A Christian is one who follows Jesus as his Lord. Instead of serving our own desires and conforming to what our surroundings tell us to be and do, we have found the freedom and life found in Jesus alone! How wonderful it is to follow our Master, for he is loving and His burden is light. I never realized what a load I had been carrying until I came to Jesus and found strength and…
A beautiful bride walks down the aisle, radiant in beauty and wearing a magnificent white dress. Her family and friends look on in delight and hopeful admiration—this is the day when she will be joined in marriage to the love of her life. The couple stands before the pastor with stars in their eyes and vow exclusive devotion to each other above all others, and commit, “till death do us part.” Fast-forward nine months and…
Mildred Timmerman, a beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother said goodbye to this mortal world earlier this week, and is now in the presence of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We who knew her were blessed for the time we shared with her here, and she left an indelible impression on so many who had the privilege of spending time with this wonderful lady. What did she have that caused her to live the way…
Are you a blessing to those around you? Should you be? If so, what does it take to effectively speak into their lives, encouraging them and helping them to live a thriving life? Those Who Have Helped You God has designed us for community—we grow through our interactions with others, as iron sharpens iron. Who are some of the people who have been most positively influential in your life? Are you glad they took time…
Anger, disappointment, resentment, hurt: these are emotions we’d prefer to avoid. If we could choose, we’d rather live happy, content, and fulfilled, wouldn’t we? What if there was a way to significantly reduce the amount of time we spend angry or hurt? If we understand the root cause of these negative emotions and the negative situations they lead us into, we can find victory and spend more of our time cultivating excellent relationships and enjoying…
Intelligence is highly valued in our culture—call someone intelligent and he will be delighted! Are there more important things though? Is a man well loved who is intelligent yet rude? Or, does someone who is very intelligent necessarily have right understanding? Could it be that a man of lower intelligence may actually beat out one of higher intelligence when it comes to living a thriving life? How could this happen? Two men at work Consider…
Can you believe 2014 is here already?! I hope you had a great year, and I further hope that you’re looking to make the coming year even better! One good thing that many people do is to use the new year as a time to set goals to improve themselves—this IS a good thing, IF we take these resolutions seriously and succeed. Unfortunately, in many cases, our lofty goals are left unfinished and our resolutions…
What do you do when you negative things come your way? When a friend disagrees with you and puts you down, do you lash out? When your brother cancels your poker game at the last minute for the third time in a row, do you yell at him for being so irresponsible and unreliable? What about when a coworker belittles your ideas and makes you feel small? Do you react by gossiping about her behind…
What does it mean to be spiritual? Does a person with a strong spiritual life simply keep all the rules? And what’s the point of living in true spirituality anyway, when it seems like all you get for your sacrifices is some undefined goody-goody feeling? Today we’ll explore these questions and more, and learn what the world’s greatest teacher had to say on the subject. Actions Speaking Louder Many of us have had less than…
Do you know any, or would you perhaps consider yourself to be, a football fan? How do you know that this person is a fan? Do you have to search hard for clues in order to determine that they love the game? Do they keep a checklist of duties, such as buying tickets to games, talking about football for a prescribed number of minutes per day, or reading football blogs and magazines? What Drives Action?…