A Little ServingUnfortunately, in churches there is something called the 80/20 rule. What that means is 80 percent of the work is done by 20 percent of the people. By the way, this rule applies regardless of the size of the church. It is very rare to find a church that has too many volunteers that they can’t accommodate them all.In spite of this ru

What Does It Mean That "Love Never Fails"? In 1 Corinthians 13:8, Paul is describing the deep and abiding love God has for His people, an affection that is unending and unbreakable. The Apostle’s words were no doubt influenced by Old Testament writers.“The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have d

1. Genesis Although I fell asleep reading Genesis as a teen, I now marvel at how it sets the foundation for understanding who God is and how He relates to man: “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27).The stories of how God created the world and chose a people for Himself

Consecration means to dedicate our lives to God. Idols are anything that creep up and attempt to take the place of God as first and foremost in our lives. We have to be diligent about asking God to search our hearts for distractions and preoccupations that take away from our focus on Him and His agenda for each of our days/lives. Sacrifice and cons

Does Satan Have Power Against Us?These glorious words of prophecy would only serve to intensify Satan’s vitriol against mankind and give him a new and more predominant object to target: the coming Christ, who would spell his demise and in the fullness of time, strip him of his power. But what is the connection? Two verse of Scripture in particular

How Can We Pray for Blessing?We’ll find guidance right in Scripture for how to approach God and ask for His favor on our lives. First, our prayers should be thoughtful. Does my prayer align with what I know of God? If our worship life is healthy, we’ll have a better sense of how the Lord wants to work in our lives. We’ll have a humility of spirit t

Where Did The Idea of Jesus Descending to Hell Originate? And Did Jesus Descend to Hell? The Apostles’ Creed is an expanded version of the Old Roman Creed that was being used as early as the second century. Scholars are not exact on the reasons for creating the Apostles’ Creed. Early church leaders believed the creed was written by the apostles the

God’s LoveThough their voices were loud that night, the angels really spoke words of comfort and grace over the shepherds. And as God’s people, we can rest in the knowledge that our Lord always wants to provide His peace, no matter what we face in life.Keeping this verse tucked away in our hearts will make us more aware every day of how much we’ve

What Does the Devil Look Like?Now that we know a little about the devil, do we know what he looks like? Does he resemble the Halloween costumes we see, or something else entirely?Scripture paints several different pictures of satan. In the garden, he takes on the form of a serpent. The Bible also says he disguises himself as an angel of light, some

This verse reminds us to give thanks no matter what. No doubt, many of us will have a solemn Thanksgiving this year. Perhaps like my family, maybe you have lost someone dear this year. Possibly many families have been torn apart by disease, division, or other circumstances.Whatever our lot, we choose to praise the Lord in every season. Psalm 106:1

What Did Jesus Finish at the Cross? It is finished indicates Christ had finished the redemptive work he set out to do since the first prophecy in Genesis 3 (and likely much before then). Because sin had entered the world, a cup of wrath existed. Either man or God had to drink it. So Jesus set out to fulfill the 300+ prophecies found in the Old Test

What Do We Know about Lot? We first meet Lot in Genesis 11:31; we learn that he was the grandson of Terah and Abraham’s nephew. Since his father, Haran, had died, his grandfather took him out of the land of his birth, Ur of the Chaldeans, to a place called Haran. After Terah’s death, God called Abraham to begin his journey toward Canaan, and he tak

5 Lessons from the Book of Ezra1. We Can Trust in God’s DeliveranceThe Lord unexpectedly used the King of Persia to start bringing His people back to their homeland after a lengthy exile. He always finds a way to accomplish good for believers who look to Him, though His methods may surprise us.Submitting our lives into God’s care means we can find

Who Was Absalom? Absalom appears in the book of 2 Samuel, first introduced as the third and perhaps the favorite of David’s sons born at Hebron (2 Samuel 3:3). He then appears throughout chapters 13-15 as the saga of his story unfolds.Absalom is included in the complete list of David’s children, found in 1 Chronicles 3:1-9. The Bible mentions Absa

Hebrews 5:7-9: “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source o

The 5 Things We Need to Understand 1. The ScripturesFirst, we must ground our learning process in the Word of God. Believe it or not, suicide is nothing new to our current culture. Did you know that there are over six accounts of suicide mentioned in Scripture between the Old and New Testament? The most well-known passage, found in Matthew 27:3-5,

1. Our Life in This World Is Temporary“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).We are on this planet for such a short time in comparison to eternity. We may live our lives believing we have years to do all that we want, but the reality is non

What Happened in Joseph's Story? Joseph’s story begins in Genesis chapter 37 and spans the following 12 chapters. Joseph was described as his father’s beloved (Genesis 37:2) and this favoritism is what fueled the friction within his family. To make matters worse, Joseph was given the gift of dreams, foretelling of his power over his family, which c

Other examples of this include His plan for Nineveh, as described in the book of Jonah. In Genesis, Abraham “bargains” with God to save the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. God agrees to save the city if a remnant of godly people can be found (Genesis 18:20).Prayer did play a part in all these events. The King in Nineveh commanded the people, “Let eve

Amen4. Prayer of Gratitude for New Opportunities "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans” (Proverbs 16:3).Dear God,Thank you for new opportunities and doors that you have opened throughout the year. Thank you for preparing and equipping me with the gifts, resources, and strength to pursue each new opportunity with cour