A Meal of Remembrance
Dr. Darrell Hall
"Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.
For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever.
Light and Shadows: The Other Aspects of our Shadow Side
Dr. Craig L. Oliver Sr.
Over the past few weeks, we have addressed the dark and shadowy side of life as we live in the light of God's moral perfection. We've dealt with the dark and the shadow side as it denotes our propensity and our proclivity towards sinful and even evil behavior. In 1 John 1:5-10, the Apostle John reminds us:
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
When Obedience Seemingly Backfires Part Two
Bishop Craig Oliver Sr.
They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; and they said to them, "The Lord look on you and judge because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."
Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, "O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all." – Exodus 5:20-23
In Exodus 5, we find Moses dealing with another life and leadership challenge. The result of his obedience to God has brought him into a place of opposition—obedience backfiring in his face. Things are not working in his favor to the point that it seems unfair to Moses. He obeyed God, and yet, as a result of obedience, things are not working out as he thought.
A Divine Lesson for the Ages
Rev. Terrance Albritton
"And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them." –Exodus 7:5 NKJV
We continue our study of the life and leadership of Moses. From Exodus 5 through Exodus 11, we recount the story of God's ten plagues against Egypt. In the last few weeks, we've discussed the paradox of how our obedience to God can sometimes backfire in our faces.
If you’ve ever felt like your life got worse the minute you decided to do what God asked, you're in good company. The wisdom we can leverage from these experiences in obedience is not just a means to an end. We obey God because God deserves to be trusted. We don't obey God to make God give us the outcomes that we want.
The Power for the Unhindered Life
“Give up the old so God can perform the new in your life.”
- Benny Hinn
As Christians, most of us know the two big holy days we observe and celebrate: Christmas and
Easter. These two holy days are even honored as a major global holiday. Thus, we never go to
work on these special occasions in December and April. However, there’s another holy day that
most of us miss. Pentecost is as significant as Christmas and Easter which make up what we
can define as the Big Three.
