By Dr. David R. Reagan - NEWS
On March 16, 2013, I was interviewed by Jan Markell, Founder and President of Olive Tree Ministries. Jan has written eight major books with prominent Christian publishing houses. She has produced a dozen DVDs, some featured on Sky Angel. At one time she traveled full time across America as a speaker. Since 2000, Jan has been broadcasting her nationally syndicated "Understanding the Times" radio program over the airwaves and Internet.
When asked the question, “What would you say are young women most disillusioned with?”To me, the answer to that question is obvious: today’s young women are primarily disillusioned with guys. Girls grow up reading fairy tales and dreaming of Prince Charming, but by the time we get to sixth grade, we are presented with a standard of masculinity so shockingly below our ideal that we can’t help but become disillusioned and even dismayed.
I’ve received so many comments regarding the lack of variety and inclusion of worshipful hymns and songs that truly glorify God in our churches, that I have decided to include parts of just a few of them so you might see what some readers are thinking. These have come as a result of several posts pertaining to the monotony, general lack of Biblical content, and “me” centered songs, rather than worshipful, melodious, Christ-centered ones.
Lost again. Where am I?
Father God, I am always asking you for directions.
I keep asking you where I'm going and when will I get there?
I'm asking you to show me the next step, which path to take, to show me which door should I push.
Which way should I go? What route would you like me to take?
He told the 911 operator: “Something just came over me.”
Teenager Noah Crooks allegedly attacked and killed his mum Gretchen after she confiscated his video game because he got bad grades at school
Accused: Noah Crooks was 13 when he allegedly killed his motherA 13-year-old killed his own mother after a failed attempt to rape her in a row over a ban on the…
We start with a thought, a hymn and a prayer
Confession, amen, the reading we share
The summit, the aim, now gets its first mention
I lovingly paint it for your attention
First come the foothills, the background, the hurt
Trudging around in a morass of dirt
A question, a fact, a story, a joke
A laugh from the hearers, a face pulled, a poke!
Now our attention comes back to the climb
Dispose of the dangers, reach for the sublime
To take them I pray, I donegalise[1] too
Using word pictures I know will get through
Who in the Bible also faced life this way?
What part of their journey can help us today?
Let’s glance past transcendence, to future so bright
Now is the time to remind them of Light
Light brings us a story, parable, riddle, psalm
Hymn writers, quotations will do us no harm
We’re nearing the peak now, the aim stated again
To live by the power His Spirit we claim
It needs to be real, practical, wise, liv-able too
Please God show us all just what we must do
But now there’s a twist, the hearers, drawn in,
Realise now just how involved they’ve become
Their hearts are invested and opened and wide
Dropped most of their guard; May He come inside?
Now at the summit, the Light clothed in white
Speaking His Word, transcends sense, sound and sight.
[1] Donegalise - a word invented by Michael Ward in his book Planet Narnia to mean investing even small words with the main theme, thus adding flavour and feeling to the experience of the reader.
Donegality is the atmosphere to be Enjoyed, so pervasive that it is unnoticeable, because we are constantly experiencing it. (Ward, 2010)
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. -Isaiah 53:5-6 (You can read Isaiah 53 in its entirety at the bottom of this post)
I spotted this post by Jeffery Jay Lowder on The Secular Outpost, and I think it's good advice.
There are times where two people speak the same language, use the same words, and mean very different things by the same words. In conversations between Christians and atheists, "faith" is one such word. For many atheists, the word "faith" means, by default, belief
This weekend we put our house up for sale. We had been working on it for about a month getting it stripped and tidy. Then, as proud owners who had made it appealing and showable, we put it on the market.
As hoped, there were a number of calls and showings scheduled. We allowed all prospects the run of the place, with the suggestion; that when they were finished; just come to us with their observations and questions.
The table was laid out for lunch when we arrived at my cousin's home at 10.45am. The last we had visited her home was over 20 years ago. We had not come for lunch that day but to visit her husband who was recovering after losing a kidney.
My cousin was really excited that we were visiting her in her new home.
Inspirational Favorite Bible Verses in Pictures 2
By Darrell Creswell
http://darrellcreswell.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/inspirational-favorite-bible-verses-in-pictures-2/
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YOU HAVE BUT ONE LIFE; you should live and love with all your heart. IF SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT IN YOUR LIFE, pray for the Lord to change it, or to change you.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Hello, God.
I was talking the other day. Talking to my husband, to my friend, to you.
