“Behold, the noise of the bruit is come”

Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Fri, 08/27/2021 - 10:31am

Jeremiah 10.22

I love this word!  We find it only two times in our King James Bible, and I love it!

The word… “bruit”!

Don’t you just love it too?  …actually, …what does it even mean?  “bruit”?

It means “news”, “rumour”.  It means, something heard, an announcement: news, report, rumour, tidings.  Now pay attention to where we find this word in the Bible:

“Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.” Jeremiah 10:22

“…no secret troubleth thee…”

Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Fri, 08/13/2021 - 8:21pm

Daniel 4.9

Now, isn’t that an amazing statement?  It was made by King Nebuchadnezzar to Daniel, “…no secret troubleth thee…”

Compared to the world King Nebuchadnezzar lived in – a world without the one true God and Saviour – Daniel’s world seemed so peaceful, “…no secret troubleth thee…”

It seemed Daniel never had much to worry about…

Could that be true?  “No worries”?

Yes, and no.

“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Tue, 08/03/2021 - 8:11am

Psalm 119.11

What did Jesus DO when he was tempted of the devil...? (Matthew 4 & Luke 4)

So often we face a temptation and we do nothing.

We don’t give in, really.  But unless we DO SOMETHING we remain very, very... very vulnerable.

Temptation comes to everyone.  We are tempted to leave the right ways of the Lord and follow the dark paths – the wrong ways of this world.

Psalm 119.8 asks the question, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?”

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”

Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Tue, 07/27/2021 - 7:21am

Proverbs 27.6

I think every culture has proverbs and sayings like this proverb.

It is our friends, our true friends who put their “neck on the line” to tell us the truth – and often our worst enemies that just “sweet talk” us into all sorts of trouble!

Someone put it this way:  “You can kiss a fool… and a fool can kiss you… but don’t ever let a kiss… fool you!”

“It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”

Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Thu, 07/22/2021 - 7:33pm

Lamentations 3:22-23

Imagine you were born in 1900.  When you're 14, World War I begins, then ends with 22 million dead.  Then, a global pandemic, the Spanish Flu, appears, killing 50 million. And you're alive and 20 years old!  When you're 29 you survive the global economic crisis that started with the collapse of the New York Stock Exchange, causing inflation, unemployment and famine.

For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.”

Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Mon, 07/05/2021 - 10:37am

Isaiah 30.15 

 The first part of the verse sounds so good:  God is making a promise.  God is going to do something for His people.  They would go back to living the best days of their lives.  They would have good rest and they would be saved from difficulties.  That’s great!  And that’s not all, they would also have a quiet life, and live in confidence to go about their lives and business with strength and… and so… and so what…?

Yes, that is basically what they said, “So what?” “…ye would not.”

“My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.”

Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Wed, 06/30/2021 - 8:15am

Psalm 104.34

We hear a lot about “meditation” these days.  So often the way it is described today it is something born again Christians should avoid!  But it IS a BIBLE WORD and for us it simply means to think about something, to muse with ourselves, or “babble” with our selves.  It has also been defined as like a cow sitting there in the shade “chewing the cud”.

“My meditation of him shall be sweet:

I will be glad in the LORD.”

How often I need to be reminded that thinking about the Lord is exactly what I need to be doing.

“...the way of the righteous is made plain.”

Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Thu, 06/24/2021 - 8:21am

Proverbs 15.19

“...made plain”.  What do we think of when we read this word, “plain”?

I think of something simple and straightforward.  A clear way ahead.  A way without a lot of obstacles.  In this verse the word ‘plain’ means ‘to mound up’, like a built up road or highway.  This verse starts out by saying, “The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain.”  There are two ways: the lazy way or the way that takes some effort to build up; the hedge of thorns or, the plain way.

“…seek peace, and pursue it.”

Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Tue, 06/15/2021 - 11:21am

Psalm 34.14

Peace never “just happens”!

It doesn’t always have to be a BATTLE… but it does always take effort to get peace.  This is what the above verse is telling us… “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.”

“Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters”

Submitted by Pastor Tottingham on Wed, 06/09/2021 - 6:04am

Isaiah 32.20

God has given us (born-again Christians and part of a local New Testament church) the job of planting the word of God everywhere we go at every opportunity!  In the Bible “waters” often gives a picture of the different places, countries and nationalities.

Here are some things I keep in mind as I go about my day interacting with people.

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