…your life has new meaning!

The Significance of the Birth of Jesus Christ
     'Word from Scotland' from Sandy Shaw

Many will be considering preaching on, and teaching and speaking about, the birth of Jesus Christ over these next few days. We turn from Thessalonians to Luke Chapter 2. There is so much nonsense spoken at this December time of the year - that it is good and right to recall the biblical scriptural……

Thy Word
     'Refreshment in Refuge' from Gina Burgess

I'm cheating a bit here today. I've lifted the ending of this column from my blog from last month. However, in studying this week's Sunday school lesson (we are studying Ezekiel), I noticed something spectacular. I hate flashbacks, but I must back up two weeks to give you the whole picture. I am expounding my study on the Crowns of the Believers to put it in book form. In my study I ran across an online discussion of Bible archeology where the Believers were in stark contrast to the Human Reasonist camp. The general consensus of that camp is that we should not necessarily believe…

Why Did Jesus Not Marry?
     ''Christ in You...'' from Dale Krebbs

He could have…He was a human in every sense of the word, even is we are. If He had married, He would become an adulterer. Why? Man and woman in the flesh are given the blessing of marriage for several reasons. The primary one being the population of the earth, which includes all the blessings and lessons to be learned by a man and a woman duly and properly joint to each other. By marriage the man and the woman become in a sense “one flesh”, but two spirits. The differences between the two definitions are the primary method God chose for each to grow up spiritually.…

Psalms 91:10
     'Voice of Inspiration' from Andy Castro

'There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. ' Psalm 91:10 KJV A key factor in the ability to believe this verse true is to have a deep and personal understanding of God’s love for you. God’s love and our fear are polar opposites of each other. The level of fear you experience in life tells the level of your belief in God’s love…

Driving Toward Success
     'Inspiration For You' from Randy Mitchell

Most have imagined lives of incredible richness and success, wanting to claim their stake on earth as part of their individual plans. How we visualize, and drive toward attaining these desires ultimately determines how quickly they become reality. Those of us who make strides in the world of creativity are obviously dreamers. We make something from nothing, hoping it will produce a lasting impact on those we share our efforts with. The artist paints his canvas, the actor rehearses his lines, the musician plays his songs over and over, and the writer, well, the writer writes…

Bible and Quote - February 22-26
     'Bible verse and quote' from Jan Couns

.I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained… Psalm 8:3 The more we learn (untarnished by prejudice) about the wonders of our universe, the more clearly we are going to perceive the hand of God. Frank Borman, 1928 (Having created the universe) What is man that You are mindful of him… Psalm 8:4a There are three important questions to ask ourselves: 1) who am I? 2) Why am I here? 3) Where am I going? Doug Sager, Senior Pastor, 1st Baptist Concord, Farragut, Tennessee (Having created the universe) what is…

A Path through Uncertainty
     'God's Words For US' from Cecelia Lester

From time to time, I have times where I don’t know what I am supposed to do. As a believer in Christ, I have learned simply to seek His will for my life about that circumstance. Certain scriptures guide God’s children as they navigate through their days: Proverbs 1:5-6 “let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.” King Solomon penned these words as part of the purpose and reason…

Number One
     'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' from Tom Kelley

March Madness. No, that's not about people who love the music of John Philip Sousa. You know. March Madness!!! Dicky V, b-ball, hard picks, last second game winning baskets. Okay, it's the NCAA Basketball Tournament. People call it March Madness because it gets the blood boiling in the veins of college basketball enthusiasts all across the country. It used to get the blood boiling here in the Bluegrass for we University of Kentucky Wildcat fans. For many UK fans there is something else making their blood boil about basketball, but that's for another day. For me, being…

The Freedom of the Will
     ''Winging It' from Stan Smith

Anyone who knows of Jonathan Edwards will know that he wrote the definitive work, The Freedom of the Will. I am not writing any such thing. I just want to examine, for a moment, what we know about the human will and its freedom and lack thereof. Free will is important. We know that because if there is no free will, there is no free choice, and if no free choice, no accountability. That is, if humans do not have free will, they can't be held responsible for their sin or credited with their successes and Christianity falls apart. But what exactly is this so-called "free will"? …

Castles or Company?
     'The Way' from Kevin Pauley

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. - John 13:34-35 A good man was walking on a beach on a hot summer day when he came across two children playing in the sand. Amused by their play, he paused to watch them. They were diligently building an elaborate sand castle. It had everything a fairy tale construct could desire: towers, walls, a moat and a draw bridge. The children even went so far as to begin building a…

Justification V (2-11-11)
     'Today's Little Lift' from Jim Bullington

As rational human beings, we justify ourselves (to judge to be right or appropriate) throughout our accountable years. There are also times during those years that we take account of our actions and conclude that we have acted inappropriately or, speaking from a spiritual standpoint, sinned. God created us such that we rationalize (justify) our actions, or our consciences disapprove of our actions. These mental transactions are related to the subject matter of this series, i.e. justification. There is another level at which justification can take place, but unlike the level…