THE BLOG
Topic
- Anxiety 2
- Beauty 1
- Bible 5
- Blessings 1
- Body of Christ 1
- Burden 1
- CEO 1
- Christian Living 149
- Christlikeness 6
- Christmas 12
- Commandments 1
- Community 1
- Conflict 1
- Cults 1
- Culture 1
- DDM 1
- Death 1
- Discipleship 5
- Emotions 4
- Eternity 2
- Evangelism 7
- Faith 2
- Forgive 3
- Freedom 1
- Fusion 1
- Gather 1
- God 2
- Gospel 3
- Gratitude 1
- Hebrews 11 1
- Holiness 1
- Holy Spirit 1
- Homosexuality 1
- Humility 1
- Israel 2
- Jesus 6
- Joy 2
- King of Glory 1
- Lying 1
- Missions 3
- Outreach 1
- Pastor Jeff 1
- Perspective 2
- Prayer 8
- Psalm 119 3
- Reading 1
- Salvation 13
- Sanctification 1
- Satan 1
- Scripture 3
Need Encouragement?
I recently read this quote by Pastor Paul Tripp who has written numerous biblically sound books:
“Need encouragement today? Remember:
Praying for our Governing Authorities
This week all across the United States, whether locally or nationally, inaugurations have taken place for incoming mayors, city council members, representatives, senators, judges, and other governing authorities as they begin or continue their work as public servants. It is a good reminder to all of us as disciples of Jesus Christ that we are called to pray for them. 1 Timothy 2:1–4 says, “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Gospel Power & Surprises
My feed this week on X (formerly Twitter) was very lively about a guy named Wesley Huff. Who is Wesley Huff? He is a Canadian apologist. Wes was born in Multan, Pakistan, and spent a portion of his childhood in the Middle East. He is currently a PhD student at the University of Toronto (Biblical Studies: New Testament) and the Central Canada Director at Apologetics Canada. Wes has participated in numerous talks and interfaith dialogue events at universities across Canada and has been participating in public dialogues on issues of faith, belief, and religion for the last 10 years. He lives in Toronto, Canada, with his wife Melissa, and their three children.
Readiness For Sunday Worship
Have you ever taken the time to think about your readiness when gathering together with God’s people in worship on Sunday?
When I was growing up, after dinner every Saturday night, my parents had us lay out our clothes for Sunday, bathe or shower, and go to bed a bit earlier so we would be ready and energized Sunday morning when we climbed into our station wagon (remember those?) and drove to church. My point is we had a plan for readiness on Sunday because it was an important day for our family. We would get our mind, body, and spirit ready to give our best to the Lord and with His people (and I might add, we were never late).
Disciplemakers
This Sunday, January 5th, we begin our 13th DDM (Disciple Development Month) that began almost 4 years ago in January of 2021. We schedule this focus three times a year (January, May-June, September) to intentionally focus our attention on internalizing and applying our God-given mission “to glorify God by making more and better disciples of Jesus Christ through intentional relationships.” These 3–4 week DDMs are designed to highlight and reinforce the more, better & intentional parts of our mission.
Why Read the Bible
There are many reasons to make a commitment to read your Bible regularly and there’s no better time to start than at the beginning of a new year.
God is all-knowing, all-wise, all-truth, and all-good, so what He says is authoritative, accurate, supernatural, sufficient, and indispensable for our lives. Here are just a few of the many benefits of reading God’s Word:
Destressing Christmas
I’m guessing that I don’t really need to establish the fact that Christmas season brings an elevated level of stress to all of us. With all the family and friend gatherings, decorations, shopping, budgets, gift-giving, schedules, and perhaps difficult family dynamics, there’s enough stress to go around for everyone. In fact, I just read that 89% of U.S. adults experience stress during the holidays, and 41% say their stress levels are higher than other times of the year (American Psychological Association Survey).
Incarnation Paradoxes
The following article, Augustine’s Christmas Sermons, was written December 11, 2023 by John Stonestreet and Glenn Sunshine from the Breakpoint Ministry of the Colson Center. It highlights some of the many paradoxes of the incarnation that early church father Augustine proclaimed:
From the earliest days of the Church, Christian theologians have marveled at the paradoxes found in the incarnation. Among the earliest expressions of this marveling comes from St. Augustine, the most influential theologian in Western Christianity.
Be Grateful, Not an Ingrate!
At thanksgiving, we expect everyone to be thankful, but be aware there is always something in the moment that can squeeze that gratitude right out of your life.
You can either act like an ingrate or remember to be grateful. Which will it be for you?
The following two acrostics spell out some of the differences between being an ingrate or being grateful. How are God’s myriad of blessings showing up in your life?
You can spell an “ingrate” this way:
