Pastor Ed Rea

Jesus Messiah…

Pastor Ed — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:28:44 +0000

The Gospel we come to written by the Apostle Matthew is filled with teaching material that is unique to this book and more fully understood by someone familiar with the Law of Moses and Jewish life. Most careful students believe it was probably originally written in Hebrew to the lost sheep of Israel for their conviction, repentance and return to God. We find the clear record here of Old Testament Messianic prophecies fulfilled. May you be greatly blessed as you read through the Bible a chapter a day… Pastor Ed

Minor Prophets are anything but minor…

Pastor Ed — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:03:17 +0000

We come to the section of the Old Testament that is often called the Minor Prophets but that title is confusing since the term ‘minor’ today usually means less important. The English term originally was used to describe the shortness of these prophecies as compared to the ‘Major’ ones that are all considerably longer. So even though they are known as minor (in length) they are all major in importance since they are the Word of God. There are many great truths embedded in these ancient writings worthy of our diligent study. May God give us the wisdom to see beyond the obvious and to discover the hidden treasure He has for us in these short but powerful essays.
Keep seeking Him pilgrim… Pastor Ed

“Hosea … take for yourself a wife of harlotry.”

Pastor Ed — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:12:37 +0000

We now come to an astounding Old Testament Minor prophet (not minor in importance but in amount of words) that is another beautiful picture of God’s love for broken people. The lengths God goes to to reach His children will shock your sensibilities if you have never studied this book before… but the story is filled with His grace, mercy, and forgiveness. He loves us so much that He will take us not matter what shape we are in when we come and He loves us far too much to leave us but slowly and surely conforms us “into the image of His Son.” Grace to you pilgrim… Pastor Ed

Through Ezekiel, to Jude, to Daniel…

Pastor Ed — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:18:06 +0000

As we are finishing our study through the prophet Ezekiel we will take a short trip over to the New Testament Book of Jude. We believe it was written by one of the half brothers of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 13:55, Judas or Jude who became one of the leaders of the church after Jesus’ resurrection. It is a short letter that contains many ‘golden nuggets’ worthy of meditation that will bless the careful student. Then we return to the Old Testament and the exciting historical and prophetic Book of Daniel. The systematic reading and study of every verse in God’s Word nourishes our souls and helps us to be better prepared for the storms along the path of life. Keep pressing forward pilgrim … Though storms rage, He reigns! Blessings, Pastor Ed

Weeping prophets…

Pastor Ed — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 23:08:50 +0000

We come to the Book written by the Old Testament prophet called the ‘Weeping Prophet’. This book contain the prophesies of a man called by God in his youth, or to be more precise, before He was even born. He was a heartbroken prophet with a heartbreaking message for his generation that was either ignored or often strongly opposed. He served the Lord during a dark time in the history of Israel warning God’s people that catastrophe would fall on the nation because of their idolatry and sin. He did live to see his prophecy fulfilled with the fall of Jerusalem to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the exile of its citizens to Babylon. He also correctly foretold of the return of God’s people back to Jerusalem from exile and the restoration of the nation but did not live to see it happen. Jeremiah was given a divine purpose for his day and generation as is true for each of us in our day. Here is a man who paid a high price to speak clearly to his generation. May we all be courageous enough to do so for our generation also… Press on…

Blessings, Pastor Ed

The Bible in minature…

Pastor Ed — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:59:37 +0000

We come now to the book of Isaiah, considered by some to be the Bible in miniature because there are 66 books of the Bible and Isaiah has 66 chapters. There are other ‘coincidences’ between the two that are curious as well. The Bible divides between the Old and the New Testaments as Isaiah also easily divides into two halves. The Old Testament has 39 books as the first division of Isaiah has 39 chapters. The New Testament has 27 books as the second half of Isaiah has 27 chapters. In the New Testament, the first person we find introduced is John the Baptist, crying in the wilderness, “prepare the way of the Lord.” The opening chapter of the second division of Isaiah, chapter 40, describes the ministry of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Messiah, as the voice crying in the wilderness, “prepare the way of the Lord.” The closing chapter of Isaiah deals with the creation of the new heavens and the new earth. So we also find in the last book in the New Testament, Revelation, deals with the same subject, the creation of the new heavens and the new earth. So as we study through Isaiah we will find that it often seems to capture the theme of all Scripture both Old and New. Isn’t God’s Word fascinating?!

