God wants to be first priority in our lives. He is either the Lord of All, or He is not. The best test for us is determining what we give back to God. Does He wind up with our leftovers? Is our time, energy, and resources given to other endeavors instead of to Him? In…
In Genesis 2:18, God says that it is not good for man to be alone. God in His infinite wisdom knew it was not good to be alone and so He created a helper. Someone to share responsibilities, comfort, confront, and encourage. Today, however, we have changed that. We say it is better to do…
We live in an age where everyone has an opinion and feels free to voice it through various social media. There are some that sound good but upon further inspection prove to be baseless. Some are just bad from the get-go. But, before we get too wound up, it’s important to remember that this is…
Once we’ve decided to do something, we often like to “go big.” We think to ourselves: if we’re going to do this thing, let’s really do it. Great things can result, of course. But the mentality can backfire, too—for example, when we set our ambitions too high, get overwhelmed, and can’t follow through. Jesus however, suggests an opposite approach. To start small…
Have you ever struggled with your Bible reading? If we’re being honest, I believe that we all have. For me, a 62-year old man/boy with ADD, distractions abound. So many things seem more urgent and alluring—things like email, text messages, social media, the latest news, to-do lists, the latest Netflix series, Grand-children, the Braves, Atlanta…
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 What moves your heart? It may be your family or your spouse – or a close friend. However, when we begin to follow Jesus, he creates in us a new heart – a heart that is more like His. We begin to…
When I was a kid I developed a love of reading. I was into the Doc Savage series, sci-fi, fantasy, and then read many books by Alistair MacLean, Tolkien, and others. Of course in high school there was a lot of required readings – especially the classics, that kept my nose buried. But as I…
Jesus did not preach an easy-listening message. He didn’t come to be popular. He taught repentance and that life was only found in Him. Just as many today can be drawn to different aspects of Christianity, there are those who turn away from the gospel because they don’t like its teachings, demands, exclusivity, or the…
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. John 6:35 This past Sunday we looked at John 6 where Jesus begins a discourse with the crowd. In verse 27, He tells them not to work for the food that perishes…
For the grace of God has appeared… Titus 2:11-12 For us to truly, in our hearts, want to repent of our sins, repent of our screw-ups—for us to truly want to turn our backs on our old selves, on the self-indulgent people we’ve been—we’ve got to first trust that we can change, that we can…