Stephen De La Vega

  No survivors. If you weren’t on the ark, you didn’t survive. It’s the unfortunate truth. We have an ark today. Jesus built it with His life and it is life-giving. Think of it as the cross. In the past 6 episodes, we have seen how Noah’s Ark is the ride of our lives because the true story from ancient times is the same story for us today. Come to the cross. The door is open. Step aboard the Ark and live.   This post is Episode 7 of an 8-episode series about boarding and deboarding Noah’s Ark. If you’re visiting this series for the first time, you should start at Episode 1: The Story of Our Lives . Otherwise, sit back and experience Episode 7 .   Episode 7: Victory Over Death   As I mentioned in Episode 6 , Noah’s story didn’t end when his son found him naked and drunk. His other sons covered him through an act of honor and forgiveness and his story is remembered even today as a reminder of God’s judgment upon the unrighteous and His promise to all life ...

    Christmas may be a little different this year. The Christmas season may always be hard for some of us, but this year that may be true for many more because 2020 was a difficult year, and Christmas may not seem so merry. Can we still “gather around” in joyful celebration, or will peace on earth fall short this year? This will be the first time in about 12 years my family will not enjoy a white Christmas…     Spending Christmastime in the snow, at a place fondly named God’s playground, has become a family tradition with us. Whatever we could do in the snow, we’ve done it over the years. We’ve also spent Christmas Sundays in our home church away from home, and Christmas Eves singing carols by candlelight in another favorite church. We’ve grown used to recalling the Christmas story while overlooking snow-capped trees and snow-covered mountains. This year COVID infections and the lack of available hospital beds forced us to shelter in place. We can’t leave the...

Last week I wrote about injustice and anger that boils within. Today, I share a story about justification that was framed from injustice. It’s a story that many of us have heard in some fashion – a story that I believe we can all relate to if we will pause to hear it. It’s a story about a person who lived a life many of us would applaud, yet whom was killed by people of power. He fell victim to a system that may have been born of good intentions, but somehow ambled into a gait of arrogance and superiority. The perpetrators, in the form of an organized aristocracy and as individuals, didn’t like him messing with the good thing they had going. So, they plotted to slap a death penalty on a man who did no wrong. And they carried out their plot to the bitter end. May I tell you about this victim of injustice?   His name is Jesus. In many ways, we can say there are people in America and in other countries, throughout the generations, with the same story. Jesus was a victim of ...

We are fearful. Our hearts are heavy. We face real issues. There are legitimate threats – perhaps monumental threats. This is the current reality worldwide. The threat is pandemic. The fear is pandemic. We tremble at the face of genuine risk. How do we go on? Goliath was an obviously formidable opponent. One look. One listen. That’s all it took to accept defeat. That’s how it was for Israel’s army because they couldn’t see past the giant to see their God ( 1 Samuel17:4-11 ). We stand before Goliath Do we shrink in defeat         or do we rise with confidence in the LORD of hosts? David called God the “LORD of hosts” ( 1 Samuel17:45 ). This is like calling Him the God of armies. Israel was often defeated and they were ready for a victory. They were held captive as slave laborers for over 400 years. They wandered their way to the promised land for 40 years – 40 years longer than it should’ve taken! They ...