Ken Winter
An Unlikely Witness

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The hour had come. It was very late. Jesus had led the disciples to a garden called Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives so He could pray … and they could pray with Him. Well, He had led almost all His disciples. Earlier that night, Judas had abruptly gone out from the upper room while Jesus was still speaking … apparently sent on an errand by the Master. There had been no sign of him since then.

They had all feasted well—perhaps too well—on the delicious Seder meal they had eaten earlier. Throughout the meal and the hours that followed, Jesus had taught them a lot! It was almost as if He was endeavoring to prepare them something … but they weren’t quite sure what that was. They were tired from listening and from trying to make sense of what He had said. So when they sat down on the luscious green grass in the garden in the stillness of the night, their bodies gave in to their need for rest. One by one they fell asleep.

The disciples were unaware that a teenage boy had secretly followed them to the garden and was hiding in the bushes. Here is his account of the night….

An Unlikely Witness
Ken Winter
A Covenant Renewed

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Does it seem like God is directing you to do something at a time which you believe is most inopportune? Has that still, small voice (the Holy Spirit within you) directed you to do something now that is contrary to what your conventional wisdom is telling you to do?

For thirty-eight of the forty years the Israelites spent in the wilderness, no Israelite male was circumcised.And yet, 470 years earlier, God had entered into a covenant with Abraham and his descendants saying, “I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. And I will give the entire land of Canaan …  to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God…. Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised.”(1) God had given a promise to that first generation of Israelites and had entered into a covenant with them. Their part of the covenant was to obey the terms and seal it through the circumcision of every Israelite male.

A Covenant Renewed
Ken Winter
On To Our Paran

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After having camped at Mount Sinai for almost a year, the cloud lifted and the Israelites set out on their three-day journey to the wilderness of Paran.(1) (You may recall that the wilderness of Paran is where Hagar and Ishmael found refuge when Sarah had Abraham send them away.(2)) The wilderness of Paran was bounded to the north by southern Canaan, otherwise known as the Promised Land. They were in the fourteenth month of their exodus from Egypt and they were now closing in on the prize that was before them – the Promised Land!

On To Our Paran
Ken Winter
Bread That Is Sufficient

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The day God provided a ram to be sacrificed in the place of his son Isaac, Abraham called that place Jehovah Jireh, meaning “The Lord will provide.”(1) That day was to be a reminder to all generations that the Lord will provide. He will be faithful to provide just what is needed at the exact time it is needed. He is seldom early; but He is never late! He seldom provides in the manner we anticipate; but He always provides in a way that is sufficient. That was true for Abraham and Isaac, it was true for Moses and the Israelites, and it is true for us today.

God promised Moses and the Israelites that each morning He would provide bread that would be sufficient for every person for the day – everyone would have their fill.(2) After the people had gotten over the shock that this “white, flaky stuff” was God’s bread for them, they set about the process of gathering what was needed for their household. God’s provision, though “packaged” in a very unexpected way, came with very specific instructions.

Bread That Is Sufficient
Ken Winter
Chosen to Serve

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There is no such thing as a perfect church. That statement does not come as a shock to any of us, whether we are a part of a church … or not. However, i do believe that those of us inside the church often tend to want everyone to believe we have it all together. We have a tendency to hide the “real me” behind a mask and cover up the things, the hurts, the doubts, and the imperfections that we don’t want anyone else to see. (It’s similar to the way most of us – believers and non-believers alike – tend to portray ourselves on social media.)

i also believe that those outside the church often project that false impression – that we think we’re perfect – upon the church, and enjoy highlighting the downfall of those within the church when they fall.

No, the church isn’t perfect, but then again, it never has been! But we endeavor to worship, follow, and follow the example of the only One who is and ever was perfect.

Chosen to Serve

God is with us

Hills and Valleys

Hills and Valleys

A few years ago, the Lord blessed my wife, LaVonne, and i with a “mountaintop” experience of a lifetime. He orchestrated events so we could enjoy ten days of extended quiet time with Him in an upper room in the city of Jerusalem. It was not “the” upper room where the apostles gathered; but for us personally, it was our “upper room”. It was a place where the Lord permitted us to wait before Him, to hear His voice, to experience His presence, and to be renewed through the filling of His Spirit. Though i know that He is able to do those things in my life wherever i am – whenever i am willing to be still before Him – it was an added blessing to do so there in Jerusalem where the Lord Himself says that He will one day make His home among His people.(1)

As we ate our meals on the rooftop overlooking the city, we could hear the joy of children laughing and playing in the near distance, mixed with the sounds of gentle breezes and the chirping of birds. i envisioned – as best i could – what that day will be like when our Lord returns to make His home there among His people.

As the time drew to a close, i knew that we could not tarry there

Here Again

Here Again

Often as we journey through the wilderness of our lives, we think we’re all by ourselves. We begin to think that there is no one else walking through a wilderness like ours, and no one else who understands what we are going through. We allow ourselves to become isolated and alone … and from there we fall headlong into despair.

During the years the Israelites were walking through their wilderness, a census was taken that indicated there were over 600,000 men.(1) It represented men who were able to go to war, aged twenty years and older. Estimating the number of women and children, as well as the tribe of the Levites that were not included in this count, the total number of Israelites easily approached or exceeded two million people, which equals or exceeds the population of ninety-four countries in our world today. This truly was the nation of Israel. This nation was prepared to mobilize an army in excess of 600,000 men if the need arose; that number would only be exceeded by the armies of seven nations in our world today. Are you getting the picture that this was not a small group of people?

And yet, they too, felt alone and isolated!

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