Apprentice 2 Jesus

Common English Bible

  • Today on Pentecost Sunday BE the Church God Intended

    We need a refreshing touch, a new outpouring. We need a fresh reminder of how much we need him, and how lame our efforts are without him. We make too much noise and think it’s God. We need the NOISE of a mighty wind that makes it clear… this is God. When Pentecost Day arrived, they… Read more

  • The Price of Pentecost

    Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. It is celebrated worldwide in the Church. Pentecostals think we’re the only ones who know anything about this. I know that was my mentality for years. Then, I find out the whole Church has a liturgy for this day! One of the prayers for the day: To a world dry and… Read more

  • The True Power of the Spirit

    One of my favorite verses in the entire Bible is Romans 8:11 11 If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your human bodies also, through his Spirit that lives in you. We truly live in… Read more

  • The Common English Bible and “Flesh”

    One of the small translation choices of the NIV was the use of “sinful nature” over the straight use of the Greek word “flesh.” When the TNIV was published, then trashed, and the Committee for Bible Translation decided to back everything up and start over, the one surprise for me out of the whole process… Read more

  • The Power of the Spirit – From Confusion to Clarity

    The walk through Romans 6-8 is more like a roller coaster ride. There is the power of salvation, being set free from the bondage of sin, in Chapter 6. Then, there is the confusion we have in our own lives when we struggle with what we know TO do while we fall into the temptation… Read more

  • Something or Someone WILL Own You

    Slave to sin… or slave to righteousness? Either way, you’re owned. Something vies for control. Something vies for allegiance. Christ has come to set us free. That freedom leads to new “ownership.” The terms of slavery are used, but freedom is found in the new “ownership.” We are headed into the Pentecost Sunday. It is… Read more

  • Are You Dead Yet?

    One of my favorite fun movies is Cool Runnings. It’s a comedy about the Jamaican bobsled team. When the team would crash in practice, the driver would ask, “Sanka, are you dead, mon?” He would answer, “Yeah, mon.” We need to remember this as believers. We need to realize we are dead to the old… Read more

  • Quit Hanging Around the Corpse

    We have a fascination with death, being dead, being undead, etc. I am not even going to attempt to categorize any of it because I pay very little attention to it and all I will get are comments about how I mis-categorized something. My point is this: we need to quit hanging around the corpse.… Read more

  • Don’t Move Until You Get It

    Several years ago there was a movie called Searching for Bobby Fischer, about a chess whiz kid named Josh Waitzkin. In one scene, the chess tutor gives Josh a scenario and tells him, “Don’t move until you see it.” He was telling Josh, “There is victory for you in this situation. It’s several steps away,… Read more

  • It’s Pentecost

    Next Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. It’s about the only time the Church is somewhat focused on the member of the Trinity we really don’t understand. So… we don’t talk about the Spirit much. If you’re Pentecostal, you are defined by the events of Acts 2, but still may not have a grasp on just WHO… Read more