Welcome!
Welcome to my blog where I will be posting previously written articles and new articles. There are many topics in my archives, that I look forward to sharing with you, that covers a broad spectrum of subjects. Feel free to share these writings with your friends and family using Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, etc. Feel free to reprint any of these articles in its entirety in bulletins and newsletters. When you do, please cite this website -http://bryanhodge.net. It is my hope that you will find these articles informative and encouraging. Check back often for new postings or, better yet, I invite you to subscribe to my blog. I would also appreciate your comments or emails.
Thank you for your visit!
~Bryan
Categories
Category Archives: Priorities
Determining God’s Will
How does one determine God’s will for one’s life? Many are looking for subtle signs. Consider: (1) I once heard of someone who was trying to decide which church to attend. One day, while driving through town, the person noticed … Continue reading
Posted in God's Providence, Priorities, truth
Tagged 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, 1 Thessalonians 5:11-22, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, close doors, determining God's will, discerning God's will, Ecclesiastes 12:13, Ezra 7:10, God's Providence, hobby, James 1:22, local church, Matthew 7:24-27, Micah 6:8, nature, open doors, priorities, rainbow, signs, signs from above, subtle signs, unwarranted conclusions, wishful thinking
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What’s Your Cause?
It is normal for one to want a cause in life. By “cause,” I mean: “a goal or principle served with dedication and zeal” (yourdictionary.com). A person desires meaning and purpose in life. A Christian has a cause. Jesus taught, … Continue reading
Posted in Abortion, culture, Ethics, evangelism, History, Priorities, Soul Winning, Stats, stewardship, Technology
Tagged 1 Corinthians 10:31, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 1 Corinthians 9:27, 1 Peter 2:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, 1845, 1860, 1900, 1920, 2 Corinthians 13:5, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2020, Abortion, activist for cause of Christ, activist for Jesus, Acts 8:4, amazing grace, angus reed, angus reed 2020 poll, angus reed institute, animal rights, apocalypse now, bbc, black or white, california, california bans plastic bags, canada, cause, civil rights, coal, cotton bag, Deuteronomy 22:4, distraction, environment, evangelism, examine yourself, feminism, forests, fossil fuels, gas guzzling, Genesis 1:27-30, Genesis 2:15, glorify God, gospel, great commission, human fallibility, lgbtq, Luke 13:15-16, Luke 14:1-5, Luke 14:5, Luke 15:1-7, Luke 19:10, magnify Christ, marxism, Matthew 10:29-31, Matthew 12:11-12, Matthew 18:12-14, Matthew 28:19, Matthew 5:16, Matthew 6:26, michael rosen, michael shellenberg, national geographics, npr, oil, paper bags, paper or plastic, Philippians 1:20-21, plastic bags, plastic straws, politics, priorities, Proverbs 12:10, Proverbs 16:32, purpose, reusable bags, reuseable bags, sarah mclachlan, silent night, social activism, social issues, Soul Winning, SPCA, stewards, suicide, suv, test all things, the american interest, tom edington, trade offs, trees, united kingdom, whales, which bag is best, woke, yourdictionary
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Serving Only When it is Convenient
What would happen if the man-in-need scenario from the parable of the Good Samaritan were recreated? How many would stop to help? John Darley and Daniel Batson, two Princeton University psychologists, conducted a study, in the early 1970’s. Princeton Theological … Continue reading
Posted in Dedication, Love, Parables, Preachers, Preaching, Priorities, Time
Tagged 1970s experiment at princeton, benevolence, book the tipping point, daniel batson, doers of word, doing good to others, family brethren and others, God over people, helping others, Jesus had time for others, john darley, kindness, love, malcolm gladwell, mercy over sacrifice, opportunities to do good, people over animals, preaching and praticing, princeton, princeton psychologists experiment, princeton seminary, serving, serving when convenient, stats, the good samaritan, time, too busy, too hurried, urent needs, urgent needs
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The Investment of Time
Have you head of the “10,000 hour rule”? The theory is that to excel in a thing (e.g. sports, music, technology, business, etc.) 10,000 hours need to be invested in that thing (e.g. study, experimentation, practice). This theory was popularized … Continue reading
Posted in Bible Study, christian growth, evangelism, Priorities, Soul Winning, stewardship, Time
Tagged 1 Peter 2:9, 10000 hour rule, 2 Peter 3:18, Acts 8:4, berlin's academy of music, bill gates, bill joy, book outliers, business, Colossians 4:5, engineers, Ephesians 5:16, grow in grace and knowledge, Hebrews 5:12, investing time, John 9:4, johnny ramsey, k. anders ericsson, lawyers, malcolm gladwell, Matthew 5:13-16, mozart, music, physicians, pratice makes perfect, redeem time, salt and light, specialists, sports, SWAT team, technology, the beatles, time, veternarians
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Thoughts From The Prophets: Rend Your Heart
“‘Now, therefore,’ says the LORD, ‘turn to Me with all your heart’… rend your heart, and not your garments” (Joel 2:12-13). The rending (tearing) of garments was a common practice among people in the Bible lands. It was done in … Continue reading
Thoughts From The Prophets: What Does The Lord Desire?
“I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:8). Didn’t God require animal sacrifices and burnt offerings? He certainly did (e.g. Leviticus 1–7, 16, 23). However, some began to treat the sacrifices as … Continue reading
Posted in Mercy, Priorities, prophets, Textual study, worship
Tagged dispassionate worship, homer hailey, Hosea 6:8, i desire mercy, isaiah 29:13, knowledge of God more than burnt offerings, matthew 15:7-8, mercy not sacrifice, priorities, rote worship, thoughts from the Prophets:, what does the lord desire
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In The News: Hurricane Harvey
Hurricane Harvey, a category 4 hurricane, came ashore in Rockport, Texas on August 26. It is the wettest tropical cyclone on record in the continuous United States (Wikipedia). Some areas have received nearly 52” of rain (washingtonpost.com). No part of … Continue reading
Posted in evangelism, History, Nature, Priorities, Soul Winning, Suffering, Weather
Tagged 24 hour news, abu dhabi, bereans, cnn, cornelius, cyclone, fanny crosby, good samaritan, harris county texas, hurricane, hurricane harvey, in the news, inaccuracy in news, kindness, kindness not enough, louisianna, new york, ny times, oklahoma, orange yexas, port aransas texas, rockport texas, song rescue the perishing, Soul Winning, uae, washington post, yahoo news
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Loving Loyalty
Society is filled with self-centered people. It always has been, to one degree or another. It is all about them. They are only your friends or close family members, so long as they see a direct benefit to them. The … Continue reading
Posted in Chruch, Endurance, Family, Fellowship, friends, Love, Marriage, Priorities
Tagged Andrei Shleifer, baby boomers and church, brethren/local church, church shopping, Cicero, Cicero On the good life, Doug Bernheim, elisha hoffman, fair weaher friends, four areas of growth, frances havergal, friends/Family, husband/wife, ineritance, john hobbs, Johnson Oatman, Larry Summers, Levitt and Dubner, love, loyalty, News Week, parent/child, retirment homes, self-centered, Singapore, song I will be a friend to Jesus, song to Christ e true, song true hearted whole hearted, stephen dubner, super freakonomics, The Compelling Power of The Cross, visiting elderly parents, Wade Roof
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Sacrificing The Abomination
“Then Pharoah called for Moses and Aaron, and said, ‘Go sacrifice to your God in the land.’ “And Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD … Continue reading →