Lighthouse Alliance Church

Discipline is not a popular concept these days.  We are the culture of easy gain.  We want the promise of weight loss by merely taking a pill and never having to modify our diet or put in a minute of exercise.  We love the promises of “income at home” by making a year’s salary from 10 minutes on the computer in our PJ’s.  So, needless to say, American Christians are prone to approaching our walk with Christ in the same way.  We want revival, just not the prayer work in advance.  We want a move of God’s Spirit, but not the pursuit of holiness.

This morning, I was at the beach at a local park (a new place to pray and study for sermons away from the phone).  Every morning at this park, there is a fitness group that meets with a personal trainer.  A group like this has a lot…

July 26th, 2010 | Tags: 1 Timothy, Devotions, Discipline | Category: Devotion | Leave a comment

If you pay careful attention when you read through Leviticus, you will notice a few themes that present themselves over and over.  The first chapter of Leviticus starts off with a description of the burnt offering.  Now, at this point in reading that opening chapter your mind may have the overwhelming urge to “zone out.”  But to do so would be a mistake.  As you continue reading, you see a phrase that will repeat itself many times in Leviticus – “without blemish.”  Keep reading and you come across a word that you will see often in Leviticus – “blood.”  You may have also noticed “atonement.”  Yes, that word will also be repeated several times.  So, Leviticus really becomes an assault on the mind of “without blemish…atonement…blood…blood…blood…without blemish…blood…atonement…blood.”

One thing to note about offerings, specifically the burnt offering of chapter 1, is that they were a sacrifice.  The burnt offering was to…

May 18th, 2010 | Tags: Galatians, Leviticus, Offering, Romans | Category: Devotion | Leave a comment

I will never know her name.  All I know is that she walked to church every Sunday, without fail.  For about seven years, our church met in an elementary school located across the street from a fairly large Catholic Church.  Each Sunday morning, I would load up my small Corolla with equipment and “stuff” to take over to the school gym to begin the set-up process for Sunday morning.  And every Sunday I would pass her.  She would walk to the Catholic Church.  Raining?  She had her umbrella.  Snowing?  She wore her boots.  She wasn’t the only one.  People coming to this Catholic Church would park several blocks away and walk over to the church.  Interesting. 

As the weather continually warms up here in northeast Ohio, you will see them out more and more frequently.  You’ve seen them.  Perhaps you’ve even tried to “hide” from them.  The two young men walking…

April 14th, 2010 | Tags: Grace, Legalism | Category: Devotion, Points to Ponder | Leave a comment

“For I delivered unto you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”     1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Having given thoughts on the death of Christ for our sins, let us finish our thoughts on these verses by pointing out that Jesus was also buried and that He rose again on the third day.  It is important that we understand that He died and was buried.  Many claim that He simply swooned on the cross.  This thought is simply ridiculous when one considers the circumstances.  But we must also realize that Jesus did not stay in the tomb, but that He rose from the dead. 

In a culture of “question everything” and “flexible truth,” some seem to want to believe that the heart of Christianity would…

March 26th, 2010 | Tags: 1 Corinthians, Easter, Resurrection | Category: Devotion | Leave a comment

“For I delivered unto you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”     1 Corinthians 15:3-4

As we continue to reflect on this verse, I would like to call our attention to the fact that it was our sins for which Christ died.  This seems obvious enough.  But remember, Paul identifies this as part of what is of first importance.

I’m sorry if this will sound like yet another rant, but this does bring up an important question.  That is, if Christ dying for our sins is of first importance, why have some of the most popular “pastors” in America come out proudly declaring that they refuse to talk about sin?  I have heard many “pastors” and Christian leaders profess that all people already…

March 17th, 2010 | Tags: 1 Corinthians | Category: Devotion | Leave a comment

“For I delivered unto you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”     1 Corinthians 15:3-4

OK, let’s ask an honest question.  What is the most important thing in Christianity?  What is the most important thing that we can pass on to people?  Before you answer that for yourself, allow me to give this caution: do not answer on what you think the answer should be, but rather on what our practice tells us.

What I mean by that is this – what are you most likely to hear at any given church across the country this Sunday?  Based on trends in the church, one could very easily expect to visit a local church and hear about how married couples can have good “intimacy”…

March 10th, 2010 | Tags: 1 Corinthians | Category: Devotion | Leave a comment

“If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” -1 Corinthians 12:26

As we turn our attention to a new verse for this month, we are faced with quite a challenge.  What is that challenge?  Well, for this verse to be true, there is a huge assumption being made.  The assumption is that we are close enough to others to be impacted so deeply by what they are going through.

Think about the analogy of the body that is used in 1 Corinthians 12.  I have suffered with a bad back for most of my life.  As anyone with back pain, or other chronic pain, can testify – it impacts all of you.  You feel the pain all over.  It makes it hard to function normally.  That is because all the parts of your body are so interconnected that a pain in one area makes its impact on…

February 9th, 2010 | Tags: Body of Christ, Fellowship, Love, Suffering | Category: Devotion | Leave a comment

Do you come out of trials and temptations stronger in the Lord?

January 28th, 2010 | Tags: 1 Corinthians, Temptation | Category: Devotion | Leave a comment

Are we helpless victims to temptation?

January 21st, 2010 | Tags: 1 Corinthians, Temptation | Category: Devotion | Comments (2)