[From the original version]

Amid the stench of death, God is constantly at work to put an end to the evil that leads the Chosen People to ruin and apostasy. The Lord is cleaning house!

Shining as a gentle light of life comes today’s verse, so dear to John Wesley. We need others in our lives with whom hearts and hands can be joined, freed from the fears of sharing life closely, discovering the comfort and the joy of the body of Christ in whom we live, move and have our being.

Do not accept an external type of church-life as a substitute for the vibrant, spiritual intimacy of being one with a community of “Friends in the Lord.”

2 Kings 10—11

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More…

Tuesdays are dedicated to the Old Testament books of history
and the Hebrew “Writings.”
In the season of Kingdomtide this year we read Proverbs 22—23; 2 Kings; Ecclesiastes 5—8.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information

[From the original version in the book]

While there are various interpretations of the visions of Daniel, do not forget the obvious: it is about spiritual warfare. Let the grandeur of the images do their work within as you identify with this young, faithful hero, our model for Mondays this season. A commentary will help you find various lenses through which to see these visions.

Someone once said that the battleground for spiritual warfare is the space between your two ears. We have victory in the sign of the cross. Place your present struggles against the assured victory in the end. No matter how things look to you, remember, we “walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). The victory has already taken place in the heavenlies, as well as in the bottom of your own soul.

Daniel 7

Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In the season of Kingdomtide this year, we read the Book of Daniel.

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.

[From the version for families with children]

Stand in the middle of your room and slowly turn around.  There are likely a T.V., video games, stereos, perhaps a computer…lots of good stuff that you are very important to you.  Now consider this: suppose you could have a life of peace, happiness and love, and a sense by faith of God’s presence and love, but it would mean that you would have to let go of the things that you possess.  Would you be willing to let go of them?  Suppose there was a very poor child in school with you who had nothing: would you be willing to give one of the things you enjoy so that he or she could have them?

This is the kind of challenge that Jesus puts to a rich man in today’s Gospel. The way of life that Jesus offers, called “The Kingdom,” is one in which the welfare and salvation of someone else is more important than your own.  It means sacrifice and a willingness to let go of things, for so often these get between us and God.  Is there anything in the world that is worth it, if it means that it blocks your way to God and God’s love?   

  Mark 10:17-31

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…

Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.
In year B, we read from the Gospel of Mark

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.