Contributed by Pastor Ken Van Tuyl

The series of parables related in Luke 15 all speak to the eternal perspective of a sinner who repents – once lost, now found. But the crescendo of them all is the father’s response to the return of his prodigal son. The son who ‘wasted his substance with riotous living’ (v. 13) and who was in the midst of physical famine when he ‘came to himself.’ (v. 17) When he had fully expended his futile and selfish wiles and wishes and found they added up to nothing, he knew where he could turn – his father. Though he thought all bridges of the relationship were broken – ‘I am no more worthy to be called thy son’ – he underestimated his father’s heart. (v. 21)

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“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” –John 5:39

We see that Jesus is conversing with the Pharisees, men who spend their lives in the Word of God. These were men who ate and drank the Scriptures constantly in their lives, and yet…something was wrong. So taking this at face value, it would seem that a normal faithful life devoted to just reading the Bible is not enough. There needs to be more, but what? Blackaby once said, “God doesn’t make suggestions. He speaks with the full determination to see what He has said will come to fruition.”

Think about an event in Scripture where you read about Jesus speaking without something extraordinary happening. The barren fig tree and its demise; or creation simply just spoke into existence; and how many attempts did it take to get Lazarus’ attention? We need to stop just reading our Bibles and start experiencing His word transforming everything about us!

The Pharisees were satisfied with just the head knowledge of God’s word, and missing out on the relationship. We need to have the mentality that when God speaks, nothing remains the same. So my encouragement to you, brothers and sisters, is this: next time you meet with the Lord for your morning devotions and coffee…don’t approach it as a routine, approach it with a holy expectation!

Contributed by Casey Fritz

The Chrisitian theology that “the Lord Your God is One” is unique amongst many of the world’s religions. We lift our voices of prayer and thanksgiving to the One true Creator and Redeemer of our souls. We are given the title of “monotheists”, in that we claim to worship a single God that is ruler and judge over all.

But I see a tendency in myself, as well as the people around me; a tendency to be a Chronic Polytheist. That is to say, though I (we) claim to be monotheists, there is this constant navigation back to the world of polytheism. An ever present drift from worshiping and serving one God to worshiping and serving many “gods”; from serving the True and Holy One to serving the “gods” of this age. Though I am given the title of monotheist based on what I claim to believe, if you were to judge me based on my actions, you would have to come to the conclusion that I am a polytheist, for it is aparent that I am serving more than one “god”.

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