Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and 2 Kings 19:8-19.

[From the original version]

Finally, a good king comes on the scene, Hezekiah. Yet even he waffles from total fidelity to the Lord. Take special note of verses 5 and 6 in chapter 18 and embrace the terms of greatness in the sight of the Lord.  ⁵ He relied on the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah after him or among those who were before him. ⁶ For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following him but kept the commandments that the Lord had commanded Moses.

Adventure, excitement, and faith increase in chapter 19. Be moved by what King Hezekiah does when he gets that letter from King Sennacherib of Assyria, defying and blaspheming the God of the Hebrews. Hezekiah spreads the letter before the Lord in the Temple.

Hezekiah’s gesture is a sacrament of his faith in the Lord—a physical act whose meaning and energy are found in the world of the Spirit. Lay your case before the Lord, wide open, with nothing concealed. Abandon yourself to God. Divine power is released in a heart open to it.

2 Kings 17—19

What are Bible Breaths? Learn More…
Example: No fear of words not from You 19:6

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 10:8-19.

[From the version for young people]

The goodness of Daniel comes through again and again, as God grants him visions of the things of heaven.  It’s all so much for Daniel: he is overwhelmed with fear!  But listen to the words of reassurance of God, calling him “greatly loved by God.”

Now God loves every one of us, yet God’s joy in us is the greater the more we are open to listen to God and to see with our hearts what God wants to show us.  Daniel’s soul is completely open to God—like a window pane of perfectly clear glass through which God’s life just pours into his soul.  Daniel kept the windows of his soul very clean by prayer, good works and just wanting to be pleasing to God.  

May you and I keep our soul clean and clear so that God’s presence can come through.  Prayer, longing to be in contact with God, loving others: all these acts on our part will be like spiritual Windex for the soul!

Daniel 10

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…
Example: You touch me and I am safe. v. 18

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.

[From the original version]

Jesus compresses all the laws and ordinances that the Pharisees believed must be kept in order to attain God and reduces them to two—love of God and love of neighbor as oneself. These bring one to the brink of the Kingdom.

Yet what is it that has one enter all the way into the Kingdom? The final movement is from Jesus alone. Believe in the Lord’s sacrificial death for love of you and me; live while being open to die out of love; this completes your entry into the Kingdom. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

With this incident, Jesus’ adversaries question him no more. A Rabbi once said: “Where there is faith, there are no questions; where there is no faith, there are no answers.”

Mark 12:28–34

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: “Loving neighbor as yourself” v. 31

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.