The average church congregation is multi-faceted! There are young, old, men, women, children, teens and in-betweens. Some are of means, others would be of means if they only had the means! There are Democrats and Republicans, Independents and non-political. (And we don’t make one group sit by itself.) There are high tech people, low […]
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A Fresh Heart Prayer Devotional – July 2019
“When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 1:4 KJV Nehemiah was confronted with a crisis of national proportion. Jerusalem was in shambles and God’s people had a future that looked awfully bleak. Nehemiah’s first response to […]
Transferring Your Faith
King David was about to be ‘gathered to his fathers’ … in other words, was at the end of his life. As he prepares to pass the mantle to his son Solomon, he gives his parting words: “I’m about to go the way of all the earth, but you—be strong; show what you’re made […]
Ready – Set – Go!
“Get ready … get set … GO!” There are people who do not follow this progression of preparation. We refer to them as ‘scatter-brained.’ They get an idea … and launch it. They think something … and say it. They often act out of the first burst of a concept in their minds. Sometimes […]
They’re Not Us!
It’s almost always been ‘us’ versus them. Israel lived surrounded by ‘them’. But not content to list only heathen as ‘them’ we began to differentiate further The early church was made up of entirely of ‘us’…Jewish believers…until Peter ate with one of ‘them.’ Paul and his evangelistic party then turned their entire attention […]
Small Things – Big Results
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” James 1:27 ESV Mother Teresa’s personal bio is extraordinary in its clarity: “By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. […]
Children Again
“And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3 NIV Jesus is not talking to children here … they’re already child-like. It’s we adults, who are apparently missing out on the unique characteristics of being children. And truth […]
Beating the System
Beating the system! Sounds kind of exciting, doesn’t it? Some have gotten very good at it. Some will buy a movie ticket, then spend the entire day going from movie to movie. SYSTEM BEATEN! Others borrow a disabled parking sign and use it shopping to get parking spaces near every storefront. SYSTEM BEATEN! There […]
Wanted: Dads!
I had an amazing father! He loved God passionately and at time recklessly. He would do anything he believed would please God … go anywhere he believed God wanted him to go … and say anything to anybody if God gave him that assignment. He was a righteous, vulnerable, tough and at times unabashedly […]
Bad Things and Good People
“There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it. A poor, wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought to thank him.” Ecclesiastes 9:14,15 NLT Solomon told this story in his quest […]