Walking Holiness

October 14, 2011 in Ponderings with 0 Comments


Question to Ponder

What does everyday holiness look like in your own town?

Scripture Reference

Romans 12-13



God’s Character and Actions

Grace is given to us, He is the giver of all.

Our Responses and Attitudes

to use the gifts God gives, not to think too highly of oneself, to renew our minds, to love, to associate with the lowly, to honor and respect, to do what is good

Take Away Thought

It is by grace given to and received by us that we can do anything holy and righteous, and that we are to live our normal, everyday lives as a sacrifice in submission to God. And our actions, moment by moment, are to be loving toward all.

Conversation Starters

What does God reveal to you as you study and discuss the scripture passage pondering the question at hand?

What are other passages in the Bible that may speak to the question at hand?

Everyday Holiness

October 7, 2011 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments


Question to Ponder

What does everyday holiness look like?

Scripture Reference

1 Peter 1:1-2:11



God’s Character and Actions

pure, undefiled, unfading, genuine, marvelous light, love, joy, salvation, glory, merciful, calls, tests

Our Responses and Attitudes

prepare for trials, respond to the call, to receive his mercy, to put away, to be conformed to God not the world, to obey

Take Away Thought

Remember and be mindful of eternal implications of everything you do. Remember what God has done for you as a means of motivating us to live in a God-honoring way.

Conversation Starters

What does God reveal to you as you study and discuss the scripture passage pondering the question at hand?

What are other passages in the Bible that may speak to the question at hand?

Question to Ponder Guide

October 3, 2011 in Resources with 0 Comments

The Question to Ponder Guide is a study guide that is designed for a one hour Bible Study. Using a manuscript study format for the scriptures allows one to read the Bible passage without the distraction of chapter and verse references. It is written for single-session group studies. The question selected by the study facilitator is meant to be a prompt for reading a passage of scripture from a particular perspective.

A group currently using this guide meets on Friday mornings at Rudy’s BBQ in Frisco, TX, at 7:00am, for Tacos & Talkin’ (great breakfast tacos). Posts of our thoughts and discussion during these meetings are available in the Ponderings section of this site.

You can send an email to John if you have any questions about this study guide.

The Question to Ponder Guide is available as a free download to all subscribers to the site.

 

Continue Reading…

Real Freedom

September 30, 2011 in Ponderings with 0 Comments


Question to Ponder

What is real freedom?

Scripture Reference

Romans 5-6



God’s Character and Actions

grace, love, faith, peace, hope

Our Responses and Attitudes

obedience, receiving, rejoicing, being, reconciled, being justified

Take Away Thought

Freedom is the ability to choose what to think, not being unbounded by everything (which is impossible). To be free in Christ is to choose to live for someone greater than ourselves, not trapped into serving our own selfish desires as the ultimate purpose.

Conversation Starters

What does God reveal to you as you study and discuss the scripture passage pondering the question at hand?

What are other passages in the Bible that may speak to the question at hand?

Living Now and Later

September 16, 2011 in Ponderings with 0 Comments


Question to Ponder

What are we supposed to be doing now?

Scripture Reference

John 13-17



God’s Character and Actions

life giving, loving, knowing, relational, peace

Our Responses and Attitudes

to abide, to believe, to love

Take Away Thought

We are to glorify God in all that we do and say, knowing there may be uncomfortable consequences here on earth.

Conversation Starters

What does God reveal to you as you study and discuss the scripture passage pondering the question at hand?

What are other passages in the Bible that may speak to the question at hand?

Disclosure Policy for ThreadMatters

September 9, 2011 in Resources with 0 Comments

There are laws and regulations in place to help create an environment of trustworthiness in the blogging community. To comply with these regulations, we have established and maintain a Disclosure Policy.  We also have established Terms of Use for you site, including copyright notices.

I hope you find these disclosures helpful as you read ThreadMatters. ~John

A Free Gift

December 25, 2009 in Threads with 0 Comments

Life beyond our physical time on earth can take one of two paths – forever in the presence of God, or not. In order to choose to be forever in God’s presence, He has asked us to do one thing… receive His free gift of life through Jesus Christ. “What does this mean?” is the question so often asked.

Choices

We have a choice to receive gifts offered to us. People reject gifts for a variety of reasons. However, no other gift that is offered to us has such far-reaching implications. By receiving this gift in Jesus Christ, our whole perspective on life changes. Continue Reading…

take care of the birds

January 4, 2009 in Threads with 1 Comment

take-care-of-the-birds-2on new year’s day, my two sons and i had a construction adventure.  after sketching the design and laying out the cut pattern on paper, i showed jack the plans for our new bird house.  we went through the steps of marking the lumber where we needed to saw the pieces.  step by step, we walked through the process of building the bird house.   i was excited about showing my sons how to use some tools and build something with their hands.  while we were reviewing the plans, jack, my oldest son, asked an insightful question – “did we do this to take care of the birds?”  i was thinking it was just a project to work on together with the boys.  jack’s question reminded me that it is not just about what we are doing in the moment.  God takes care of the birds and all of us in various ways.  He uses us for His purposes.  He asks us to take care of His creation.  may we always be sensitive to what is going on beyond our immediate concerns.

being born and all that

December 25, 2008 in Threads with 0 Comments

this morning at our Christmas breakfast, my twelve-year-old nephew asked God’s blessing over our meal. i want to share with everyone his prayer, as he captured in such a special way the meaning of Christmas.

“Dear God, thank you for this food.  Please bless it to the nourishment of our bodies.  Please help us have a good Christmas together.  Thank you for being born and all that.  Thank you also for dying – not that it was a good thing, but pretty good for us.  Amen.”

yes, indeed.  thank you Justin for keeping it real and helping us all remember the full meaning of Christmas.

church out of the church

December 16, 2008 in Threads with 1 Comment

The pendulum swinging to a pluralistic view of religion is already happening in our churches in America. As Albert Mohler brings to our attention in his blog on The Secularization of the Church, liberal theology has (in my words) “taken church out of the church.” His focus is a recent article about religion in Great Britain.  There are for all of us a couple of lessons to learn from Church of England Archbishop Sentamu’s recent publication Faith in the Nation: Religion, Identity, and the Public Realm in Britain Today as he promotes the idea of the Church of England being viewed and used as a public utility.

Continue Reading…

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