Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict Norman Buwalda was the chairman of the Canadian Exotic Animal Owner's Association. As the chairman, he fought tirelessly for the right of individuals to keep exotic animals in their homes. He personally owned a 600 lbs. Siberian tiger. I believe this is a terrible idea. Eventually, wild animals show their wild side. Ownin...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict Sadhu Sundar Singh is not your typical image of a Christian. He was born in 1889 to a Sikh family in Punjab, India. Sikhism is a monotheistic form of Hinduism that rejects the caste system. Growing up Sundar was extremely hostile to the Christian faith. This hostility came to a head when he was fourteen and his mother die...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict Mark Twain once quipped, "History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme." In our passage for this Sunday, we will hear a distinct rhyme of Biblical history. As the prophet, Elijah is running from Jezebel, and Ahab the Lord directs his path to Mt. Horeb. There Elijah meets with the Lord and is commissioned for the next...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict The Exxon Valdez oil spill changed the environment in Prince William Sound for years to come. An oil tanker hit a reef in the sound and proceeded to spill more than 38 million gallons of crude oil into the water. The isolated location of the spill made it almost impossible to respond to the crisis in a timely manner. As ...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Deepfake technology uses artificial intelligence to transform an imposter into an almost undetectable duplicate of another person. Earlier this year footage was released of a deepfake of the Queen of England delivering a Christmas message. Those who did not know better would have been deceived by the digital rendering of the Queen. Other deepf...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict In our passage for this week, we continue to learn about Elijah's time with the Sidonian widow. As you remember from last week the Lord provided unending provision for her and her son as Elijah stayed in their home. However, in this week's passage tragedy strikes her home; her son grows ill and dies. Being raised in a ...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict This week's passage is about the Lord's provision during times of hardship. In response to Ahab's apostasy, the Lord sends a drought upon Israel. This drought was designed for two purposes. The first was discipline for false worship. The second was grace to teach Israel that the Lord alone provides. Baal was the Canaanite...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict Growing up during the Cold War era it felt as though the conflict with the Soviet empire was an unchanging reality. The evil of the atheistic communist government was so entrenched that its continuation seemed inevitable. However, almost overnight the empire crumbled, and Soviet rule was ended. What seemed to be an unconq...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict This Sunday we begin a new sermon series on Elijah and Elisha in the books of 12 Kings. Many of us are familiar with the stories surrounding the miraculous and powerful ministries of these two prophets. However, we often overlook the context of their ministry. Sin had brought division among God's people. In the south, the...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Another Christmas has come and gone, for some expectations were met and for others, it was perhaps another year of disappointment. Whatever your feelings, one thing is true for all of us, we have entered the space between Christmas and the New Year and the space between winter and spring. It can be a hard and difficult week and season of...