TwelveTwelve: The Leader Blog of North Wake Church

Photo by Zugr on Unsplash Read: Ecclesiastes 1:1-18 When this book was first mentioned to me, I was sitting next to Pastor Larry and exclaimed, “I love Ecclesiastes! It is so encouraging.” Needless to say I got a bit of a quizzical look from our Pastor. He even questioned why I wouldn’t pick Philippians or Colossians as encouraging books. It isn't that I don’t see those books as encouraging, but for me, there is a different type of encouragement that comes from the message of Ecclesiastes.  I often describe myself as a recovering perfectionist. From an early age I

Jesus, in my pain, in this disappointment, in the hurt I haven't even processed, I need you! Even if there's been no other time I've ever really sought you, I need you now. Our leaders fail us. Our minds play tricks. Our memories deceive us. Our shows distract us, but don't guide us. Like a sailor looking for stars to guide them on a cloudy night, we look to your eyes to guide us in this life. And yet, when we read your in your word that You are the Son of God; that you are the Way, the

Photo by Samuel McGarrigle on Unsplash “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” --Exodus 20:16-17   In the beginning, there was a lie. “You will not certainly die.” Satan gave false testimony against the Lord, implying that God wasn’t good, that God was a liar. And then there was covetousness. Adam and Eve wanted what God had: complete knowledge. Satan wanted to be king. In the trail to the cross,

Photo by Jan Tinneberg on Unsplash Read:  Exodus 20: 13-15 Every year around Easter week, you can find the glowing, spray-tanned face of Charlton Heston playing the part of Moses as he brings two perfectly carved blocks of stone down from Mount Sinai in the Oscar award-winning film "The Ten Commandments."  It's incredible how much art can influence the way we imagine history unfolding.  As I read any of the narrative Biblical accounts of Moses' life, I always see him in my mind as a bronze-faced, steel-gazed, skinnier version of Charles Spurgeon, aka Charlton Heston.  My mind has been imprinted by Cecil B. DeMille!     Whose imagination has not been captivated by the dramatic way

    Read: Exodus 20:8-12 I wonder if you grew up in a home that honored adults and authority. Maybe you were taught to say, “Yes ma'am” and “No sir.” Or maybe you were taught that kids eat after adults because the adults were the ones who worked for and prepared the food so they should be honored by being able to eat first. Maybe you were taught to show honor by having a firm handshake, making eye contact, and smiling when meeting people.  In today’s world we are losing many of these small signs of honor that we

Photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash Read: Exodus 20:7-11 You shall not take the name of the LORD ["Yahweh"] your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain (Exodus 20:7) The Third Commandment instructs us to protect our use of the name of God, Yahweh. Professor Philip Graham Ryken writes: Yahweh, or ‘LORD,’ is much more than a name. It is God's identity. This was the whole Hebrew understanding of names. For us a name is a label; it is something we have, not something we are. But for the

Photo by Moritz Schumacher on Unsplash It is Lent.  The season to remember our bondage. I remember my bondage.  Do you remember yours? The days were dark.  I was scared.  The shackles cut at my wrists.  Every day was back-breaking work, just trying to stay alive.  I thought I had no other choice, no way out. The future was bleak.  Possibly the worst part: no one (not even me) knew who I was because enslavement strips away your true identity. The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when

Photo by Sam 🐷 on Unsplash Read:  Exodus 19:1-20:2; 20:18-21 Today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of a 40-day season of repentance, renewal, and preparation we call "Lent."  During Lent we seek to deepen our understanding of our union with Christ by meditating and pondering His humility, suffering, and death.  It is a season where the magnifying glass enlarges the depths of our depravity and the completeness of God's love.  Just as Advent finds its climax at Christmas, the season of Lent will find its climax on Holy week when we will celebrate Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and

Photo by Al Butler on Unsplash Read: Gen. 3:20-24 I am sure that I am not the only one who loved the Indiana Jones movies. Apparently, we are all about the movie references these past few weeks. Anyway, where it might have sparked the imagination of millions to find the “Lost Ark,” I was always (and still am) more fascinated by the idea of the lost Garden of Eden. I remember, as a child and amateur adventurer, wondering, "What if I could find the Garden of Eden? What if it is still out there? What if the cherubim is