THOUGHT FOR TODAY, FEBRUARY 24: MEASURING SUCCESS IN EVANGELISM “Not everything that can be measured counts, and not everything that counts can be measured” (Albert Einstein). There are some things we must measure: If a stock is worth the same 10 years after purchase as when bought, it might as well have been in the “sock” market. If year after year a farmer barely made back his seed, he would…Keep Reading
This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” Jeremiah 31:15 Rachel is once again crying for her children. Everyone seems to have answers, yet ignoring the only hope that we have. A great deal of the modern church has taken on the battle for social justice (without…Keep Reading
“In that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion–only to meet a bear. Escaping from the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house–and he’s bitten by a snake.” Amos 5:19 Now I would call that a bad day. The text is about the attitude of piously wishing that the Lord would return and take us from this troubled world when we…Keep Reading
THOUGHT FOR TODAY – WE ARE IMMUNE? Sometimes a message is preached that implies—and sometimes absolutely affirms—that if we have put on Christ and the Holy Spirit indwells us, we are immune from the spiritual and moral sickness of the world. However, our Christianity does not destroy our humanity and we live in the same world and the same culture as do our neighbors. Paul said, “For the desires of…Keep Reading
Rev. Nate and Julie Ware When I saw the weather report – 68 degrees and falling throughout the day, I thought I will go outside and breathe deep breaths, clear my lungs and refresh myself and maybe there will be a brilliant sunrise before the rain to share with you . . . What is really on my mind is Christ’s redeeming adventure to show His love for us, His…Keep Reading
THOUGHT FOR TODAY – I SAID, “I’M SORRY!” We often hear people who have violated the law, their marriage vows, the rules of decency, God’s law, or the rules of their company—to name a few possibly violations—who when, “caught,” seem to believe that saying, “I’m sorry” should remove all consequences of their transgression and all things should be as they were before the transgression occurred. As the example of David…Keep Reading
THOUGHT FOR TODAY -THE SET OF THE SAIL Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) reminds us: One ship sails East, And another West, By the self-same winds that blow, ‘Tis the set of the sails And not the gales, That tells the way we go. In the days before motorized vessels, sailors were dependant on the wind to get from one place to another. If they wished to sail in the direction…Keep Reading
Vickie Kilgore Lawson I BELIEVE THIS IS FOR ALL OF US TODAY Calling all my prayer warriors, I have a lot of things on my mind and in my heart…so many things that have been going on for a good while, and even more so in moments like this. I imagine doing an online circle of prayer wouldn’t hurt anyone and it might help soothe the hearts of those in…Keep Reading
Rev. Nate and Julie Ware Loving Our Neighbor Luke 10:25-37 – Over the last weeks in our Bible Study, we looked at the Parable of the Prodigal Son (and “Other” Son in Luke 11:24-32. Now let’s look Jesus’ teaching in often called the “Parable of the Good Samaritan,” in which our Lord describes love in one of the most powerful accounts ever told. Martin Luther once said “A Christian is…Keep Reading
Rev. Nate and Julie Ware My little sweet nephew is showing his belly button. Rev. Nate Ware says that if you have a belly button, you are not a self made person, whichever the case. . . Nor are we born because of your own creative devices or human skill or through our own intelligence . . . Psalms 139:13 – 127:16 – For thou hast possessed my reins: thou…Keep Reading
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2018: THE CROSS AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS People have sinned against us in the past and people will sin against us in the future. If we focus on those sins, we will live conflicted lives. Sometimes the conflict will be inside us and sometimes it will be between us and others. The degree to which we can let go of the wrongs of the past is…Keep Reading
Hebrews 10:24-25 It was a Monday morning (We were living in Kingsport) and I had walked into the grocery store. A woman came up to me and started apologizing for not being in church on Sunday. She gave three or four excuses that didn’t sound like the same thing she would have told the Lord; but the problem was that I had no idea who she was. Suddenly she stopped…Keep Reading
