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Coffee Break – 06.27.2016

Your Monday Dose Of Inspiration

On this day in history: In 1847, New York and Boston were linked by telegraph wires. In 1918, two German pilots were saved by parachutes for the first time. In 1927, the U.S. Marines adopted the English bulldog as their mascot. And, on a sadder note, in 1985, America’s iconic Route 66 was decertified, after 59 years by American Association of State Highway and Transportation officials.

Coffee Break

Brewing Ratios For Dummies – Most coffee drinkers do not understand just how critical ratios are. Many just add some scoops and add some coffee and let the machine do its work. However, if you want great coffee, you should strive for a 1:15 to 1:17 ratio. This article sums it all up neatly.

Crystal Mill – This mill, found in Crystal, Colorado, was crucial in several mining operations in the vicinity. Built in 1892, this is a very picturesque location that I would like to visit one day.

Glass Gem Corn – I have seen examples of “Indian Corn” before, usually in the fall, as decorations, but this corn blows that away in terms of beauty! This stuff looks incredible! You can buy some here.

Gramercy Typewriter Co. – I love old typewriters, and would like to add a couple of very vintage typewriters to my collection. This video takes look at Gramercy, who have been in the business for 84 years.

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Memorize Scripture: 1 Peter 1:12

Hiding God’s Word In Our Hearts

Peter compared faith to gold in the verses just preceding this week’s passage, and now goes into just how incredible this faith really is.

You can see this passage for yourself in 1 Peter 1:12.

1 Peter 1:12

When the prophets of the Old Testament were proclaiming the Word of God, they were not always speaking of things pertaining to themselves, or even their contemporaries. They were speaking of things to come, to “you,” Peter says to his readers.

Peter’s readers were among those whom the prophets were serving. What I find to be especially amazing is that this includes you and me, reading this letter today. The prophets wrote things that were meant for us to understand that they longed to understand themselves.

Of course, what they longed to know were things that pertained to the Gospel. They foretold things such as the sufferings of the Christ, his crucifixion, his resurrection, his glories. But they didn’t, couldn’t, know what these things meant when they spoke or wrote them. These things were yet to come, and they longed to know.

What they did know was revealed to them by the Holy Spirit. This is the same Holy Spirit that filled the believers in Acts 2. This is the same Holy Spirit that was promised as “Comforter” by Christ himself. This is the same Holy Spirit that lives in us. He comes from Heaven, and thereby underscores the divine importance of the message he brought to the prophets.

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Revealed: God With Us

Christ Revealed In The Gospel Of John

This week, we are beginning a new sermon series at our church, going through the gospel of John. We are calling it God With Us.

Revealed: God With Us

Actually, what I have done is divided the gospel of John into four smaller sections. Each section will be a sermon series in itself. We will cover two sections this year, and then break for the holidays, and another small series in early 2017. After that, we will pick back up in John and finish with the last two sections.

One of the main themes that runs through the book of John is the theme of Christ revealed. In each of the four sections, John seems to reveal a different aspect of Jesus, and builds around that characteristic. Each of these four areas are worth looking at individually, in order to see the whole picture that John represents.

John wrote his gospel about 30 years after Matthew, Mark, and Luke wrote theirs. That means about 60 years after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into Heaven is the time frame in which John writes. And about 90 percent of what is in John is unique to John. It is not found in the other three, the Synoptic gospels. And John spends about two-thirds of his time focusing upon the last week of Jesus’ life.

Vacation!

I am very focused when it comes to routine. When I get into a system of doing things, I rarely like to change it up, unless I can improve upon it in some fashion. As a result, I don’t take my vacations like I should.

But this week, I am taking a much needed break, the first week off since we moved to Cabool. We don’t have any plans, and my biggest goal is to spend as much time in the hammock as I can.

But, because of this, things will be on hiatus here at JeffRandleman.com as well. I will get back into the swing of things next week, but don’t plan on doing much for the next few days. It should be very relaxing for my family and me.

See you next week!

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Memorize Scripture: 1 Peter 1:10-11

Hiding God’s Word In Our Hearts

Peter has just called the attention of his readers to the salvation which they had received and the hope that they had. Not only is this salvation spectacular, it is unique to mankind.

Take a look at this passage in 1 Peter 1:10-11.

1 Peter 1:10-11

Not only is mankind overwhelmed by this great salvation that Christ has obtained for us, but the prophets of old and even angels long to know about this salvation that Peter is describing.

According to this passage, Peter explains how this salvation was of the greatest of interest to the prophets of the Old Testament. Perhaps one of the greatest themes of the Old Testament prophets is the grace that would be revealed when the Messiah came. Peter, along with Paul and several other New Testament writers point to this interest of the prophets multiple times.

Peter describes them as looking intently into the future, longing to know more about this grace and salvation.

The topic of grace is one of the main topics of 1 Peter, and is probably due to the fact that Peter knew just how important this topics was to the Old Testament writers. And if something carries that much weight before it even occurs, it must be worth paying attention to. And that is just what Peter does, along with most of the rest of the New Testament.

Grace is paramount.