It strikes me that I probably did that in the wrong order. But anyway.
I was talking about hopes and dreams and what stops me from doing anything. What stops me from going out on a limb. What inhibits me, stops me from going for it, as they say.
Here is a thought-provoking post from agnostic libertarian economist Captain Capitalism.
Excerpt:
Of the many lies men will be told from the ages of 12 to...umm....death, one of the more misleading ones (that can trip you up for years unless you learn the deceit behind it) is,
"I don't do X for you! I do it for myself!"
"X" being…
I said ‘Thank you’ to St Paul for all his injuries and suffering which brought the gospel to the gentiles, and made him write those letters which helped me to find God in Christ for myself, they helped my understanding so much.
Paul smiled at me and turned and looked across Heaven to where Jesus is. ‘I didn’t do it for you,’ He said quietly. ‘I did it for Him. I love him and in serving Him I got hurt.’
Then I looked at Jesus. His wounds still visible on His glorified body, on his forehead and His hands. His white robe hid the biggest scar, but His red sash reminded me that it was there.
Jesus turned and looked at Paul and me. He smiled at us. ‘I did it for Him,’ He said quietly. He meant the Father. ‘I love Him.’ He said. He pointed with His eyes across the enormous room.
I looked over at our Father, Who was sprawled comfortably on a large sofa with His arms stretched out along the back, playing with about six different children whilst talking to two or three teenagers standing behind the sofa. Everything about the Father was large – huge torso, long arms, big hands, big feet, big smile and a big kindly face. A very elderly woman was on the sofa next to Him, and some men stood nearby.
I have always been a bit polite round the Father. A bit shy, unsure. But it was too late. As though knowing that we were discussing Him, the Father turned his head around to look in our direction.
‘Ah,’ He said. ‘Grace.’ He paused. ‘Good to see you.’ He shooed the children off his enormous knees and stood up. His presence was overpowering, being huge in every way, but feeling totally gentle and trustworthy. He ambled over to us and gave me a big hug.
‘My Father.’ I said. I’ve never called Him that before. I’ve always called Him ‘The Father’ or ‘Our Father’, hiding in the crowd. Now I knew He is My Father too, personally mine, my own, not to the exclusion of the rest of humanity but knowing that I myself actually have a relationship with Him from now on.
He ruffled my hair and stretched an enormous toothy grin. ‘Hey, you have a thinking problem now, don’t you? If Paul suffered for love of Christ, and Christ suffered for love of Me, then Who loves you?’ He was smiling broadly. I knew Paul loved me, because I could feel it, hear him laughing behind me as he talked with Jesus. I knew Paul had loved all those he wrote to, and I knew for a fact that Jesus loved me too and had died for me. Suddenly it wasn’t enough, it wasn’t all there is… For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…
My Father loves me, more deeply than these others because He is deeper, bigger, wider. And behind Him stands no one else, there is nobody else bigger than Him. I have known the Holy Spirit a long time, and I have trusted Him with my physical life and body, obeying His voice. I have trusted Christ to protect me from the wrath of God, to save me from the dangers of life, the depths of despair and the moments of danger or disease.
But this. I hugged Him back, it was like trying to hug an elephant, my hands didn’t meet round the back of Him. I was crying, emotion welling up. Behind Him, there is nobody to condemn. And He does not condemn. All He does is to save you.
Sisters and brothers, the Father loves you. Try calling Him Father today.
God, I've found something.
Charles Spurgeon said this:
'Did you ever think of the love which Christ will manifest to you when he shall present you without spot or blemish, or any such thing, before his Father's throne? Well, pause and remember, that he loves you at this hour as much as he will love you then; for he will be the same forever as he is today and he is the same today as he will be forever.
By Mike Taylor - raptureready.com
"But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father" (Mark 13:32).
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" (Matthew 24:36).
For the last two thousand years, there has been much theological interpretation of what Jesus was saying in these verses recorded by the men who sat at Jesus feet:
"And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come" (Joel 2:30-31).
This is part II, completing my sermon from my previous article, "No Man Knoweth the Day or Hour." If you have not read that article you must make it the foundation to build upon to understand the teaching presented here.
Hello, God.
It's the wonderful CS Lewis again. Really, I must read more of his stuff, and not just 'The Screwtape Letters' and Narnia. The way he seems to drop wonderful gems of wisdom and insight so effortlessly into his letters and musings makes my day. What about this one:
"The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing — to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from — my country, the place where I ought to have been born.
