Photoshopping Jesus—Because He Just Refuses to Fit In
Have you heard of a raster graphics editor? It is an application that makes it easy to create or edit or retouch photos as one sees fit, and then saves them in formats of JPEG, GIF, PNG, and others. If you haven’t heard of a raster graphics editor, maybe you’ve heard of Adobe Photoshop—one of the most popular raster graphics editors out there. Personally, I’m not that familiar with it, but I live with techies who try and educate me
An Advent Sunday Devotion: Fakers, Breakers, and Makers — Peace
by Chaplain Chris Linzey, Guest Author The four Advent themes are love, joy, peace, and hope. This week we're talking about peace, but I wanted to take a different approach to it. I want to talk about peace from the perspective of personal conflict. Sure, we could talk about the peace that we have in Jesus. We could sing "Silent Night" and fool ourselves into thinking that a manger with a newborn baby was calm, serene, and peaceful. The fact of the
Christmas: What’s Important in Your Life?
By Mike Page It’s not easy being Caesar you know, an emperor. Even if I wanted to be the good guy, there are still taxes to be brought in—the empire doesn’t run itself. And unfortunately, like the saying goes, you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs! I hate having to threaten people to get the taxes in. Wouldn’t it be great if I just asked and people cheerfully gave? But no! You have to threaten to break a
An Advent Devotion: Finding Fearless Faith
By Chaplain Chris Linzey, Guest Author We’ve arrived at the second week of Advent, the time of year we prepare our hearts for the coming of the Messiah at Christmas. This week we’re talking about hope. But what is hope? To many people, hope seems to be nothing more than a pipe dream—a wish. “I hope that I get a raise.” “I hope Uncle Frank doesn’t say anything offensive at Christmas dinner this year.” “I hope….” It’s nothing more than an expression of a wish
An Advent Devotion: What’s Love Got to Do With It?
By Guest Author, Chaplain Chris Linzey Let's face it, we live in a love-saturated culture. Everywhere you turn you see television shows, movies, magazines, books, and other products all designed to get us to buy/watch/read by appealing to our desire to tap into love. It's especially bad in our music. While I don't have the exact number, the great majority of songs on the radio have to do with some aspect of love. Can you identify these famous love songs from
A Faithful God
“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." -Isaiah 43:18-19 This is one of those passages where God is explaining to Israel that, even though they have acted disgracefully and been profoundly unfaithful to him, he is still faithful to them and intends to restore all that was lost when they turned away from his
Living as the Body of Christ
I was talking to a strong believer who had stopped going to church and I asked him what it was that had changed for him. He thought about it for a while and came up with the things we usually hear: the infighting, the pettiness, the church games, etc., besides, he could worship God anywhere and he didn’t really see the purpose for the church. I love the body of Christ and consider it a privilege and joy to be a
Jesus Brings Freedom
Freedom is at the heart of Jesus' ministry. This means that his mission is to bring liberty, liberation from all forms of bondage. In Luke, Chapter Four, he lists the job description the Holy Spirit anoints him to fulfill: To Preach good news to the poor To set free the prisoners The recovery of sight to the blind Release of the oppressed To declare the year of the Lord’s favor. -Luke 4:18-19 The heart of the human problem is bondage—bondage to things beyond our control: First of
Why Revival Tarries: And Why We Can’t Wait Any Longer
-Philipp Meinecke, Guest Preacher Why Revival Tarries is the title of a book by the late English Christian evangelist and author Leonard Ravenhill. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who desires to see a mighty work of God, not only in their own life, but also in the country they live in. Revival Tarries will challenge your thinking in a fresh new way. To put it differently, we could ask, “Why don’t we see and experience some of the great movements
From the Pastor – Good Advice: Listen to Your Mother!
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.
