Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 5:3) When Jesus gives his list of "Blessed's" he begins it with telling us that those who have the kingdom of heaven, they are poor in spirit. They are bankrupt in their inner being, and have come to find their worth... Continue Reading →
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Matt. 5:4) Roughly 1/3 of the Psalms are "Lamentation Psalms" (aprox. 50). Lamentations are taken up by Job and all of the prophets. In fact an entire book of the Bible is devoted to lamentations. Spoiler alert...its called Lamentations. Modern Christians have almost entirely neglected... Continue Reading →
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (justice), for they shall be satisfied." (Matt. 5:6) "A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is his delight." (Prov. 11:1) Today it is expected that President Donald Trump will be impeached. It is yet to be seen whether or not... Continue Reading →
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Matt. 5:9) 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise... Continue Reading →
But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (Jer. 29:7) The people of Israel had been exiled from their land, and sent to the foreign land of Babylon. They would remain there for 70 years... Continue Reading →
Written by Janet Adelgren Languages are fascinating to me. I think it must have been great fun for God to create all the languages and dialects for all the peoples of the world. I was astonished as a child when I learned that God was not singularly English speaking. After all I was told that... Continue Reading →
Written by: Danielle Walker This past Sunday, Andrew began a sermon series on The Fruit of the Spirit, and focused in on the love fruit. I personally was deeply moved and convicted by God’s word preached and sensed such a timeliness in the delivery of this message. As I listened to God’s Word preached, and mulled... Continue Reading →
“Stop following me!” I remember hearing that many times growing up. My brother had a crew of friends, and he didn’t want his 5 years younger brother tagging along. But from my stand point, doing what my brother did was the definition of cool, and so naturally I wanted to follow him. Now as a dad I see similar... Continue Reading →
Growing up, like most kids, one of the things that I hated doing most was cleaning my room. And worst of all was the expectation to make up my bed. It didn’t make any sense to me. Why should I make up my bed? I’m just going to mess it back up when I crawl back into it at... Continue Reading →
This devotional is written by Lisa Foose. How many of you, like George and I, came away from Sunday’s sermon wondering about the ‘soil’ condition of your hearts? I had to admit that when I’m listening more to the world around me than to the Lord, my heart ‘soil’ gets a bit hard and even sometimes... Continue Reading →
What is an atheist? Well, an atheist is someone who doesn’t believe in God. Our minds rightly go to the so-called atheist four horsemen – Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and the late Christopher Hitchens. These four men have made it one of their central professional objectives to oppose religion as totally as possible, and disprove the... Continue Reading →
I well remember the time when I first fell in love with my wife. She and I were working on a countywide youth event together which lasted for three nights. I made a point to work as closely with her through that event as possible. I anticipated each night, not, if I’m honest, because of the work I... Continue Reading →
In January of 2015 I began the process of initial developments in replanting the church I now pastor – East Marion Baptist Church. The church was down to 17 people and had 6 months’ worth of money in the bank. They were on the verge of closing their doors. This replant began in earnest in May of that... Continue Reading →
I was recently talking to a gentleman who may well have an opportunity to begin a significant ministry with the homeless. The problem is, he has no experience doing this. Should he or should he not pursue this ministry role? Maybe, maybe not. But the real question he needs to grapple with is not does he have the skills,... Continue Reading →
An often quoted passage by Christians in their godly zeal to see revival in our time, is 2 Chronicles 7:14 – “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin... Continue Reading →
In his book The Fight, John White gives the illustration that our consciences like a sundial. A sundial only works when there is light. It does not work at midnight in a fog. Moreover it requires light from the proper source. The moon makes it point to the wrong time. Take a flashlight with you and... Continue Reading →
When the sundial was first introduced to Roman society in the 3rd century BC, it was not welcomed by the general public. People quickly began speaking of the tyranny of the sundial. They would say that before the sundial, people ate when they were hungry; now people eat when the sundial tells them. It is funny to think... Continue Reading →
In the 7th Harry Potter story, The Deathly Hallows, there is a continual tug-of-war for Harry’s attention. He has been instructed by his now dead mentor, Professor Dumbledor, to seek out these items known as horcruxes. The evil villain Voldemort has placed a portion of himself in seven of these, and in order to defeat him, all seven must... Continue Reading →
Today the Georgia run-off elections are taking place. Tomorrow several House Republicans will contest the count of the Electoral College of several key states. These events are a capstone to a year of incredible social unrest and division. America stands in a state of on-going chaos. Meanwhile, there is the church of Jesus Christ. We are not a political... Continue Reading →
Yesterday in my sermon on self-control we looked at 1 Corinthians 9::24-27 where Paul compares the Christian life to running a race and boxing. His main point is that we are to run the Christian race with diligence, and we discipline ourselves so as not to be disqualified. But therein lies a struggle for many people. What... Continue Reading →
In recent days I have received a question from a few people regarding whether or not I think the vaccine for COVID-19 is the mark of the beast. And I understand why. The way 2020 has unfolded has left many people wondering if these could be the end of days. I mean, what more should we expect, an... Continue Reading →
