Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and Psalm 94:1-15.

Tap here for a video meditation on Psalm 94.

[From the original version]

When a child is about to make a sandcastle on the beach, he or she first takes the forearm and clears a smooth space in the sand, soon to receive the creative shapings. It is the same for us when we begin to pray.

Clear a space within. When the Holy Spirit speaks, your soul will receive the words as God shaping your soul. Listen inwardly to what you read so that the finger of God will etch the Word on you soul. Recall the words of St. Paul in Romans 10:17: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

What moves you as you listen? What does the Spirit seek to etch upon your heart, turned from a heart of stone to one of flesh by God’s love?

Your journal page is as the sand, waiting to receive what the Spirit says to you. Yet unlike sandcastles, the clear Word of the Lord remains forever.

Psalm 94

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: My thoughts as an empty breath v. 11

We follow a reading of the Psalms in numerical order.

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

Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and Ecclesiastes 7:7-12.

[From the version for young people ]

Every last Tuesday of the church year, we take a look at a book that is said to have been written by Solomon toward the end of his life. It’s called Ecclesiastes.  He takes a somber look in many ways, yet one that has quiet wisdom running through it. Solomon stands at the end of his life and looks back on everything.  From that point of view, things fall into place alongside other things and events.  

“Finishing is better than starting”…I like that line.  The crowd of people beginning to run a Marathon is not as interesting as the few that lead the race and the ones who come in ahead of all. 

As you imagine the end of your life, whether it ends in the far off distance, and maybe even sadly, much sooner: take a moment and go to the end and think for some moments about what was really important to you in your whole life.  I hope it’s got something do to with loving others, finding God’s plan for your life and doing it, looking at the qualities about yourself by which you’ll want to be remembered.  

Well, you’re not dead yet!  There’s time for you right now to become the kind of person you really want to be.  

Ecclesiastes 5—8

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More…
Example: Busy with the joy of heart 5:20

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

Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and Daniel 12:5-13.

[From the version for young people]

Daniel is given a vision of what is going to happen at the end of the world.  Matthew, Mark and Luke have similar stories offered by Jesus and his disciples as they stand before the great Temple. The book of Revelation has similar stories.  

It sounds like a scary time, yet Jesus our King is in charge and with us.  The picture of the man in linen white…Though Daniel lives centuries before Christ, he gets a glimpse of Jesus in this man dressed in linen.  I’m reminded of Revelation 7 we read a few weeks back, how the suffering of the saints caused their clothes to become white when they were drenched in the blood of the lamb: Jesus.

So we come to the end of book of Daniel which has been with us for the past thirteen Mondays.  This young teenager went through adventures, saw visions—every moment of his life, he was touched by God because he was willing to be close to God and to do what God wants.  If you and I have that same desire, God will show us what we need to know about the deep, inner meaning of things.  This does not only mean at the end of the world, but at the end of each moment, when we pause and spend some time being quiet. God will give us the wisdom to understand what situations and events mean from God’s point of view.  Hey, now there’s a point of view I would like to have!

 Daniel 12  

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.