-contributor-
Sam Powell is the pastor of First Reformed Church in Yuba City, CA. He is ordinary. He does ordinary things and seeks to live a quiet and ordinary life. He blogs about ordinary things on myonlycomfort.com.
He shepherds an ordinary congregation and together they travel this sorrowful road towards an astounding and marvelous future, looking for the coming of the Lord Jesus and seeking to teach all who will listen about the fear of the Lord.
He lives at home with his wife, Susan, who is extraordinary, and his disabled daughter Maggie who is also extraordinary.
Most of the time, Sam wonders about the grace of God in bringing such extraordinary people into his life.
Articles from Sam Powell

The one who says, “Come let us make bricks” is NOT the one who is actually making the bricks. The one who holds the whip is the one giving the commands. The one at the other end of the whip is making the bricks.
But what we do know from scripture is that there were a group of women who were serving in an orderly and organized fashion in the worship of the tabernacle and that they were called the “women warriors”.
Not only does Jesus ask this young man to give up all of his money; He asks him to consider himself and all his position, standing, reputation, power, education, and breeding as dung.
What is “The Joy of the Lord?”
Rather than being a command to Israel, it is a motive for OUR joy. In Christ, God’s anger is taken away. He rejoices over us. He even sings over us. He delights in us.
So when we say, “To be like Christ is to clothe the naked”, what do we mean? Of course, there are many other things mentioned – feeding the hungry, providing for your own relatives, comforting the lonely and downhearted, and so on, as well as other duties summarized in God’s law. But this is a blog, and I would just like to leave you with a couple of thoughts on just one word picture: What does it mean to clothe the naked?
But according to scripture, even though it teaches that “all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God”, sin is not the essence of who men and women are. Essentially, they are image-bearers of God. Therefore, they are redeemable, for when sin is taken away, the image of God remains and is restored.