Philip Dampier's Blog

“O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” (Psalm 90:14)   This morning the building was filled at Westgate. Where my wife and I sat there were several rows of teens in front of us. The singing…

“O Lord God, You are my confidence from my youth.” (Psalm 71:5) Two words stand out in this verse. They are hope and confidence. Not words that are usually linked together. That in itself makes it an interesting verse. Besides the odd combination, there is also the information that this Psalm…

“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” (Col. 3:2) Of all the things we find hard to do as human beings, this might just be the hardest. Our entire culture is built around things on the earth. Christmas, birthdays, special occasions and…

As you noticed yesterday and again today we have temporarily left the book of Ephesians, just when we were about to finish it. The reason is copyright rights. When God dictated the Bible he did not see the need to copyright it but that is not the case with modern…

“And entering in, He said to them, ‘Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.” (Mark 5:39) As demonstrated in this wonderful story, we humans mark a great difference in death and being asleep, while Jesus considers them pretty much the same thing. We…

“Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness.” (Eph. 6:14) The armor of God is as real as the forces it is designed to defend against. This verse addresses the first two pieces of that armor, the girdle, and breastplate. The…

“Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” (Eph. 6:13) Verse 13 is a repeat of verse 11. Paul tells the Ephesians the same thing with a slight variation of words…

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:12) There are then two kinds of struggles we face in life. One is a struggle…

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the Devil.” (Eph. 6:11) Let’s work backward on this verse. It comes to a conclusion based on a concept. We’ll start with the conclusion rather than the concept. One: The…

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” (Eph. 6:10) “Eat your Wheaties,” we told our kids. “They will make you strong.” My generation was subjected to the bully who kicked sand in the face of we 99-pound weaklings. All we needed was a Charles…