While a large majority of people would agree that respect is a crucial factor in society, the lack of respect – disrespect – continues to increase in the world around us. Two areas of society where disrespect is most witnessed are education and politics. But disrespect permeates all areas of society, not only in the U.S., but around the globe. Personal relationships are severed by divisive arguments instead of healed through respectful discussions. Interestingly, God's way to … [Read more...] about Godly Respect
Practical Christain Living
A Spirit of Truth
What makes God's truth so powerful? In the Scriptures, God refers to Himself as the God of truth. Also, Christ says that He is the way...and the truth. And likewise, God’s Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth! But what can the truth do for us? “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,”' (John 8:31-32). God’s truth can set us free—if we continue steadfastly in … [Read more...] about A Spirit of Truth
Garments, Wineskins and Fasting
Parading their self-righteousness, the Pharisees, the religious elite of Christ’s time, and their followers fasted twice a week. Yet the disciples of Christ did not. The religious leaders demanded to know from Christ why his followers didn’t fast. Jesus answered with a parable about wineskins and garments. “Then He spoke a parable to them: 'No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the … [Read more...] about Garments, Wineskins and Fasting
Remaining Steadfast
God’s Church is central to His plan of salvation for all mankind as a precursor of the “pouring out” of His Holy Spirit on all humanity. But that profound impact is difficult to grasp because the Churches are mostly ignored by the world today. What can we do now to ensure that we stay strong and don’t fall prey to discouragement? There is a process to help us succeed. The beginning of the book of James gets right to it: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, … [Read more...] about Remaining Steadfast
Self-Examination: Are We in the Faith
We are subjected to all kinds of tests throughout our lifetime. Some are routine, but others are unavoidable, deeply personal tests: peer pressure, emotional suffering, financial upheaval, and temptation. With a fear of failure, we usually don’t consider these as positive experiences. However, with good preparation we can face self-examination confidently. “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is … [Read more...] about Self-Examination: Are We in the Faith
Survivalism
Remember when it seemed as if everyone was planning for the coming zombie apocalypse? It highlighted for me the fascination people have with the collapse of society and prepping for survival. There are serious prophecies about the dark days ahead for the world, but should we be focused on preparing physically? Prepping has, for some, become a false religion called “survivalism”. It’s fueled by apocalyptic movies, survivalist TV shows, and violent video games. These are especially … [Read more...] about Survivalism
Staying Awake
Are we awake spiritually? Or are we too caught up in our daily tasks? Let’s consider the periods of slumbering and awakening in our lives, and how we can learn to stay awake. God’s Holy Spirit is active, but our human spirit, the “spirit in man” (Job 32.8), which makes us each a unique individual, can slumber if we prevent God’s Spirit from working in us. Just like when we are driving along, mind wandering, and find that we’ve lost track of how we got to where we are, so a slumbering spirit … [Read more...] about Staying Awake