5 Reasons to Hope in God

Are you feeling overwhelmed today?  We can all find ourselves in a place where daily pressures and struggles can start to feel like more than we can handle.  "People are against us"..."circumstances push hard on us"...and "answers to prayer seem silent."  It is during these times in our lives that we can often feel restless.  We then become prone to

5 TRUTHS ABOUT MY SIN and 1 SOLUTION

A man who walked from New York City to San Francisco was asked what his biggest hurdle was. He said that the toughest part of the trip wasn’t traversing the steep slopes of the mountains or crossing hot, barren stretches of desert. He said, “The thing that came the closest to defeating me was

5 Ways Scripture Memory Will Impact Your Family

Our church's scripture meditation theme for the month of June is "God's Holiness."  My church is in the habit of memorizing Bible verses according to a specific topic on a monthly basis.  In August, we will have completed 6 years of memorizing scripture with this plan.  For the first 5 years, my church memorized verses on the theme of "Discipleship."  By the end of 5 years,

The Battle of the Mind

It is so important to realign my thinking with God's Word.  A really "bad day," or some sleep deprivation can totally turn my thinking to a more feelings based foundation instead of a truth based reality.  Then my thoughts run to conclusions that drive me to disappointing, or even shocking, actions.  "This is impossible!" or "nobody truly loves me!" are both lies that every believer has either considered (but then talked yourself back to reality) or fully embraced. These lies (and many other lies like them) are powerful enough to...

Our Game Plan

"I don't go to church," was the response to my invitation to a special church service.  Here I stood talking to a professing believer who began to justify his reasoning for skipping out on church.  I discovered he was saved as I began to witness to him.  We enjoyed some fellowship, conversation about the Bible, and various blessings from the Lord.  Then I extended an invitation to which I received, "I don't go to church."  It was the first time I had heard such a reply from a believer.  I stood there trying to process his response as he pursued justifying his decision.  "Church is too

7 Ways to Live Your Life

My family did things a little differently this year.  We were tired of making commitments (like lose weight/get in better shape, or reach out more to others, or be more consistent in our Bible study time) and, well frankly, dropping the ball!  So, this year we asked everyone (kiddos and Mom & Dad) to make a list of three commitments.  One had to be a physical commitment (taking care of the temple of the Holy Spirit -- all of us are saved).  One had to be a spiritual commitment (growing in our walk with the Lord).  One could be anything they wanted.  Everyone came up with their own list of three commitments and then we each took a turn to share our own commitments with each other during a "Family Time."  This was encouraging!  Some of our teens talked about