From the Heart by B.Demaere

For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen.  These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth.  And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that god made with hands are not gods.  And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing…. (Acts 19:24-27) The goddess Artemis was a Greek goddess of wild animals, the hunt, and vegetation.   Yet one silversmith in Ephesus was becoming wealthy as well as providing jobs for others in the community.   Because of such profit it is very understandable that the whole town became upset at Paul’s preaching about a God that could replace all of their gods.   We hold on to worthless things in our

  I Keep on Writing Although I am kept busy by different situations happening in our lives I want to keep writing even if it is a short message. I was reading out of Acts 18 and verses 9-10 stuck out.   “And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack or harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” So I am writing this morning before I post this.   I normally write the day before, but we put a new washer in this old house and the washer is not responding properly to the old plumbing.   The washer has a brain in the form of a chip.   We have had to do our laundry outside the home the old fashion way in a laundromat.   It takes more time and so that is why my writing is affected. I will hopefully write more later on because I like writing and some of you have been kind enough to encourage me to keep writing. I thought that these verses were quite appropriate for

The world is seeking for answers about life and death and about the end.   How will it all end?  Well, I am not an expert in prophesies but as I was seeking the Lord for his help he put on my heart the book of Daniel, one of the prophets of the Old Testament.    Daniel was used by God because he let himself be used by Him just as it is possible for us to follow Jesus today.   Jesus is our example.   He became a channel for God’s glory to work through and we know a lot from Daniel because of his exploits such as him in the lion’s den and his refusal to bow his knee to the false gods. That is what we should be as well and consequently God poured a lot of knowledge in Daniel about the end-times.   He will also do this with us as we follow Jesus.   Daniel 12:1-3 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people.  And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time.  But at that time your people shall be

Almost 2000 years ago, the True (Born again) Church of Jesus was born in Jerusalem through the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.   Ever since its start the Church has been debated upon, divided, mocked and even persecuted much like what happened to our Lord Jesus Christ at the crucifixion.   Even though many forces have tried to rid the world of the Church.   The Church has survived centuries of hardship both physical and mental. Just as Jesus Christ was risen from the dead, the Church likewise is a living organism that will live on. Look at what happened to the apostle Paul also Saul who was going to destroy the Church at the very start.   In Acts 8:3 “But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison”. In chapter 9:3 The same Saul is blinded by a vision of Christ: “Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him, And falling to the ground, he heard

I have come to appreciate what the 89 th Psalm proclaims: In the second verse it says: “Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens” (NLT) But in my French Bible it says something like…” Your faithfulness is anchored in the sky” (Francais courant) As I read the rest of the psalm, I understand why he speak of the faithfulness of God with so much respect.   The rest of the psalm speaks of the covenant God has made with David and it will never be broken.   In fact, one of his descendants will have an eternal kingdom and now we understand that this descendant is none other than Jesus, the Messiah himself.   Because in verse 26-27 it says: “And he will say to me, ‘You are my Father, my God and the Rock of my salvation.’ I will make him my firstborn son, the mightiest king on earth. Jesus, who is not who, was, is that mightiest king and he is coming back to establish his Kingdom forever because he is not just faithful to David but to all the seed of the promise to Jesus and his

Love one another with brotherly affection.  Outdo one another in showing honor.  (Romans 12:10) (ESV) WOW! That’s a new concept…Competing, outdoing one another in love.   We all like to compete, we see it in churches all the time.   We see it in children as well.   Competing for attention, but how about competing in loving our pastor more or anybody else for that matter. Here are verse 9,10 in the Message translation (A translation in English is the same verse said in a different way) Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it.   Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good.   Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. This says it differently…play second fiddle means put the other before you.   Play to accompany, to uplift. In other words, God expects us to excel in love and get better and better at it.   We got to outdo, outperform one another in love.   Not comparing to the other but constantly outdo for the sake of God’s reputati

  “This is why it is crucial that we be all the more engaged and attentive to the truths that we have heard so that we do not drift off course” (Hebrews 2:1) (TPT) I know this post is going to look strange to some of you. Different translation.   Different layout. Have you noticed something different about your life lately? A certain drifting off course like an aimless ship.   That can be dangerous by one degree. The following verses were impressed on me like a ‘pay attention’ checkmark… Paul is writing to Timothy and millions of others through the New Testament wonder.   This is what he writes: “Most of all, I am writing to encourage you to pray with gratitude to God.   Pray for all men with all forms of prayers and requests as you intercede with intense passion.   And pray for every political leader and representative, so that we would be able to live tranquil, undisturbed lives, as we worship the awe-inspiring God with pure hearts.   It is pleasing to our Savior-God to pra