Wayne Stiles's Blog, page 28
November 14, 2018
11 Siri Hacks to Benefit Your Spiritual Life
How to Put Siri to Work on Spiritual Things for a Change
Siri is a basic assistant on the iPhone, useful for setting appointments, sending emails and texts, and creating reminders. But hey, why not sanctify Siri to help you along in your spiritual life?
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com)
I have found, however, that open-ended questions or commands will clearly reveal Siri’s secular worldview. For example, when I ask Siri: “How can you help my spiritual life?” here’s what she says:
Who, me?
Bril...
November 12, 2018
2 Biblical Gardens Reveal How to Make the Best Decisions
How Eden and Gethsemane still affect you today.
Two gardens, Eden and Gethsemane, provided the settings for two choices that brought opposite results. The Bible wildly contrasts these choices. In fact, you face them today.
(Photo: The Garden of Gethsemane. Notice the city walls in the distance. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
In the Garden of Eden, Adam’s choice to commit sin had the potential of bringing condemnation to everyone. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ’s decisi...
November 7, 2018
Mount of Beatitudes – Beauty that Illustrates Truth
Looking Beyond the Lake to Life
No matter where you stand to view the picture, the subject seems to be smiling. The hills surrounding the Sea of Galilee frame the lake like a portrait. In spring, the hillsides burst with wildflowers, fresh grass, and spectacular color.
(Photo: Mount of Beatitudes and Sea of Galilee. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
The tranquil slopes tower above fruit crops and fertile fields that stretch across the lush Plain of Gennesaret.
Numerous places...
November 5, 2018
How Vanishing Biblical Sites Warn of Our Spiritual Lives
The Emmaus Road and a Gezer Boundary Stone offer a heads-up to our commitments.
Without preservation, truth can grow weeds. Truth remains true, of course, but it can get buried beneath brambles and may as well not exist. Two sites I recently saw in Israel illustrate this well.
(Photo taken in 2007 of Gezer boundary inscription #8. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
I traveled to Israel to do some filming for my video Web site, Walking the Bible Lands. Two of the locations I fil...
October 31, 2018
An Amazing Truth: We Worship What We Think We Need
Are people elbowing God out of your life?
Some people can make us feel good. They attract us. Like a sunflower in a sunny field, we long to face the source that keeps us satisfied and meets our needs.
But we tend to worship what we think we need—whether it’s God, money, or even people. And whom we worship, we will also obey.
That’s why worshipping people—or using them to get what we think we need—can leave us enslaved to them.
God offers a better alternative.
Bet...
October 28, 2018
[Video] Wilderness Wandering Thoughts [Video]
If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here. This video was recorded in the Wilderness where Israel wandered for 40 years, waiting on God to enter the Promised Land. Its message encourages us also as we wait on God.
Tell me what you think: What are you waiting on God for right now? To leave a comment, just click here. Keep reading this post. >>>
Better still, get my full posts the easy way when you SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG. When you do, I’ll also send yo...
October 24, 2018
The Wilderness of Judea—The Ultimate Getaway
How this place of escape and seclusion still speaks to us today.
Very few places in the Holy Land still look original. Most historic sites in Israel have some church, or a mosque, or a settlement, or thirty feet of civilization piled on top of them.
Photo: The Wilderness of Judea at sunset. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands.
The places pilgrims come to see today show centuries of scars from the ruins and reconstructions of many faiths and peoples.
But in the Wilderness of Judea...
October 17, 2018
Ein Harod —How to Move from Fear to Faith
Sometimes what we see seems more compelling than what God says.
Too often, fear keeps us from enjoying what God has promised. We want so badly to have faith in what the Lord says. But fear of what we see seems more compelling than mere words. Gideon knew that.
(Photo: Ein Harod (Gideon’s Spring). Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
Gideon longed to believe God. But the enemy army before him was enormous. What he saw seemed far more compelling than what God had promised him.
We f...
October 15, 2018
Pools of Bethesda – God’s Amazing Kindness and Our Courageous Choices
What motivates you most isn't fear.
Very few people are drawn to God by intimidation. Instead, the Lord urges us to come to Him by revealing the kindness of His mercy. It’s a tremendous motivation.
(Photo: Pools of Bethesda and Crusader chapel, courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
Once we comprehend the depth of our imperfections, and the futility of our own efforts to remove them, we are in a position to respond to God’s kindness.
In this post, you’ll read how Jesus revealed thi...
October 10, 2018
Your Shame and Its Surprising Solution
What to do when you feel dirtied by the world.
Shame hits us for one of two reasons. We feel shame because of something wrong someone did to us. Or we feel it because of something we did ourselves. Either way, like Adam and Eve, we want to cover it up.
(Photo: Frieze sarcophagus, Adam and Eve after fall. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
The Prophet Zephaniah writes: “The unjust knows no shame” (Zeph. 3:5). He means they have no awareness or regret over their sin—even though G...
