Restoration
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The Echo of a King’s Failure: Thoughts on 2 Samuel 11-18
I’ve been revisiting 2 Samuel this week (namely chapters 11-18). And man… talk about how one terrible decision can lead to so much heartache and destruction! Two passages of Scripture stand out to me. The first is at the very end of chapter 11 (v.27). After David commits adultery with Bathsheba, she becomes pregnant, and… Continue reading
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Derek Thomas: The Book of Job
I really enjoyed Derek Thomas’s overview of the Book of Job. Perhaps you will find it just as enlightening as I did. Continue reading
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Confession is Essential
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9 John doesn’t allow much room for pretending, does he. “If we claim… Continue reading
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Jesus Accomplished What David Couldn’t
Then Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. But the king said, “He must go to his own house; he must not see my face.” So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the face of the king. – 2 Samuel 14:23-24 I find the story of David and… Continue reading
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Lessons From the Prodigal: The Road to Repentance
When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to… Continue reading
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A Heart Broken by Sin
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Psalm 51:3 A life surrendered fully to God is one that faces sin head-on, not with excuses but with a heart broken by its offense against a holy and righteous God. Here in Psalm 51, we see King David, a man after God’s… Continue reading
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Do We Take It For Granted?
“In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. – Ephesians 3:12 I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it must have been like for people back in the days of the Old Covenant. Imagine heading to the tabernacle, your heart desperately longing to connect with God, to… Continue reading
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Victory That Lasts
And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. – 2 Samuel 8:14b How would you define success? Of course, you might try to answer that question any number of ways. For example, you might say that your marriage is successful or that your family has health, happiness, and security. Some may look at… Continue reading
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Bringing Back The Wanderer
My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.– James 5:19-20 It’s not uncommon for people to drift from the… Continue reading
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Desperate Faith to Deliberate Faith
The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed.– John 4:49-50 “God, if you’ll do this for me, I promise that I’ll (fill in the blank).” Sound familiar? It does for me. Before I came to saving… Continue reading
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A Warning About Drifting Away
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they… Continue reading
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Had I Been There: The One Who Returned
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” –… Continue reading
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The Lord’s Regret
Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: “I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” 1Samuel 15:10 One of the worst decisions I’ve made in my life was about 20 years ago when, in a moment of utter weakness… Continue reading
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The Fruit of Kindness
While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said,… Continue reading
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First Came the Law, Then Came the Love
“If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, “This son… Continue reading
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Don’t Hoard Your Experience
“He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.”2 Corinthians 1:4 When difficult situations and circumstances come our way, our human tendency is to automatically assume that God is disciplining us for some… Continue reading
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A Daughter’s Desperate Faith
But Jesus said, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.” ~ Luke 8:46 (NLT) We can only imagine how isolated and depressed this woman was. She had been dealing with constant menstrual bleeding for twelve years. According to the law, anyone who touched a menstruating woman immediately became ceremonially… Continue reading
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Body and Soul
“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of the summer.” – Psalm 32:3-4 Those who work in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and social services are often confronted with… Continue reading
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So there was this pool…
When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else… Continue reading
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A Spirit Renewed
Psalm 51:12 “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and make me willing to obey you.” Something ain’t right. I feel off. I have no spiritual energy and I’m just going through the motions. The people around me can sense that something’s awry. “You don’t seem like yourself. Everything okay? What’s going on?” I… Continue reading
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Sometimes You Gotta Hug the Cactus
“Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” – 1 Corinthians 13:7 Alcohol brought me peace and freedom early on. But near the end I found myself thinking not of joy on a daily basis, but of death. A life that had once promised me more than I… Continue reading
About Me
Welcome! I’m Scott (aka Former Blackout Artist), and I’m so happy you decided to drop in! I hope you find the content here spiritually enlightening and uplifting. Most of all, I hope that my love of Christ is revealed through my writing and that it encourages you in some way today. Thanks for stopping by!
Former Blackout Artist 