The Savage Five

All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it.  1 Corinthians 12:28 NLT The more I am part of the Body of Christ the more I see it as a gift from God.  However, when individuals in the Body of believers think independently of the concept of the Body then an entitlement attitude arises in hearts and minds that is like cyanide to their spirits depriving the larger Body of Christ. en·ti·tle·ment inˈtīdlmənt,enˈtīdlmənt/ noun the fact of having a right to something. "full  entitlement to  fees and maintenance should be offered" synonyms: right ,  prerogative ,  claim ;  More the amount to which a person has a right. "annual leave entitlement" synonyms: right ,  prerogative ,  claim ;  More the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment. "no wonder your kids have a  sense of entitlement " En...

na·vel-gaz·ing ˈnāvəl ɡāziNG/ noun self-indulgent or excessive contemplation of oneself or a single issue, at the expense of a wider view. Satan's fall had everything to do with his excessive contemplation of himself.   Take a look at the way he speaks in Isaiah 14:12-14 "How are you fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How are you cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ' I will ascend to heaven: above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the  clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. We too are in jeopardy of falling out of fellowship with God and others when we continually focus on ourselves, at the expense of a wider view of the church and the church's mission. So often people get wrapped up in their daily lives that they don't ...

I recently donated my blood.  I gave a part of myself so that someone else may have a better chance of living.  I came to this decision because my blood type is O negative. O negative blood cells are called "universal" meaning they can be transfused to almost any patient in need.  Individuals with O negative blood can only receive O negative blood in an emergency situation. Being the universal blood, O negative blood is usually the blood that they carry on medical helicopters so that they don't have to think before giving blood in a life or death situation.  O negative blood is also the safest type to administer to newborn infants with under developed immune systems.   Needless to say, O negative blood is a liquid offering to some who are in jeopardy of losing their lives.   Jesus Christ's self sacrificing liquid offering was poured out as a sacrifice so that ALL MANKIND would LIVE and not die.   Leviticus foreshadows the i...

"Human weakness is a place where the powers quickly exploit."     ~ Rande Greene~ 2 Corinthians 4:7 NLT We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.  This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.   Like a pot that has been broken from the moisture trapped in its porous material during severe temperature changes, so too our weaknesses can cause fissures in the apparent integrity of our lives. However, the incredible thing about our brokenness when our lives are hidden in Christ is that like him, our weaknesses are the same place where the powers are disarmed, defeated and humiliated! Colossians 2:6-15 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith,  just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.   See to it that no one takes you captive by philo...

"Babies need their milk or they will die.  They are pretty inflexible when it comes to being fed!"                                                                                                                               ~Rande Greene 1Peter 2:2 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.  Cry out for this nourishment,  One summer while visiting family in Iowa, my mom came back from a friend's house with a baby robin that had fallen out of its nest in a wind storm.  It had nary a feather in sight except for some fuzz sticking off the top of its head.  It's eyes wer...

Each March I wait eagerly for the appearance of the crocus.  The crocus is a perennial that sprouts from a corm, a rounded underground storage organ of the plant that consists of a swollen stem base covered with scale leaves. Whenever I see the first crocus I feel like a kid again, who with eager expectation, has patiently endured the bitter winter once again only to be encouraged by the appearing of this little jewel of a flower. This precious little flower has been sought after for centuries as one particular species dons  the favored buttery spice saffron on its long crimson stigma. A stigma plays a pivotal role in a flower's reproduction.  The stigma of a flower is usually covered with a sticky substance that acts as a landing zone that traps pollen by hairs, folds and a waxy substance.  Once trapped here the pollen travels down a tube and fertilizes the flower's ovule. Interestingly enough the dictionary provides 2 definitions for stigma: stig·...