Galatians 5:22 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love…In our journey through the series "Empowered Living," we delve into what it means to live a Spirit-filled life. This week, we focus on the love as described in 1 Corinthians 13. This chapter, often referred to as the "love chapter," provides a picture of the kind of love that God wants for us to express. God’s love in us should be more than just...  Read More

Galatians 5:22–23 (NKJV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…As Christians, we often grapple with expectations—both from others and ourselves. But what does God want us to look like? Romans 8:29 tells us that we are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son - Jesus. Philippians 1:6 assures us that He w...  Read More

Isaiah 40:27-31 offers timeless wisdom on how to access God’s strength in our daily lives. Isaiah 40 paints a somber picture of Israel's history. After the fall of the northern kingdom in 722 BC and the Babylonian captivity in 586 BC, the people of God found themselves in exile, questioning if God had forgotten them. They were promised a land flowing with milk and honey, yet they were now displace...  Read More

Social media is often praised for its ability to connect people, but it also comes with its own set of dangers. Despite the fact that we identify with each other in social communities, we often become confined to our own little groups and aren't exposed to different perspectives. In 2017, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg highlighted the potential of social media to bring people together during a s...  Read More

During the Superbowl a week and a half ago, advertisers spent $7 million dollars to place their 30-second ad in front of the viewers. There was one ad campaign that has generated some talk called “He Gets Us.” They spent $14 million dollars on a 1-minute ad during the Superbowl with a punchline that said, “Jesus didn’t teach hate. He washed feet.” It was met with mixed reviews. Many evangelical Ch...  Read More

I read about a well-known evangelist who passed away this week. Junior Hill passed away at the age of 87, after more than 68 years in ministry. Wow! As I looked at the outpouring of love and appreciation for his ministry, two words kept coming up: evangelist and encourager. His ministry of evangelism was most prominent. He would share the simple gospel of Jesus Christ, and then God would bless wit...  Read More

Romans 12:1 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. The word “therefore” harkens back to what Paul has previously said in chapters 1-11. He has described what Jesus did on the Cross by paying for the sins of humanity. The first 3 chapters explain how lost every person is ...  Read More

Baptist Press recently shared statistics about the power of mentors in the lives of young people. If a young person does not have a mentor, only 50% of them say life has meaning. 70% of young people say life has meaning who report at least one mentor. 86% of young people say life has meaning who report two to four mentors. This article was highlighting the importance of mentoring Generation Z (tho...  Read More

Living in a democratic republic as a Christian American has a unique set of challenges. At times, we are misunderstood by Christians living in other countries, whose form of government is more of a dictatorship. Christians in these kinds of countries quote Romans 13:1, which says, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.” We are told to be more submissive as faithful Christians. Ho...  Read More

Alan Stein is a performance coach who has worked with world-class athletes. He once crossed paths with 5-time champion and NBA great Kobe Bryant at a basketball camp. Stein asked Bryant if he could watch him train, and Bryant told him to show up the next day at 4:00 a.m.! When Alan showed up early the next day, Kobe was already in a full sweat. Kobe was working through many of the same exercises t...  Read More

In his book The Law of Happiness, best-selling author and Christian psychologist Dr. Henry Cloud helps explain some of the traits found in people who live happy lives. We naturally think that we live happy or unhappy lives because of our circumstances. However, according to his research, that only accounts for 10% of our happiness. 50% is based on our natural wiring (our biological makeup). A full...  Read More

Ephesians 6:17 says, “And take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word [Rhema] of God” This passage tells us that there is a powerful weapon that we are to take up like a sword to help us live in victory as Christians. That weapon is called the spoken “word” of God. This literally reads the “Rhema” of God, or a specific “word” from the general “word”. It could be referred to as the “spoken Word of God.” Romans 10:17 says that “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word [Rhema] of God.”  Read More