How Do I Know God Hears My Prayers?
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. –1 John 5:14-15 How do we really know that God hears our prayers? God’s answers to many of our prayers are a complete surprise! I think that is the reason we sometimes feel like he
Forgetting God: A Titanic Lesson
Remember, "Not even God himself could sink this ship!" We never seem to lose our fascination with the story of the sinking of the Titanic. Since boyhood, I’ve watched all the oldest films made on the disaster, and I’m ready for every new version of it that comes to TV or the movie theater. A while back, I was watching a special about it on PBS, leading up to the 100th anniversary of the tragic event. In it, the narrator explained that
Warning: Complaining Is Bad for Your Health
Ask yourself: How many times today did I complain or think negatively about someone or something? I’ve heard that people complain at least once in any conversation. The average person complains between 15-30 times a day. So if it’s not you, someone around you is complaining, and that complaint is affecting your brain and your health. Let’s put it another way. We don’t complain. We vent. We share. We point out. We’re being frank. We’re hurt. We’re not understood. We need a
I Believe in Resurrection: Ten reasons to consider…and caterpillars fly!
If you don’t believe in resurrection, here are ten reasons why you should rethink your position: 1) The New Testament Claims It The New Testament claims that Jesus arose from the dead on Easter morning and that one day his followers will too. The New Testament has already been demonstrated to be head and shoulders above all the other Greek and Latin documents ever to come out of the ancient world. It has been subjected to the hottest fires of criticism devised
Holy Week: Let’s pray for the impossible!
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” -1 Corinthians 15:55 This week is Holy Week or Passion Week. Let us prepare our hearts to celebrate the high point of our faith—the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia! Unto Christ, our heavenly king, Alleluia! Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia! Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia! But the pains which he endured, Alleluia! Our salvation have procured; Alleluia! Now above the
Welcome! You’re Home
I'm sure everyone has a story of attending church somewhere for the first time! As church "professionals," our family has often been called to assess congregational situations and provide solutions to help with church growth or the healthy functioning of the church. Our training enables us to recognize potential challenges to the ministry or how a visitor walking into a church may feel. Some churches know how to welcome and greet newcomers with warmth and assimilate them into the church family.
Seek God’s Presence
In my Bible reading today, it was a blessing to read Psalm 105: Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! (vv. 1–4) Psalm 105 calls us to praise God! We have so many reasons to thank God, and so does David.
God’s Severity Is for Our Good
“Therefore, this is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I pronounced against them. I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.’” -Jeremiah 35:17 It’s true that the God revealed in the Bible is the quintessence of love, loyalty, generosity, forgiveness, and longsuffering. Yet he can show a severe side that is designed
Merry Christmas Blues?
It’s life back to normal after the adrenaline rush of the holidays. Experts tell us that many now experience post-Christmas blues due to the return to our usual routines. The build-up of Christmas is followed by the let-down of what may or may not have happened. How do you beat the post-Christmas blues? The brief and simple answer is with thankfulness to God for the ultimate Christmas gift we could ever hope for—the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. One
A Series of Fortunate Events
She has made a magic so that it is always winter in Narnia—always winter, but it never gets to Christmas. – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis Do you ever wonder what the world would be like if you had never been born? What would your family have been like? Your neighborhood and office, your spouse and friends? From 1939 to 1943, Philip Van Doren Stern worked diligently on a short story, The Greatest Gift, loosely based on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas
