“Paul, Silas and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more
I started writing this blog two days after Christmas, on an icy West Texas morning, sitting on the side of I-20. We had just finished rendering aid at two separate rollover wrecks that we watched happen. The verses haunted – and humbled – me again as I sat at the
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6 Here God declares a message of hope by announcing the upcoming birth of Jesus. He would come
What a precious gift encouragement is. I can remember moments when the right word at the right time was instrumental in breathing fresh perspective, courage, and hope into challenging seasons in my life – even if I wasn’t necessarily deserving of that encouraging word. I love how Philippians 4:5 is
I sat on the couch in his office and prayed for God to help me to respond kindly. Across from me sat my boss who was a Christian man, and I worked at a Christian school. Over the course of several weeks, he had questioned my capabilities, misrepresented my motives,
I don’t know about you, but reading about each of the disciples these past three weeks and learning more about them and their backgrounds just makes me fall more in love with Jesus. I love that He chose men no one else would. Men like Matthew, who was by far
In the book, Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis shares a childhood story about one of his favorite teachers, Mr. Kirkpatrick. A brilliant teacher and personal friend of Lewis’s father, Mr. Kirkpatrick was the one who taught Lewis how to be a merciless debater by building a strong logical case…one that
No one wants to be called a sluggard or thought of as lazy. We read today’s verses and might think, “This doesn’t apply to me. I’m a hard worker.” But as I was preparing and praying over what God would have me share today, my mind kept going back to
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear
THE RESULT OF FORGIVENESS Oh friends, I am overjoyed to be here with you today. God is working in and amongst us through this study, isn’t He? Can you feel it? There is a new thing coming… and it is called the result of forgiveness! So far along this journey