Submitted by Andy McIlvain.
The Old Testament: Continue reading
Ephesians
Fatherhood (Ephesians 3:14-15)
Submitted by Andy McIlvain.
As men, as fathers our model is God the Father.
A good Father is a miracle formed by God. No man has the necessary gifts, strength, and determination to love a woman and their children in a way that happily and selflessly sacrifices for their needs and consistently leads them to Christlikeness.
Many of us grew up with fathers that did not lead their children to God and his love; instead they thoughtlessly and selfishly provoked us to discouragement and anger. Continue reading
The Old Songs (Ephesians 5:19)
Submitted by Andy McIlvain.
I am not gifted in music, but it punctuates my life in many ways. I hear a song, and it evokes deep memories and associations of times past, whether it be Bach, the band Chicago, or country. Continue reading
Little Decisions = Force Multipliers (Ephesians 6:12)
Submitted by Andy McIlvain.
One of my previous experiences in life was in the U.S Army as an illustrator for the 4th Psychological Operations Group, 8th Psyops Battalion located at Fort Bragg, N.C., part of the newly formed (at that time) 1st Special Operations Command. Our area of operation was the Middle East. This was in the mid 1980’s, which was a very different world than it is today.
Continue reading
Prayer that Makes a Difference (Ephesians 6:18-20)
The alarm goes off. You bathe, brush your teeth, and get dressed. If you have kids, you get them up and going and eat breakfast. You get into your car and drive to work, maybe you turn on the radio. Continue reading
All God’s People Have a Position on the Field (Ephesians 4:7-13)
An estimated 103.4 million people tuned in to watch Super Bowl LII. While the game afforded an exciting opportunity to see an underdog accomplish the unthinkable, it did point out a humorous absurdity about the sporting event phenomenon. Over 100 million people, many of whom were desperately in need of exercise, watched 22 men on a field, many of whom were desperately in need of rest. While such participation is understandable for a sporting event, may it never be so in Christ’s Body, the Church. Continue reading
Conceiving the Inconceivable
There is an old illustration from mathematics that goes like this: “The wider the diameter of light, the greater the circumference of darkness.” The more a person knows about something, the more they discover just how much they do not know about it. Continue reading
Is Christianity Just a Bunch of Rules? (Ephesians 3:14-21)
Many people say that Christianity is just a bunch of rules: don’t steal, don’t cheat, don’t have sex outside of marriage, don’t use the Lord’s name in vain, don’t do this, don’t do that. If Christianity is just following an agreed upon set of rules, we would all fail. Continue reading
A Place Where God Dwells (Ephesians 2:19-22), Part 1 of Growing Together in Christ
Lisa was looking for a church. She wanted to find a church where her children could learn the things she learned as a child, where she could participate in the church’s music, and where sermons were interesting and relevant to her life. The First Church of Anywhere fit the bill. But, when the church laid off the youth pastor for budgetary issues, when the music program became flat, and when sermons seemed less interesting, she left the First Church of Anywhere and ran to the First Church of Anywhere Else. Continue reading
Grace Alone (Ephesians 2:1-10), Solas of the Reformation, Part 3
I used to run with a group of boys who were a mild terror to our neighborhood. Continue reading
