Our Righteousness: Absolutely Worthless Credit
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ come righteousness that comes
From the Pastor: Resurrection — The Game Changer
A few years ago, I mentioned the Methuselah tree, grown from date plant seeds, found in an archeological site at Masada in Israel from around the time of Jesus. They were the extinct remnants of the kind of Palm trees probably used on Palm Sunday to herald the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11). The seeds, excavated about 40 years ago, lay locked up until Sarah Sallon, director of the Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center at the Hadassah
Finding Jesus: Can We Recognize Real Christianity?
It’s true, there’s as much counterfeit Christianity in the world as anything else—fake money, fake love, fake promises, fake smiles, or whatever else you could name. So how can we tell when we’re dealing with the real thing? Even though it’s not possible to know for sure in every case (we aren’t the final judges of such things), nevertheless there are some telltale signs that usually make things clear if you get close enough. A little careful inspection can make all
Misperceiving God
How frequently do we either complain or get resentful, misunderstanding God’s plan and good purpose for us? Too often! We need to push reset to refocus and see what he is really accomplishing in our lives. In the Old Testament Book of Ruth, verses 1:1-5; 20-22. Briefly, what we learn is that there was a famine in the land of Judah during the time of the Judges. Elimelech, a Jew of Bethlehem, left Judah and moved his wife and two sons to
Betrayal and Abandonment: Can We Forgive and Forget?
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. –Proverbs 18:24 For it is not an enemy who taunts me— then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me— then I could hide from him. But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng. –Psalm 55:12–14 No matter who we are, what we do, or
How Do We Pray?
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” -Luke 11:1-4 As Christians, we know we should pray because both the Old and New Testaments
From the Pastor: Valentine’s Day
But it isn’t about hearts, flowers, and chocolates for some. Have you ever wondered why so many romantic films are so popular? Unrequited love. Boy meets girl, girl falls in love, and then they part. And girl deals with deep heartache. At some point in your life, you meet the person who seems perfect for you. You’ve never felt more alive, you’ve never laughed so much with anyone else, no one understands you better, you’re sure this is God’s will for
Finish the Race
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. -Acts 20:24 One of the marks of the apostle Paul’s life was that he knew exactly what his purpose was. The Good News of the Gospel utterly controlled him. He believed it, loved it, preached it, and defended it often at the risk of his
A Christian Life: Don’t Take It for Granted!
I hope you spent a wonderful Christmas day celebrating the joyful event of Jesus’ birth. Because of his birth, regardless of whatever situation we are currently facing, we can take Jesus’ promise to heart, “with God all things are possible.” On Christmas Eve, I turned on the faucet and was greeted with tepid water. This began a series of unfortunate events and made for spells of tremendous surprised yells and outbursts of laughter from my family. The water progressed from tepid
The Gift of Family and Friends
So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. -Genesis 1:21 For most of us, we are very aware of the joy of family and friends at Christmastime. I particularly enjoy attending worship services in places where winter days bring snow and freezing temperatures. The bleak weather outside makes for a startling contrast to
