Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and Ezekiel 8:1-13.

Go with Ezekiel lifted on high between heaven and earth. Behold the visions the Lord unfolds for him. Abominations of idolatry are committed. Feel the jealousy of God as worship of idols is described, with all the horrible practices that accompany this. The purity of God cannot tolerate such contamination. Those that continue to practice idolatry must be eliminated.

Look into the hole in your own heart, as into the eye-piece of a microscope. What do you see going on there? The pace of life, the demands of others can lure us into living out priorities that are not God’s—idols that God abhors. What do you see that fills your inner space? Release your hold on any idol. “Sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within” (9:4).

Ezekiel 8—9

Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In the season of Easter we read Ezekiel 1—16.

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Your hand ever upon me 8:1

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 the Gospel.

Christians of ancient Rome buried their dead and worshipped in underground chambers called catacombs. The earliest images of art found on those dark walls are drawings of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. The entrances to the catacombs were reminders that Jesus is the door to the Sheepfold. There Christians were safe from the emperor-thief intent upon destroying God’s beloved ones.

Today is “Good Shepherd Sunday.” There is an ancient tradition of reading from John 10 on this center Sunday of the Easter Season. We read three sections of this chapter in the three-year cycle.

On Tuesday we will begin to read from the Song of Songs where the beloved of the Shulamite woman is a shepherd. Rest in the love of the Good Shepherd who came to life again.

John 10:1–10

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: You calling me by my name v. 3

Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.
During Lent and Easter, we read from the Gospel of John.

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 Leviticus 19:1-4;9-18.

Ceremonial and moral laws are considered again, as in Exodus and Deuteronomy. First on the list is honoring of father and mother. Four times Jesus quotes the second half of v. 18 as a summary of all the commandments with respect to our neighbor (Matthew 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27).
The manner of treating strangers is very sacred in the life of a Jew. Respect for them is due because the Jew was a stranger in the land of Egypt. The stranger and the sacred were very much understood together. Benedict, born about 480 A.D., the founder of western monasticism, stated in his Rule: Hospes venit, Christus venit: “A stranger comes, Christ comes.” The spirituality of Leviticus interprets all things as either connected to God, the sacred, or disconnected from God, the profane. Doing the will of God means that all choices are in keeping with what the Lord calls the person to be. Everything is potentially sacred.

Leviticus 19

This is the second of three parts of the Torah Portion Kedoshim (Holy) 
Conservative and Reform Jewish congregations read only this part this year,
as also in this Bible plan.
Here is the entire portion in all three parts.

Leviticus 19—20

Learn about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Holy, for Your are holy v. 2

The Saturday passages follow the reading list that Jewish people use in their synagogue worship
throughout the world. They are taken from
“The Torah,” the first five books of the Bible from Genesis to Deuteronomy
that are read each year beginning with autumn.

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