What kind of legacy are you leaving your children, and if you don't have children, what kind of example are you leaving your friends and family? Can you do better? Have you ever thought about what it takes to make a beautiful character that will be remembered for the ages?
It is the Christmas season. It is a time for happiness, giving, receiving and appreciating. There was a time not so very long ago when the main focus of the Christmas season was the birth of Jesus as the world’s Savior. We are past that now, thanks to our political correctness, and Jesus is very much an afterthought of the holidays. Well, here today Jesus is NOT an afterthought. He is NOT a divisive figure who offends people by his mere existence. No, here today Jesus is recognized as the Savior of humanity, the centerpiece of God’s plan and the King of Kings. As we honor the birth and life of Jesus today, we will do so by highlighting some personal conversations he had with various people he encountered throughout his three-and-a-half year ministry. In so doing, we will tell a story that is rarely told. Merry Christmas!
Gratitude makes the good in our lives longer lasting. It is a basic building block and ingredient for finding ways to cope with tragedy and difficult circumstances. We need to understand how gratitude can be alive and well in our daily lives for ultimate peace and wellness.
So, if you are a little kid it’s time for the excitement of “trick or treat” – costumes and candy. If you are older it’s time for parties, horror movies that look and feel so real they make your skin crawl, the undead, dark spells and generally unfettered behavior. Yup, we are talking about Halloween and all of the trimmings that come with it. Here is the thing – no matter what age you are, when Halloween comes it is also time for a strong and convincing dose of witchcraft. That’s right – no matter what age you are, witchcraft is not only entirely mainstream, it is enticingly mainstream and very much within reach. So, is this something to be worried about? Are we dealing with some big, dark and deceiving practice or is it all just harmless home-brewed storytelling?
Peer pressure. When we say those words we typically think about teenagers, school and bad decisions and those thoughts are accurate. Young people face inordinate amounts of peer pressure on a regular basis and its effects can be devastating! Here’s the thing – adults are also subject to peer pressure and its place in our lives and its effect on our lives is far greater than we might anticipate. So, for the sake of not only our young people but for our own sake as well, what do we do about it? How do we recognize address and deal with the pressures of life that press us into compromised circumstances and bad decisions? Even more importantly, how do we reverse the process and create an environment in which positive, righteous and loving peer pressure is the order of the day?
HOW do we engage our hatred for evil in a Christlike manner? Learn about "destructive" hatred and "productive" hatred to help you in your Christian walk.
In many instances church has become a place of neighborly activity, social acceptance, goodness, activities entertainment and fun. Church is now a nice place to go to feel good about myself. So, are these changes unhealthy or bad? What’s wrong with feeling good about myself? What makes a church a really good church?
We can read about God in the Bible, but we can also "read" about Him in what has been called His "second book," nature. For this special podcast we brought on a guest who worked for the United States National Park System for many years and teaches us about the preservation of the beauty of America.
Pornography with all of its degrading extremity, explicitness and violence has become the single most popular destination of the billions who search the web. The mainstreaming of pornography and internet sex is shocking to many "old school" Christians. Is it sinful? Does the Bible give us any guidance as to what we can do if we or our loved ones are trapped in an unhealthy cycle of using pornography?
After his death, it was imperative for the risen Jesus to convince his followers he was resurrected. How did they go from feeling ultimate betrayal and grief to absolute certainty and joy?
