Weekend Connection

WEEKEND TIME WITH THE LORD ...

1 Samuel 17 Bible Study Pages

1 Samuel 17 Commentary Insights by David Guzik

WEEKEND BEAUTY ...

Enjoy this wintry scene by my brother, a professional landscape photographer.

WEEKEND FOOD FOR THOUGHT ...

Some interesting articles and resources here. Some you may agree with, some you may not. Enjoy the journey of wrestling through the conversations here.

2020 Clarity Conference Archives (Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa)
The Clarity Conference - A conference to ask honest questions of the Christian faith to church leaders and seek CLARITY on our identity, purpose, and calling.

Max Lucado's Endorsement of Jen Hatmaker:
​What It Means and Why It Matters

"With the most recent guest of Hatmaker’s new podcast series being Andy Stanley, and based on a recent Facebook post, it seems she is trying to bridge the divide between Evangelicals and progressives. On first blush, this could seem like a good thing, because unity is a consistent theme throughout the New Testament. It’s the very thing Jesus prayed for in John 17:22, and what Paul sought to actualize among the first century believers. But is this type of unity biblical, or does the Bible actually warn against being united with everyone who considers themselves to be Christian?"

What Do We Do When We Don't Want to Read the Bible

"If you’re reading this, I don’t need to convince you that the Bible is an amazing book. It is the revelation of the God above, a lamp beneath our feet, a rock of certainty in uncertain times, and it contains the most beautiful news that we can ever hear: the love of Jesus Christ, Lord of all, poured on a cross for you and me. Given that it is the Word of God, exhaled by Him, it is a holy, beautiful, worthy, just, wise and good book. And so we approach the Bible in humility and faith, with the understanding that all its words are true and deserve our total obedience.Amen? Amen!

But it doesn’t always feel like that.
​
Even though we Christians are the people of The Book, we don’t always feel like going to it. It is very easy for us to drift away and spend weeks, or even months, without spending significant time in the Scriptures. It has been my case at different times of my Christian walk, and I’ve heard it first hand from a hundred others. What follows are five suggestions that can help us in our search to desire the Bible more."

How Sex Became King

"From Genesis to Revelation, sexual sin rears its head as a consistent expression of human fallenness, of humanity’s tendency to answer the serpent’s Did God really say? with No, I suppose he didn’t. So in broad strokes, the answer to the question atop this page is simply that sex became king when Satan became the prince of the power of the air, the purveyor of the spirit now at work in the sons of disobedience. Even though his is a lame-duck regime, its effects are everywhere, its seed still growing (Eph. 2:1–4).

Because of this, there’s never been a culture made up of people predisposed to obey God, one where it was easy or natural to repent of sins and trust God’s Word about anything, much less our sexual preferences. Any “Golden Age” of Christianity in America is a fiction. Instead, what sits in our rearview is a long line of Gilded Ages. Christianity is not about repristination, but redemption.

In the past half-century, the sun of providence has set at an alarming pace, such that many Christians feel as though we now live in the dark, our lights irrevocably under a bushel and unable to shine. The seed of sin is spreading, and sometimes it seems unstoppable.

​How did sex become this kind of king, with this large a kingdom?"

It Is Not Good That The Man Should Be Alone

Thought-provoking ideas here on the need for meaningful, sustainable community. You may take issue with some of David French's assertions here.

"One thing I learned was that lives were changed through a sustained, dedicated, loving community. A functioning community doesn’t just provide love and resources. Indeed, if your ministry was defined by hugs and handouts, it would be ripe for exploitation. People would smile and accept both, but their lives wouldn’t fundamentally change. A functioning community includes elements of discipline and instruction as well.

The love has to be persistent. When a kid didn’t show up at church after he’d been attending for a while, we’d sometimes dash out between Sunday school and worship services and head straight to their homes, knock on their doors and ask if they were okay. We’d offer them a ride to worship and invite them to lunch after services. We jokingly called our car the “soul repo van.” But the goal was simple—let them know that they were not alone. They were part of a community.
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And the instruction has to be real. People do not magically become diligent students or productive workers simply because someone loved them. Opportunity isn’t always easy in this country, but opportunity exists. A person has to be taught how to seize it, and they have to practice the basic life habits necessary to follow through."

What is the Single Best Thing We Can Do For Our Health

WEEKEND SCRIPTURE MEDITATION

WEEKEND FOOD FOR FRIENDS & FAMILY ...

Who doesn't love a January winter stew?

Slow Cooker Beef Stew ​
Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon paprika

 

• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
• 3 potatoes, diced
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped

Directions

1. Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery.
2. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.

WEEKEND WORSHIP

Lovely worship from our friends over at Maranatha Chapel (Pastor Ray Bentley) in San Diego. 

WEEKEND READING