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TRAINING FOR HEAVEN
Today, Friday, February 9, 2018 the 23rd modern Olympic Winter Games began in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Ninety-two nations sent their best athletes to compete for medals in events such as figure skating, alpine skiing, snowboarding, bobsledding, curling, and ice hockey. As you may already know, the modern Olympic Games began in 1896 but are based on the ancient Olympic games, which were conducted every four years from 776 B.C. to A.D. 393 in Olympia, Greece. While the Olympic Games are the basis…
Pride (In The Name Of…)?
Pride is a big problem. Although the Bible makes this truth abundantly clear, we often live with a significant amount of self-deception in this area of our lives. We notice pride instantly in someone else’s life, but we tend to either overlook it or blatantly justifyit in our own lives. When we allow pride into our lives, it is typically “in the name of” something else, such as “a healthy self confidence,” “standing up for myself,” or some form of a personal “identity” that we…
Rotten Tomatoes
I love movies. As a lover of movies, I have come to appreciate a website called “rottentomatoes.com.” This is a site that basically collects movie reviews from critics all over the country, determines whether each review is “positive” or “negative,” and then assigns each movie a certain percentage of “freshness” or “rottenness.” These ratings are typically posted at least a week before the movie comes out, which is helpful if you are “on the fence” about going to a certain…
OBLIVIOUS
On Monday of this week, I took my daughter and two of her friends to a local, indoor playground for a few hours. While there, a man, whose daughter started playing with my own, struck up a conversation with me. During the twenty or so minutes that we were engaged in conversation, I learned which church he attended, where his daughter goes to preschool, and where he lived. Eventually, I informed him that I was a preacher, and, so, I…
RESOLUTIONS AND RESOURCES
A common practice that coincides with the start of a new year is the making of new year’s resolutions. A New Year’s resolution is a personal declaration of what one intends to do at the start of a new year in order to alter an undesirable behavior or trait, to accomplish a personal goal, or to better some aspect of one’s life. One of the most popular resolutions every year centers around our finances. Financial resolutions may take the form…
PURSUING THE LOST BROTHER
In Luke 15 Jesus provided a trilogy of parables known as the “lost” parables. These parables are similar to one another because they each depict something valuable (i.e. sheep, coin, son) being separated from its guardian (i.e. shepherd, woman, father) before eventually being reunited, after which a celebration ensued because what was “lost” had been returned to the one who lost it (Luke 15:6, 9, 22-24). There is one distinct difference between the first two parables and the last one.…
WELCOME TO “THE KINGDOM”
On July 4, 1776 the thirteen American colonies formally announced their independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain when the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. That was the last day that the United States of America was under the rule of a king. As a result, the concept of a “kingdom” is lost on our society because most of us do not know what is like to serve a king or live under a monarchial reign. There…
WHY DID MY SAVIOR COME TO EARTH? (PART 4)
Peace is not the easiest state to achieve. At times we find ourselves caught in stressful and even painful situations that rid us of hope, compassion, or maybe even faith, and Isaiah indicates that one final reason Jesus came to this earth was to provide peace. In Isaiah 9:6 we read, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,…
WHY DID MY SAVIOR COME TO EARTH? (PART 3)
For the past couple of weeks we have been examining the identities associated with Jesus based on Isaiah’s messianic prophecy recorded in Isaiah 9:6 which says: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Thus far, we have explored how Jesus is our “Wonderful Counselor” and our “MIghty God,” so, in this…
WHY DID MY SAVIOR COME TO EARTH? (PART 2)
The Roman playwright Horace, who lived and wrote in the days of Julius Caesar, criticized the other poets and playwrights of his day because every time they presented a problem, in the plot line of their stories, they utilized one of the many Roman gods to resolve it. In regards to their propensity to interject such gods, Horace said, ”Do not bring a god onto the stage unless the problem is one that deserves a god to solve it.” Horace’s…
WHY DID MY SAVIOR COME TO EARTH? (PART 1)
In Isaiah 9:6 we read a Messianic prophecy written nearly seven hundred years before the birth of Christ which says: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. This is a popular passage this time of year when many people choose to focus on the birth of Jesus because of its association…
THE WHY SERIES -WHY IS THE CHURCH OF CHRIST NON-DENOMINATIONAL?
The congregations associated with the Church of Christ have always identified themselves as non-denominational. For centuries this was a peculiar identification, but in recent years it has become very popular for congregations to claim that they are non-denominational, especially among the community church movement. According to a June 12, 2015 Christianity Today article, “over the last four decades, there has been more than a 400 percent growth in Protestants[1] who identify as non-denominational.”[2] With the growing popularity of non-denominational congregations it is important for…