Somebody

When you’re nobody the air feels different. You move between characters in
motion, occupying the roles of our lives. You speak to them as to a wall that
echoes. But really, in life’s brevity, is your presence too momentary for people to
REALLY know you? Your practical priorities may not line up. Your visual style
could offend. The message you’re sounding is not one that is HEARD. As
christians, what etchings do we trace into our mortal design? Creation’s first
intent manifested the Most Holy will of One.
Scripture recalls God taking presence with man, “And they heard the sound…

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Who is #1?

What do we treasure most in life? Is it a person, our money, or our possessions?
Who holds the number one position in our hearts? Is it really God?
This country is so amazingly rich and filled with comfortable distractions. Our
lives are easy in comparison to many places around the world. We can get in a
car and drive wherever we want, eat what we want when we want. Do whatever
we want to do for the most part. Then again, we don’t have to go anywhere, we
can have everything delivered to our front door! Either…

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Why Rome Fell

In The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon
observed that there were five basic reasons why that civilization withered and
died. Here are the flaws that Gibbon listed:
1. An undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home.
2. A mad craze for pleasure, with pastimes becoming every year more
exciting, brutal, and immoral.
3. Decay of religion – faith fading into mere form.
4. Higher and higher taxes with public money being spent for free bread and
circuses for the populace.
5. Building great armaments, although the real enemy was…

Ezekiel was a prophet of God to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. Part of his mission was to remind the people that their disobedience to God was the reason they were now captives in a foreign land.

In Ezekiel chapter 15, God speaks this parable to the prophet:

Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest? Can wood be taken from it to make anything, or can men take a peg from it on which to hang any vessel? If…

“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth” (Psalm 145:18).

In nations ruled by monarchs, anyone who would speak to the king or queen must request an audience and wait for approval (which they may or may not get). In our own country, you can’t just walk into the White House to sit and talk with the President. Corporate executives at any level typically require a scheduled appointment for any sort of discussion.

Not so with the King of…

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The Narrow Way

Near the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus starts to wrap up His message
with a warning: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the
way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow
is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find
it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

If this warning was not enough to grab your attention, just a few verses later he
adds to it: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall…

A recent review by the University of New South Wales in Australia calls attention to the danger of … taking selfies.

The review, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, surveyed multiple studies in the U.S. and Australia of incidents in which people were injured or killed while taking pictures of themselves with their smartphones. The two most common causes: falling from heights and drowning. Some scenic locations have even implemented “no selfie zones,” physical barriers, signs, and social media warnings in hopes of preventing such accidents. The review concludes that…

“Let brotherly love continue” (Hebrews 13:1). “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love” (Romans 12:10).

In these verses, “brotherly love” (Gr. philadelphia, from philia, love + adelophos, brother) describes the warm affection and mutual concern that flows from a sense of kinship — in this case, our connection to one another as fellow children of God. As John wrote, “Whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him” (1 John 5:1).

But sometimes brotherly love is hard. Why? Because our brothers and sisters are not always lovable! They…