Elliott's Muses

This next Sunday - in our fellowship - I'm going to embark on a teaching journey through the book of Romans.  I awoke this morning at 3:00 a.m. and began to think about this first message.  I already had something on my heart, but as I've "mused" on the opening verses of Romans it has only become more solidified in my heart. We who have "received" Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, have received from the riches of God's grace. This Grace is abundant, and free to us...but it was costly for our Father to give us - it cost him His Son's life. So, what do we then do with this Grace? Paul calls us to live it out... Romans 1:5-6 (ESV)  5  through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6  including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, This grace leads us to a place of obedience.  It does not mean we will never fail.  I know to well how my failur...

I have been reading - since May 1st - the Psalms and Proverbs.  I've gotten to Psalm 111, and have read through Proverbs 3 times now, working on the fourth.  I love the Wisdom literature. Now, I don't want to assume anything, so let me point out that the Wisdom literature is that part of the Old Testament that contains the books Job, Psalm, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs (Solomon).  It's known as the Wisdom literature even though it could be appropriately called the Poetry literature.  Most of the writings in this part of the Old Testament is written in Poetic styles.  It's beautiful literature and contrasts life in a nitty gritty way.  I've recently finished a summer series in Ecclesiastes.  If you're interested you can catch some of that nitty gritty aspect of life - "Life Under the Sun" - on our church's web site -   http://www.nlfellowship.org/ .  Just check under the section under the heading "Teaching" to listen. Here...

Hi my friends, I've taken some time off over the last month from writing, primarily just to take a break - a writing vacation - but the summer is fleeing quickly, and it's time to get back to writing. At the beginning of May I began reading the Psalms and Proverbs - a chapter of each day.  This of course means I'm in my third reading of Proverbs, and about 2/3 of the way through the Psalms.  I have found this to be one of the more enriching times in scripture I've had in a while. Today I read from Psalm 90, and Proverbs 28...here's an interesting verse that made me stop and ponder a bit. Proverbs 28:2 (ESV) 2  When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, but with a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue.   The "land"???  How does the "land" sin? Some other translations may or may not help clarify the statement: Proverbs 28:2 (NIV) 2  When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a man of ...