Grace Travelers

What constitutes marriage?  the most common viewpoints:
1) God only considers a man and a woman married when they are legally married—that is, when they become husband and wife in the eyes of the law.
2) A man and a woman are married in God’s eyes when they have completed some kind of formal wedding ceremony solemnized by a third party.
3) God considers a man and a woman to be married at the moment they engage in sexual intercourse.
4) The couple decide to live together, possibly have children, and a certain amount of time passes.

Acts 27 : Hebrews 4:1-11  We must pass through the storms & wilderness. Stay in the boat! This voyage can serve as an allegory for life. The bible is a story of a journey from the Garden of Eden to The New Jerusalem. From toil to rest.

Why do we care about Paul’s ‘travels’?  What do we see in this history? Formation of early church. Miracles. Persecutor of church got transformed only to suffer greatly in building the church he once persecuted. God’s plans. Life transformation. Salvation. of the Jews, given to Gentiles. Some will listen to us but aren’t sincere, even have motivations that aren’t geared to faith in Jesus. But they do inwardly feel the conviction. This can result in violent behavior. Even persevering persecution. This early church of which we are beneficiaries is not a ‘planned megachurch business’. It was messy, violent, birthed under a secular government which couldn’t understand the spiritual earthquake. The reason they belonged to the church is because they converted to belief in Jesus. Not church as a weekly activity and bible lesson. The fellowship was because of a great hope and encouragement they received from fellow believers who also risked their lives. At the very least were subject to persecution from the Jews. 

Matt 11:12-19  Kingdom-growing is messy, causes dissension, persevering persecution. 

Confusion reigns without God's presence. God speaks the language of those He's trying to reach. The Spirit inside dictates what 'language' the person speaks.

A special message for men and father's and the community they impact. There is a "father factor" in all of societal ills we face. But, there is hope.

by Daniel Disbrow - There is a planet that has super gravity. It takes a lot to escape it's own gravity. Sin can be like that gravity. How can one escape the gravity of sin?

Run with endurance, the race set before you  Hebrews 12:1  There is a race set before us and we are told how to run it. Like any endurance race there will be obstacles and we must run with injuries. Do we have our eyes firmly fixed on the prize?

Dig into Romans 14 with us. A simple reading of Romans 14 reveals six ways that we are to build each other up rather than tearing each other down. We can comply with the Christian rules, but if we have not love, we are nothing.

Journey with us as we take a look at the Natural Man and the Spiritual Man. Hey, what could go wrong? :)

Can you imagine?     He shows up in town, homeless, no car or drivers license, no job, claiming that the only food He needed was spiritual. Even worse than this, He was unclean! He didn’t wash His hands before eating, He violated the Sabbath rules. He was accused of hanging out with drunkards, tax collectors, sinners, thieves, and eating too much. He let a prostitute touch Him, even to wash His feet with her tears and dry them with her hair! Didn’t He know her reputation? She was actually pouring her perfume on His feet!! This homeless man was drawing all sorts of undesirables into the outskirts of town from ‘who knows where’. Do you know that He actually drew 4000 people to a field to hear Him speak for 3 whole days? (Yuk! where did they go to the bathroom anyway?)