Marching Forth!

The first miracle recorded by Jesus was when he attended a wedding in Cana of Galilee.  It could be an entire year of preparation went into planning a wedding, an occasion that could last a week or more.  At this wedding the unthinkable happened:  they ran out of wine.  Mary told Jesus about the predicament, as He asked her what her concern had to do with Him.  But as always, Jesus knew exactly what He would do. There were six large waterpots used to hold water for Jewish purification rites before and after meals.   John 2:7-10 reads, " Jesus said to them, " Fill the waterpots with water ." And they filled them up to the brim.  8  And He said to them, " Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast ." And they took it.  9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegro...

" The sun and moon will grow dark, a nd the stars will diminish their brightness.  16  The LORD also will roar from Zion, a nd utter His voice from Jerusalem;  t he heavens and earth will shake;  b ut the LORD will be a shelter for His people,  a nd the strength of the children of Israel ." Joel 3:15-16 The prophet wrote of the day of the LORD, a future judgment of the nations by the almighty God of Israel.  When I read this description there are striking similarities to when Jesus died on the cross.  For three hours darkness shrouded the globe and the sun and moon did not shine.  Before He lay down His life Jesus cried out from the cross, "It is finished!" and there was an earthquake.  The Lion of the tribe of Judah roared from Calvary to signal His ultimate, everlasting victory.  For followers of Jesus Christ at the time it was a troubling, tragic turn, for the One they believed was the promised Messiah was slain. What they did ...

When my sons were younger they enjoyed watching Sponge Bob, and I have seen my fair share of episodes over the years as well.  Recurring characters Mr. Krabs, the owner of a successful diner, has a rival named Plankton who manged a floundering establishment called "The Chum Bucket."  Mr. Krabs knows the success of the Krusty Krab is due to their hugely popular menu item, the Krabby Patty.  Plankton's evil, always-foiled plan is to infiltrate the Krusty Krab to steal the Krabby Patty formula so he can be a successful restaurateur himself.  This sort of scheme is not limited to silly cartoons but occurs in business, sport, the military and wherever hidden information exists that could be potentially used to damage rivals or benefit self.  This happened in the early church, and it still occurs to this day. After Jesus Christ appeared to Paul and revealed the Gospel to him, Paul boldly preached this message of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus to the Gentile...

At a cafe years ago I observed something that was akin to reverse culture shock.  I am originally from California, and while living in Australia shared coffee with a ministry team also from the Golden State.  One fellow's interest was drawn to a particular item he wondered might be too rich--especially since he had not been going to the gym as usual.  After hearing him audibly vacillate between two opinions I encouraged him to order the item as a special treat, for he would possibly never have the opportunity to order it again.  He did so only to pawn it off on everyone else--not because it did not suit his sweet tooth--but because he could not stop talking about how many calories he was putting into his body. After every reluctant bite he would say something like, "Now I need to go on a jog!" or "That will be another 15 minutes in the gym" and "Don't tell my wife."  As one who enjoys baking and eating desserts of all kinds, this behaviour was most...