Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and Revelation 10:8-11 and 11:15-18.

[From the version for young people]

You’ll have to slow up your imagination to catch all the strong images that John unfolds for us in his visions.  Just as in yesterday’s psalm about good and evil and about which one is going to win, so too the verses of these chapters share similar stories, though much more grand and big.

 Let’s take the image of eating the scroll which we find in 10:9-11.  When we read the Bible each day, it really is like eating it!  We are meant not only to take the words in our mind, but into our whole body and person as well.  Just as in the case of Holy Communion, so also when we read God’s Word with great attention, this Word enters us completely and can change us.  At first, says John, there is a sweetness to it, like honey.  But then, as the Word really gets inside us, the challenge to our lives and to our call to be witness to God can move us so much that it might feel like food upsetting the stomach.  

There’s a swing from sweet and sour with God’s Word….But then again, there’s a sauce for Chinese food that deliberately is sweet and sour for the enjoyment of eating certain foods.  So really, the sweet and sour aspects of God’s Word blend into an overall great enjoyment, for the sourness becomes the joy of God’s power and triumph soon to come, just as happens in the glorious ending of the reading for today.

Revelation 10—11

Find out all about Bible Breaths Learn More…

Example:The breath of God returning 11:11

Thursdays are dedicated to the letters of Paul, other letters,
the Book of Acts, and the Book of Revelation.
In season of Kingdomtide this year,
we read 1 and 2 Thessalonians; Revelation 4—11.

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 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