The command to praise God and Jesus Christ can bring into question the what, why and how to. Those called out of the world as God’s people are to proclaim the praises of God the Father, and by extension Jesus Christ: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (1 Peter 2:9). The Greek word for “praises” in 1 Peter 2:9 means virtues, or … [Read more...] about Gratitude, A Life Altering Virtue
Character
The Closeness of God
If we are honest with ourselves, we don’t always have the feeling that God is relevant to our everyday lives. I don’t mean in the overall sense of knowing God’s plan and purpose. I am thinking of something more up close and personal. The longer time goes on, with the subsequent increase of corruption in our societies, the more difficult it is to feel the personal closeness of God -- that He is there for us on a real and personal basis. We may have understanding in our head, but the daily … [Read more...] about The Closeness of God
God’s Law Has Consequences
Processing the unfolding events – both worldwide and locally i difficult. By processing, I mean taking the individual components and analyzing them to reach a wise conclusion. It is important that people use a “sound mind” to assess the developments around us which impact us by degrees. We would also do well to keep in mind that God’s law has consequences. Those consequences can be good or bad depending on whether the law is applied or rejected. Sin is the cause of our current crisis and … [Read more...] about God’s Law Has Consequences
Are You an Unwilling Mustang?
I adopted a mustang from the high desert wilderness in Nevada. He’s a good boy. He has good strong legs. He likes to run and he is affectionate. I can generally make him do what I want him to do. We’ve had our differences. We’ve both had our spills, but I like him. The problem is this horse doesn’t focus. He doesn’t really trust me and so he isn’t really with me when we are working together. If I put a bridle on him, I can make him do mostly what I want him to do. But his … [Read more...] about Are You an Unwilling Mustang?
Handling Conflict
We all deal with conflict daily, in many forms. Even the church has conflict, internal and external, from time to time. With the Bible as our guide, which biblical examples can teach us about a specific quality that foils conflict? Where does this quality come from? What does it lead to? Let’s consider Gideon’s example to identify this quality. Chosen by God as a judge of Israel he was assigned to defeat a threat from neighboring Midian (Judges 6:1-8:21). He assembled an army of 32,000, but … [Read more...] about Handling Conflict
Overcoming Anxiety
Frustration is almost always the result of our will not happening. And for us humans, it's universally about our wanting to impose our will into a situation. It's about needing to control things or people. The concept of control is not only the root of our frustrations but also the root of our fears and our anxieties in life, which can be detrimental not only to our lives but also to the lives of all those that we love and those we interact with. The cause of fear and anxiety is often a … [Read more...] about Overcoming Anxiety
Conquering Frustration
An author named Jackson Brown wrote, “You can tell a lot about a man by the way he handles these four things: a rainy holiday, lost luggage, a busy store, and tangled Christmas lights. I would definitely add traffic to this list of annoyances. But you probably get that feeling, almost like nails across the chalkboard whenever this list of annoyances is mentioned. Have you ever been frustrated? Of course we all have. Our frustrations are usually caused by small annoyances that eat away at us. … [Read more...] about Conquering Frustration







