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Change of Seasons or a Change of Heart?
Did you ever wonder why God created the sun to rise in the East? Is it coincidence that Jesus rose in the Middle East to save the world from the darkness of sin? “The true light, who gives light to everyone . . . was in the world, . . . but the world did not recognize him. . . We saw his glory—the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.” John 1:9,10,14 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them…
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TRUTH — The Prescription for Healthy Living
Listen to this blog as a similar podcast: Picture this scenario. It’s 2 a.m. A baby is very fussy and restless. The mother awakes, goes to pick her child up out of the crib, and realizes that her infant who was healthy the day before is now burning with fever. There’s an infection in the small child’s body! The worried parent knows she must treat the infection through medicine and/or a visit to the doctor followed by rest and patiently waiting for the treatment to take hold. The baby will hopefully soon return to healthy living. Heresy is an infection in the Body of Christ. It’s not just error; it…
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The Velveteen Christian
Our world is made up of a constant cacophony of voices. Truth, lies, myths, imaginations, and opinions fill our world with dissidence and confusion. We have information overload. It is difficult to discern who can be trusted because of the spin, the agendas, the omitted facts or the inserted insinuations that twist and distort. When I think of celebrating “Easter” once again after over fifty years, my heart is moved to get it right this time. To REALLY celebrate! As I have been praying about this, the Lord reminded me of my favorite story, the Velveteen Rabbit. I reflected on the conversation between Horse and Rabbit about becoming real. "What…
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How to Hang onto Truth in a Hostile Culture: Lessons from Lewis-The Silver Chair
Plato's News Cave (courtesy Imgur) Recently The New York Times launched a new subscription campaign featuring hooks like, “We’re passionate about the truth. Are you?” and “Truth is what we do better” and “Read news that values the truth.” I know what some of you are thinking: “Ba-ha-ha-ha.” It is indeed rich that a publication that has long questioned the existence of truth now lays claim to it in their advertising. Long ago the mainstream media relinquished its claim to reporting truth. Instead, at their best, they report “truth” from several different perspectives, weighting the progressive/oppressed perspective the most heavily. The result has been the loss of truth. Now we see the…
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A New Generation of Christ Followers
Children are the future generation of Christianity and we are commanded to pass on to them the teachings of the word of God. Deut. 6:4-7 NET BIBLE “Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength. These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up.” A poll that was done by Child Evangelism Fellowship shows…
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Teaching Children to Respect Another’s Culture: A Look into Islam
Media coverage and conversations are everywhere about the President’s order to suspend visa entry into the U.S. from seven countries that have predominately Muslim populations. Our children are watching and listening. Unless we are proactive they will become afraid. Fear is one of Satan’s greatest tools for chaos. Throughout the Bible we are command to “fear not.” Fear of the unknown drives many to act in unwise and unkind ways. Knowledge based on facts can help us trust God and free us to treat others with kindness. As parents/teachers/Christian leaders we need to be examples. Let's teach our children to respect all people. Let's alleviate fear by teaching respectfully about…
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Harvesting our Words
Fall is finally here and with it the harvest. Words are like seeds. Once spoken they are planted in the hearts of the hearer. They too produce a harvest. I remember running to my mom crying, just a little girl hurting inside, crying because of ugly words. I was broken hearted by caustic remarks. My mother, taught me a little rhyme that she had used as a child: “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” I can’t tell you how many times I used that little taunt. It did make the words stop. But words do hurt and I have the scars to prove it.…
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Shaping Abstract Truths To Form A Firm Foundation – #2- God’s Image In Mankind Became Distorted at the Fall
God has complete unity in HImself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He made humans to live in unity and community with Him. God planned from the beginning for Adam and Eve and all their descendants to walk and talk with Him daily. “ . . . the man and hiswife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day. . .” Gen 3:8 The Net Bible Imagine that for a moment, as you are going about your daily business when suddenly you hear the sound of Creator God moving about. He is with you, there to visit with you in person,…
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Lies We Tell Our Children
I feel very reluctant to write about any parenting issue, because I was and am such an incredibly flawed parent. Nevertheless, I have learned things over the years that I am trying to put into practice during what remains of my parenting years. I’d like to share some of those things with you in the hope that you may find a glimmer of something practical that you could incorporate into your parenting. It goes without saying that building into our kids spiritually is one of the biggest jobs we have as parents and perhaps one area where we may feel unsure. I’m not going to address that important area directly,…
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The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
“[I]f you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). On this Resurrection Sunday, it is important that we look at the foundational cornerstone of Christianity: the resurrection of Jesus Christ from death and the grave.. The resurrection of Jesus is central to all Christian belief. The Apostle Paul even went as far as to say, “[I]f Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he…
