you conversation with God.

Scripture: (Each passage is linked to biblegateway.com)

 

 

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

We’re Shaped by the People We Hang With

Ginger loves to hang out with our gnomes, though I'm not so sure they enjoy hanging out with her.

God desires that his people give life to each other.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

I took this picture of Ginger on a very cold day. The sun was up, but the temperature was down. Even though she has Siberian Husky and German Shepherd blood in her, she needed the sun to keep her warm. It just so happened that the sun shone where the gnomes roam.

Ginger loves to hang out with our gnomes, though I’m not so sure they enjoy hanging out with her.

It was better for Ginger to hang with the gnomes and stay warm than receive my love and affection in the shade.

The disciples were devoted to the teachings of the apostles, to fellowship,
to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.
Act 2:42 God’s Word to the Nations

Ginger made a choice that she would rather hang out with the gnomes than with me. Her choice was based on the warmth of the sun. What goes into our choices of people with whom we hang out? Do the people we spend time with give life or suck life out of us? Do they value or devalue our friendship?

Immediately after Jesus’ ascension, the disciples gathered together. The disciples to whom Luke refers were more than the twelve apostles. What they did marked their gatherings. What they did added value to each other’s lives.

Together they were dedicated to learning more about Jesus through what the apostles taught them.

Together they talked about what it meant to live as followers of their risen Messiah, Jesus.

Together they shared in the breaking of the bread of Christ’s body and drinking from the cup of his blood.

Together they prayed.

It’s God’s intent that the baptized of Christ add value and give life to each other. Maybe we’ve moved away from the things that give life and focused our attention on something less valuable. Maybe it’s time for us to once again dedicate ourselves to the teaching of the apostles, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.

If we do, maybe we’ll be more like the One we hang out with.

Picture and Text Copyright Douglas P Brauner

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

The Unveiling of God

Mount St. Helens National Monument, Washington

Jesus is God’s revelation of himself.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

The last time that I visited Mount St. Helens, much of the National Monument was still under development for visitors. The first observatory, the Coldwater Visitor Center (since closed), was as close as you could get to the volcano. The Johnston Ridge Observatory was opened in 1997 and took visitors closer to the decapitated mountain.

Mount St. Helens National Monument, Washington

My first visit to this observatory was in August this past summer.

If you make the trip to Mount St. Helens, and I suggest you do, you will need to watch the movie, “Eruption of Life” in the Johnston Ridge Observatory. After watching the movie, the screen disappears and a large curtain is pulled back for this amazing view of the mountain. Even though I had spent a great deal of time hiking and taking pictures of St. Helens before I saw the movie, my breath escaped me when I saw the mountain.

“My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
Matthew 11:27 New Living Translation

The Greek word for “reveal” literally means to unveil. To see Jesus is to see the Father because Jesus has unveiled the Father to us. It’s true that nature teaches us something about God (Romans 1:20), but we will only know the Father as a God of redemption when we see Jesus. Through his passion, his death and resurrection, we see God as a merciful God who desires that we know him and call him “Daddy.”

Jesus has one more unveiling to perform. What you and I see through the eyes of faith, we will one day see in person. When the heavens are opened for the last time, we will be carried into the presence of our Creator, Redeemer God by Jesus, the great unveiler.

Picture and Text Copyright Douglas P Brauner