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Stuggling through Hosea

Posted by Major Dave on 10:25 AM in ,
As a group we've been reading our way through Hosea. I find these passages about judgement very difficult to read, particularly during period in my life when God is increasingly trying to teach me about grace. My reading of Hosea 11 yesterday left me completely dry. So today, before I read, I asked God to open my eyes to see what He had for me in this passage. WoW. It was like seeing though new eyes.





Reading from The Message version, I began to see how God reacts to MY disobediences, rebellion and rejection.



      • He loves me and calls to me "My son".
      • He sticks with me and rescues me from human bondage.
      • He pulls my wagon.
      • He lifts me, like a baby, to His cheek.
      • He bends down to feed me.

      What an amazing set of images of Father God!


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      Is Bigger always Better?

      Posted by Major Dave on 10:01 AM in



      Is BIGGER always BETTER? I must admit that I can instantly think of a number of examples that elicit an immediate and resounding "YES!" If you were a betting person, where would you place your money in the combat being prepared in the image displayed here?


      Any yet Bigger is not necessarily better in every domain. Let me briefly champion "LITTLE".


      Fifteen minutes down the road from the Starbucks where we do Church is the largest church in the province of Quebec: Église Nouvelle Vie. I love to declare with some sense of cryptic pride that I am the founder and leader of the smallest Church in the province of Quebec. By Biblical definition ("Wherever two or three are gathered in My Name...)... So I lead two small churches, one with two members, and one with three members.


      Tuesday we sent one-third of our Church on a mission trip to Belize. Our little Church funded a big piece of the travel expense, and have the privilege of blessing Daniel with enough "mad money" to be a big blessing to those he will serve in Belize. Our smallness has helped us to to build meaningful relationships, disciple Daniel, and finally to release him with some real experience under his belt.


      Thank God for the Big Churches. Thank God for the small Churches.

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