THE BLOG
Category
Topic
- Anxiety 2
- Beauty 1
- Bible 4
- Blessings 1
- Body of Christ 1
- Burden 1
- CEO 1
- Christian Living 91
- Christlikeness 6
- Christmas 9
- Commandments 1
- Community 1
- Conflict 1
- Cults 1
- Culture 1
- DDM 1
- Death 1
- Discipleship 3
- Emotions 4
- Eternity 2
- Evangelism 6
- Faith 2
- Forgive 2
- Freedom 1
- Fusion 1
- Gather 1
- God 1
- Gospel 2
- Gratitude 1
- Hebrews 11 1
- Holiness 1
- Holy Spirit 1
- Homosexuality 1
- Humility 1
- Israel 2
- Jesus 5
- Joy 2
- King of Glory 1
- Lying 1
- Missions 1
- Outreach 1
- Pastor Jeff 1
- Perspective 2
- Prayer 7
- Psalm 119 3
- Reading 1
- Salvation 13
- Sanctification 1
- Satan 1
- Scripture 2
Christmas Means
One of my favorite quotes around Christmas is this: “Without Christmas, Easter is impossible. Without Easter, Christmas is meaningless.” Both are essential to the meaning, hope, and experience of our Christian life, yet our Lord’s incarnation unfolded the amazing salvation plan of God.
God said it this way: “For the grace of God appeared (Jesus Christ) bringing salvation to all men” (Titus 2:11).
As you ponder the meaning of Christmas this year, I have always benefited from this profound poem that Larry Farthing wrote called “Christmas means.…” Let its truths marinate in your heart.
Christmas Stress Relief
Over the last nine months, we have been treated to the indignities of COVID: uncertainty, fear, anxiety, sickness, death, mandates, shutdowns, and shortages. We’re used to the toilet paper shortages, but now it’s antacids. COVID has taken a toll on the physical and mental health of many and the rising use of medications to treat depression, insomnia, and anxiety (up 15-34 percent before the current wave) along with binge drinking (up 20 percent) is disturbing.
Are you Offended?
I was sent the following message posted on a sign down in Texas by a famous Tex-Mex restaurant named El Arroyo: “Wishing you a happy whatever doesn’t offend you.”
WOW, doesn’t that seem to summarize the sentiment of our times?
Offenses these days seem like another pandemic. They are spreading like wildfire and too many are testing positive with touchiness, edginess, or oversensitivity over virtually everything. Don’t you sometimes feel like you are walking on eggshells around people?
Just Trust Him
I truly appreciate the skill and work of a dentist, but I just wish they could fix my teeth without mouth openers, needles, and drills.
Stephen Erickson once wrote this about choosing a dentist:
Never trust a dentist…
Gushing with Gratitude
I have to admit that I’m an official gravy-sucker. If you’re not familiar with the south, that generally means you love gravy so much you’re even willing to drink it. That’s me; just ask Kim. During our family Thanksgiving, we have lots of gravy and I love to fill my plate with the turkey (white meat only) and all the delectable side dishes and then pour gravy over the whole plate so it saturates everything! It’s soooooo good. Any fellow gravy-suckers out there?
When it comes to general thanksgiving, God clearly tells us to be like gravy-suckers and saturate our lives with gratitude. Just pour it all over our lives and circumstances because we know He is working in and through everything.
A Special Message from our Leadership Team
A Special Message from our Leadership TeamWe are very excited to regather in person throughout our church this week after a brief COVID-related interruption to our normal ministry gatherings. In light of the Governor’s new temporary measures, we are pleased to continue meeting in person as we did before on Sundays and throughout our entire ministry (none of the new measures change any of our previous in-person meetings whether on campus or in homes).
Why Singing is Essential to Worship
God created us to sing and enjoy the message, rhythm, and emotion of music. When it comes to God’s people, we are specially designed to sing and to sing our praises to God together. Psalm 147:1 says: “Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant and praise is becoming.” Here’s WHY it’s so vital.
The Benefits of Gathering With God's People
I just read this interesting piece of research: “People who attended a religious service at least once a week were significantly less likely to die from ‘deaths of despair,’ which included deaths related to suicide, drug overdose, and alcohol poisoning” according to research published recently in JAMA Psychiatry. The study went on to say “women who attended religious services at least once a week had a 68 percent lower risk of death from despair compared to their peers who never attended services and men had a 33 percent lower risk of death from despair.” (“Attending Religious Services Associated with Lower Risk of Deaths of Despair,” Mind, Mood & Memory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Vol. 16, No. 9, p. 6)
