A Family Tradition One of the traditions we have is to gather all the grandchildren one last time, before they depart for home, and ask each of them what they enjoyed most about their time with Papa and Granny/GiGi. Their answers amaze us every time we do this. What we thought was quite simple and insignificant meant the most to them. Here is how i

Both men and women told me they felt relieved when they became a Christian, met a group of peers who thought sex should be postponed until marriage, and didn’t feel pressure to repeat things they now regret. In a few interviews, I said they didn’t need to tell me things they didn’t want to and, in most cases, they said they felt better after confes

How did Mary Magdalene know where Jesus was buried?“Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome.” Mark 15:40 NIVThe four Gospel accounts record the presence of women at the foot of the cross. Mark 15:40 records Mary Magdalene, Mary, mother of James, and Sal

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We can look to our circumstances—it may not LOOK like God is being faithful. It may not FEEL like God is with us in these waters. It may FEEL like he has abandoned or forsaken us. We may not SENSE his love. But WE MUST NOT WAVER CONCERNING THE PROMISE OF GOD! Rather, we grow strong in our faith as we GIVE GLORY TO GOD, as we are fully convinced tha

1. Pray before you are tempted.Jesus instructed his disciples to ask God, “Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil.” And as he told us to pray, “Give us THIS DAY” our daily bread,” it’s good to ask God to deliver us from temptation and evil THIS DAY.2. Flee. A good run is better than a bad fall.Stay as far away sin as you can. Don’t t

1. God is faithful.“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.” (Deuteronomy 7:9)Even when we feel like there is no one to turn to—that no one understands, God is there. He is faithful and trustworthy in every situation

1. "I don't believe that God exists. How can anybody be sure?"Recognize that, logically, neither atheism nor agnosticism make sense. Atheism requires complete knowledge of everything (which no human has) in order to declare for certain that there is no God. Agnostics claim that they can't know anything for sure, but it's a contradiction to say, "On

This is God the Father who sent his only Son to the cross that we deserved.This is God the Son who willingly took on flesh, lived among us, and died in our place.This is God the Spirit who prompts our hearts and brings us back into unending fellowship with our Maker.It is the costly actions of God that give us our value.In these difficult times, we

Somewhere about A.D. 65-67 he visited once more the Greek and Asiatic churches he had founded, and from Macedonia wrote the First Epistle to Timothy, then at Ephesus, and also to Titus at Crete. The incidental allusions in these epistles confirm the view that he had been acquitted and was at work for Christ. At Nicopolis, in Epirus, he was again ar

Birthdays, as we understand them, were not something a poor Nazareth family would have been able to afford. With four brothers, at least three sisters, and the likely early death of their father, Joseph, we are looking at a family who had other priorities. Jesus' actual birth date is not as important as the fact that he was born into this world as

That's good news, my friend! That's really good news!!I spent a summer in Hong Kong and used to ride on the underground trains with all these wonderful Chinese folks. Every once in a while, I would hear them talking about me because I would hear "guilo." "Guilo" means foreign devil!So I asked my friend how I could present the idea that I understood

One truth about God that has helped me to combat the fear of not knowing where to start in sharing my faith is that God has strategically designed my everyday life to be bursting with opportunities to joyfully spread the gospel.I can’t start with myself—my life and all its intricate details—I have to start with God. God is God; I didn’t make God, b

Next time we are offended, as those who counsel the word of God to life, let us pray for the Lord to bring these verses and truths to our minds. Let us pray to give the same mercy we have received. Then we will better understand what it means to be children of God. “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that y

3. Luke 3:234. Luke 3:35. Deut. 31:86. Job 42:10–117. Matt. 5:2–6, 88. Joshua 39. Matt. 3:1110. Luke 1:32–3311. Luke 1:4312. Gen. 3:17Taken from Behold the King of Glory: A Narrative of the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, by Russ Ramsey. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Il 60187,

This is a good reason why we should honor those that fear the Lord, and choose them for our people; why we should be not hearers of the word only, but doers of the work, that we may share with the saints in this honor, Surely it is good to be akin to those who are thus nearly allied to Christ, and to have fellowship with those that have fellowship

1. Blame “The greedy stir up conflict, but those who trust in the Lord will prosper” (Proverbs 28:25). When we find ourselves alienated and blaming everyone else for it, that’s a sign to turn inward and ask God to illumine our part in the conflict. On a mission to rally influence for our side of the battle, we can lose the inward ability to see wha

The difference between Adam and Christ is not that one was a physical being and the other wasn’t. It was that Adam was under sin and the Curse, and Christ was untouched by sin and the Curse. Jesus was and is a human being, “in every respect like us” (Hebrews 2:17), except with respect to sin.Though Jesus in his resurrected body proclaimed, “I am no

1. Read Genesis to Understand the World's Origins The first three chapters of Genesis tell us how the world came to be, show us the fundamental problem with the world, and give us a glimpse of the grace that is to come in Jesus Christ. The rest of Scripture takes the Bible’s opening chapters seriously and use them to more explicitly teach doctrines

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (IS 40:31)I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (PHP 4:13)that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in