Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and the Psalm.

Tap here for a video meditation on Psalm 96.

[From the version for young people ]

We humans are the only ones that get into bad moods.  The rest of creation perfectly expresses the joy in being created.  One of the ways of getting out of a bad mood is to be aware of what’s outside yourself: the physical world and all that’s in it. 

Yet in the verses 11 and 12 of the psalm, the word “Let” us used five times when the sacred writer tells us to let the earth be glad.  Hmm…so it seems that in some way, creation waits for us to do this—to get out of our bad moods to allow the creatures of God to be who they are!  Maybe this is part of what it means when God put Adam in charge of all the animals.  It was Adam’s and our job, not to subdue animals and have them serve us, but rather to be the one that sets them free to be themselves and to add praises to God for them.  

Today’s psalm invites you to become a composer: Sing a new song to the Lord.  You might begin to hum or sing in a spontaneous way, just as do the birds and the sound of the wind in the trees.  In this way, we become with all the animals of the forest who are like our sisters and brothers!

 Psalm 96

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More
Example: Sing to the Lord a new song! v. 1

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 Ruth 2:1-19.

[From the original version]

The word “glean” often occurs in this chapter. This is the gathering of the leftover grain after the reapers have completed the harvest.

Notice the sensitivity and reverence that fills the charm of the love story between Boaz and Ruth as the Lord gleans Ruth—an otherwise forgotten foreign woman. Just as Jesus’s disciples glean and gather the fragments of the multiplied loaves lest they be lost, so does God gather this woman into the sacred family that will blossom into Jesus.

Be sensitive to the spiritual feelings that the Holy Spirit will give you as you enter this story. Are you ignored and passed over at times? The Holy Spirit is gathering up the fragments of your forgotten person into the Body of Jesus … lest you be lost.

Ruth 2

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More…
Example: Gleaning the fragments for You v. 2

Tuesdays are dedicated to the Old Testament books of history
and the Hebrew “Writings.”
In the season of Advent this year, we read the Book of Ruth.

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 Isaiah 57:1-15.

[From the original version]

Six identical letters make up the words “silent” and “listen.” If you would listen to the sound of the voice of the Lord through Isaiah in this passage, then your heart must become silent, so that you hear only the sounds of these verses in your depths.

Notice the stunning hardness of heart of those who have yielded to idolatry. Once the first commandment is broken, all the others follow as rows of falling dominoes. The Lord takes you to the silent heights where God dwells. Feel God’s pain. Believe in God’s compassion—infinitely greater than the sin of idolatry. What does the Lord say to you? Do you have sanctuaries of delight other than the Lord’s home within you?

Isaiah 57

Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In the seasons of Advent through Epiphany this year we read Isaiah 56 to 66..

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More..
Example: Contrite and humble within v. 15

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.