TwelveTwelve: The Leader Blog of North Wake Church

The Heart is Like a Ship For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. -Jesus, Matthew 6:43-45 In the early church St. Augustine taught, “You have made us for yourself, O

You Hate What You Fear. But What About God?  Read: Proverbs 9:10–12 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.  “In time we hate that which we often fear.” This famous line from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra has become proverbial wisdom, the subject of much psychological research, and the theme of many famous stories and

A Needy Group of Fools Read: Proverbs 30:1-6 The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle. The man declares, I am weary, O God;  I am weary, O God, and worn out. 2 Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man. 3 I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. 4 Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what

I love definitions, which I find funny because in high school I had an English teacher, Mrs. Best, who made us do weekly word quizzes where we had a list of words we had to define. We weren’t allowed to repeat the definition we found in the book, and we weren’t allowed to use the word to define the word. So we couldn’t say something along the lines of: “Considering” means to consider the situation. Basically she gave us what I considered crazy, off the wall words we would never use, and she asked us to define them in

The Hymn of North Wake Read: Psalm 67 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah 2 that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. 3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! 4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah 5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! 6 The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us. 7 God shall bless us; let all the ends of

As I write this meditation, I do not yet know what Bible passage will be at the heart of Sunday's sermon. But I do know that when we gather in Jesus’s name we are called to behold him, hear from him, and adore him as a church.  That’s what the songs are meant to help us with this week. So to prepare your heart for Sunday, I invite you to take some time to listen to the songs we will be singing together. If you know them, sing along! If you don’t, get acquainted with them so that we

​ The Great Awakening I'm not sure how the idea of "every member is a missionary" became such a novel one. Perhaps it's how the word "missionary" has been used in our modern contexts to identify a particular group of people sent to specific places around the world in order to share the good news.  But one cannot be transformed by the power of the gospel, raised to life and indwelt by the life-giving Spirit, given the universal command to go and make disciples and not understand themselves to be a missionary.  Wherever God has placed you on this earth, you get to tell others about Jesus.    I heard this song

Read: Psalm 90 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 3 You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!" 4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. 5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: 6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the

Don’t Read This Psalm! I recently came across some lines in the book Singing the Ethos of God by theologian Brian Brock that made me pause: “Prayer begins with the acknowledgment that we are unprepared to pray. Faith must flee to Christ’s prayer and allow Christ to pray through it as it clings to God, as he has given himself in the content of the church’s prayers.”  These dense but seemingly innocent sentences contain an uncomfortable truth: When left to our own devices, we have no idea how to pray. We are completely unprepared. But they also contain a

The Four Hardest Words To Say Read: Psalm 51 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy  blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in