If we had the luxury of interviewing the apostle Paul, and could ask him about his greatest discovery in life and ministry outside of salvation, I believe he would take us to Philippians 4:11.  Imagine his response…His face is wrinkled from years of service, his veteran eyes squint ever so slightly as to let us know he is thinking about the question; he then clears his seasoned, authoritative voice and softy proclaims, “This is my greatest discovery; I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

For Paul, the road of contentment was paved with experience, hardship, …

Sometimes life is the pits…literally.  Just ask Joseph.

He was the many-colored-coat-wearing-favorite-son of his father who stirred the bitter ashes of hatred and jealousy in the hearts of his brothers.  They hated the fact that their father blatantly and continually showed favoritism toward the younger son.  They hated that obnoxious, one-of-a-kind, “look-at-how-special-I am” jacket he paraded around in.  And they especially hated those dreams….those blessed, patronizing, arrogant dreams.  Such animosity led to murderous and unanimous contention.  Had it not been for Reuben, the eldest, they would have stripped him of that coat and left him for dead.  Instead they threw …

The history of Israel’s kings is marred with wretched idolaters, backsliders, and reprobates.  When you study the various regimes of Judah and Israel you will discover a pattern.  With each passing generation the leadership grew more corrupt until God rose up another man to start over with a renewed passion and commitment to things divine.  This pattern was not coincidental, it was the result of apathetic influences, or as Steve Farrar contends, failed fatherhood.

In King Me, Steve Farrar parallels the current cultural failures of fatherhood with the ungodly kings of Israel.  His affirmation is simple: there are certain …

Text: Psalm 64:1-10

Introduction:

Scholars tend to agree that the context of this psalm is either when David was betrayed by Doeg (1 Samuel 21) or when Ahithophel joined Absalom’s rebellion against David (2 Samuel 15-17).  Either way, David is overwhelmed with the spirit of fear and seeks God for victory over this dreadful emotion.

1. The Petition for His Fears (v1)

A. A Request to Hear (v1a)

• “Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer”
• The word “hear” means to incline toward someone with intellectual understanding.
• David wanted the Lord to understand and relate to his circumstance.
• “Voice”

In 1876, an internal memo from the Western Union read, “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” Western Union, nor the world at large, could have ever imagined the revolutionary power they held in their hands.  Like a small acorn that turned into a forest of oaks, that “worthless” device would become one of the biggest phenomenons of the next two centuries.

Life has been radically changed by the cell phone.  It is no longer just a device used for communication; it is …