Blessings, Pastor Ed

Broken glass…

Pastor Ed — Tue, 24 May 2011 22:04:48 +0000

We come now to a book, Ecclesiastes that some have suggested is filled with pieces of broken glass. To correctly understand any book of the bible it is important to know the purpose for which it was written. We can say that this book, much like the book of Job, has many chapters that are filled with human error. It is one of only two books in the bible that reflects human, rather than the divine point of view and that is why it is like bits of broken glass. Each piece of glass is like one of the aspects of life studied by ‘the Preacher’ or as we would probably say today, ‘the philosopher.’ Solomon sees life as empty, meaningless, and confusing like broken pieces of glass in a pile. It is only at the very end of the book do we find that he grasps that life can have meaning. Solomon sees that, like a kaleidoscope, its broken shards can take on form and beauty when viewed from the correct perspective. May we avoid the mistakes that Solomon fell into by studying this short book. Some of us have learned the same lessons by repeating the same mistakes he did, but the tuition has been very expensive… better to learn through studying Solomon’s errors.

In His grip, Pastor Ed

Show me your faith…

Pastor Ed — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:57:29 +0000

We come now to the small New Testament book of James on the Devotional Page. This letter is a very practical one that many experts believe was written before any of the other twenty six New Testament books. If it was written before the so called ‘council of Jerusalem’ described in the Book of Acts (as James seems to have been) then it would have been written about 49 AD, Of course the Church at Jerusalem at that time was made up almost exclusively of believers of Jewish descent and that may explain why this letter deals with personal ethics more than doctrine. The emphasis in James is on works that are the result of faith in the believers life. James points out in several different ways that when salvation has come into a person’s heart the results will be obvious and observable in the changed life of that new believer. God the Spirit wants to speak to us from it today so let’s study on…

Pastor Ed

Approaching the God of reality…

Pastor Ed — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:07:45 +0000

Finishing the Old Testament Book of Psalms we come to the book of Hebrews that was written to Jews who had accepted Jesus as the Messiah. As we read through the book we will sense that the author is addressing a group of people in danger of slipping back into the traditions of Judaism. The main reason seems to be that they had not put down deep enough roots in the soil of Christianity. We will not know the author of this book for sure this side of heaven since the author purposely did not identify himself in it. But it is a book with broad appeal. It appealed to both the first century Greek mind as well as the Jewish mind. These early Greeks viewed things on earth as mere shadows cast by what was real. Therefore their philosophers for 600 years had been writing of their search for reality. This book presents Jesus Christ as the ultimate reality. The Jewish mind was always searching for the approach to God because they understood from Abraham on that humanity was too unholy to approach Him. The book of Hebrews presents Jesus Christ as the Approach for sinful humanity to come to the holy God. As we read through it may He continue to reveal new and extravagant in sights into who He is and what He wants us to do with our lives. Deep and refreshing spiritual water here for thirsty souls… keep drinking!

Pastor Ed

Now to the Psalter …

Pastor Ed — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 18:34:11 +0000

The Book of Psalms is called in the Hebrew Bible ‘Tehillim’ which means “praise songs.” Our English name comes from the Greek word ‘Psalmoi’ meaning “songs to the accompaniment of a stringed instrument.” Most of the Psalms were written between 1000 and 450 B.C. The most interesting Psalms to New Testament believers are the ‘Messianic Psalms’ that predict many details fulfilled when Jesus the Messiah (Christ) came the first time. There are also many predictions found of His second coming that we look forward to being fulfilled soon. If you have never read through the Psalms before you are in for a great blessing. The Psalms help bridge the gap for the modern believer between us and the ancient worshiper perhaps better that any other book in all the Scripture. We study … onward and upward. Pastor Ed