Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Fri, 07/14/2023 - 6:18am
Acts 14.27
“Are we ‘monks’ or ‘missionaries’?”
This was the topic of the email I sent out on Monday morning the 27th of June 2022. (About this time last year.)
Later that day I received an email from “Sara” asking me to remove her name from my mailout list. She thought comparing monks to missionaries was unchristian. I do not know “Sara”. A mutual friend asked if she could be added to thins mailout. My reply to “Sara” is below.
Good morning “Sara”.
Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Wed, 07/05/2023 - 10:36am
Psalms 37:40
(For context, please note this was the devotion in our church bulletin from one year ago, as are most of these.)
We don’t always know that we are trusting in the Lord, but sooner or later OUR TRUST IN THE LORD WILL BE TESTED!
The past several weeks, leading up to our Missions Conference, which is a very important time for us as a church, we were tested as a church!
Our Missions Conference is IMPORTANT BECAUSE:
Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Wed, 07/05/2023 - 9:50am
Isaiah 32.17
That sounds good, “peace … quiet”... in fact - that sounds great!
We often think, “Peace and quiet… ahh!”
Hang on, there’s more, there is the other word, “assurance” – that’s great too. We can have the assurance that everything will be peace and quiet! We can have the assurance that everything will work out for the best!
That’s just a fairy tale!
Nobody can have all of that… can they?
Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Wed, 07/05/2023 - 9:37am
Mark 16:15
Our Missions Conference is next week, and I believe the story below is a great illustration of both our desire to share the gospel with others, and how our effort is all part of our service too!
In a remote village in Central America the word got out among the peoples of the region that one of the missionaries that had served this country for many years was about to return to the US to live out the remaining years of her life.
Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Thu, 06/01/2023 - 12:43pm
Romans 10.14
“How..?” “and how?” “and how…?”
The answer is in the next few verses:
“…how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Sat, 05/27/2023 - 9:07am
Job 23.7
Does the Bible here tell me that I can be delivered from ever being judged eternally for my sin?
I think so!
Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Thu, 05/18/2023 - 8:45am
Job 10.15-16
This sounds like someone is just complaining again, but it’s not. No, this is going to a level most of us will NEVER see…
“mine affliction… it increaseth…”
This is Job. He knew the Lord. He was a perfect (mature) and upright man. Job feared the Lord. He loved the Lord, and he hated evil. He was a good husband and father and made sacrifices for his family. He was also kind, wealthy, and a generous leader in his community.
Then the day came that he lost everything.
Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Wed, 05/10/2023 - 10:47am
Nehemiah 9.37
I never noticed these verses before. Sin had made the people of Israel slaves in their own land! “Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it: And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.”
Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Thu, 05/04/2023 - 10:13am
Psalm 27.1
That word: “is...”, that little word with just two letters, “is...”
“The LORD is...” What exactly should it mean to us?
Well for me, it’s sometimes very important that I realize “The LORD is...”
Yes, the LORD was, and He always will be. The LORD God, our Lord Jesus Christ - Eternal. It’s one of His attributes (character/qualities). And it’s an amazing attribute! He has always been, and He will always be!
Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Wed, 04/26/2023 - 11:03am
2 Samuel 22.36
These two words are often seen to be poles apart - the words gentle and great.
Every time I read this verse I have to stop and think about the gentleness of God, and the gentleness of Christ and how I too should be gentle in sharing the gospel with the lost, in helping Christians grow in grace. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 10:1 “Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ...”
David said, “...thy gentleness hath made me great.”
