“‘Follow me.’ But [the man] said [to Jesus], ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God’” (Luke 9:59–60 ESV).For Jesus, it’s all about God’s kingdom. For us, it too should be all about God’s kingdom. From a different man, Jesus hears t

It is more important to point out that these phenomena of interrelationship are not confined to the Father and Son, but are extended also to the Spirit. Thus, for example, in a context in which Our Lord had emphasized in the strongest manner His own essential unity and continued interpenetration with the Father ("If ye had known me, ye would have k

We all have logs in our eyes at times. We can’t know ourselves perfectly and can’t see ourselves perfectly. We can’t see ourselves as others see us. We may think we see something clearly, yet be completely blind.8. Be slow to defend yourself. Remember, God is perfectly able to defend you.When someone disagrees with you they aren’t necessarily attac

Proverbs 19:18 - Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.How Can Proverbs 13:24 Be Misinterpreted?The most common misinterpretation of this scripture relates to “the rod of discipline.” Many view thi

23. for all have sinnedThough men differ greatly in the nature and extent of their sinfulness, there is absolutely no difference between the best and the worst of men, in the fact that "all have sinned," and so underlie the wrath of God.and fall short of the gloryof God--that is, "have failed to earn His approval" (compare John 12:43 , Greek).(Adap

What Is the Christian Perspective about Life After Death? As Christians we desire to do life well here on earth and sometimes we overdo it by putting our wants first. We get concerned when things don’t work out the way we plan. We let financial obligations get the best of us when our paychecks are less then what we want, or we let overspending empt

“Strong women expose evil men.” There are several stories throughout the Bible that illustrate this well, and Maxwell highlights Jael’s story in Judges 4. This woman drove a tent peg through the temple of a man who was an enemy of the people of God-- “Thank God Jael wasn’t meek and submissive and respectful toward this friend of her wayward husband

(Adapted from The Treasury of David, Psalm 79)A Thought to KeepThe Christian life cannot be isolated from the wonderful history of the whole Church. We can rejoice not just in God's faithfulness to us, but to his people throughout time.

1. You step on her feelings more than you know.You just do. And you don’t even mean to—or know that you are most of the time. She may think you do, but you don’t. You’re just not as aware of how she’s wired emotionally. And most of the time she overlooks it. She knows it wasn’t intentional. But it hurts. And the more you do it the more it hurts. So

1. Palm Sunday - A Triumphal Entry and Beginning of The Holy WeekThe events of Palm Sunday are found in Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:9-19.Many churches celebrate Palm Sunday, which is the Sunday before Easter; maybe your church had children waving palm branches to help them connect to the story. But while this is a triu

"By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise." (Hebrews 11:9). There is within all of us a natural desire to settle down. The older I get, the less I like to move. I value coming home to the same place and the same faces every day. Several years ago

A praising womanWhen God puts challenging circumstances in our lives, we either worship or we whine. I’m ashamed to say I’ve done more than my share of whining—even about ministry. “Oh, Lord, I’m tired of traveling. Do I have to go there? This is so hard! Why do I have to deal with that person?” I am reminded of the children of Israel in the wilder

If you loved The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren......try reading these:Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World by Bob GoffLight and fun, unique and profound, the lessons drawn from Bob's life and attitude just might inspire you to be secretly incredible, too.The Call: Finding and Fulfill

It’s not limited to select sins. If you are doing disciplines as a part of discipleship, then you address known sins…period. It could be gossip…may even be gluttony or greed. (Matthew 5:21-28)The only people doing church discipline perfectly are the perfect churches. They do discipleship perfectly, also. In fact, they’re pretty much perfect. (Or th

Here’s Dan 12:1-3, which is quite clear: “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book— will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust

Revelation and Truth:A week later, another question was asked. She hesitated, but I knew it had been swirling through her mind since our first conversation. “Hey mom and dad. Tell me, what about Santa?” Again, my response was a question. “What do you think?”With all the eloquence her six-year-old self could muster, she shared her latest revelation.

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1. The Old Testament Priesthood FailedThe priesthood was established to repair the fallen relationship between Holy God and sinful man. Initially a function of the head of each household, it was codified and expanded under Moses, with Aaron as the first High Priest.When Jesus arrived, the priesthood had failed in every capacity. The Aaronic bloodli

We need to take bitterness seriously. Bitterness isn't one of those big, flashy sins that you can see growing above the surface of our hearts. It may not show off like anger or produce big ol’ hunks of rotten fruit like disobedience. Bitterness is a sleeper sin. It grows beneath the surface, down deep in the soil of our hearts.But the author's warn

1. There will be distractions.Life can be full of distractions, on any given day, but yet this week in particular, the enemy would love nothing more than to pull us away from the most important. He is a deceiver and twister of truth, and if we’re not careful, we may step right into his plans. Here’s a few ways he may try to lure us:Through busyness