This year’s trials have been many, across a number of fronts. I can’t recall a time in my life when there’s been so much happening when I’ve wondered in those quiet moments how we even got through it.
Gratitude is a moral standard of the highest excellence. It is a sentiment of kindness, love, and goodwill towards someone who has helped us.
For the believer, it was Jesus Christ who has helped us escape an eternity of judgment through the blood He spilled on Calvary and His resurrection to secure our salvation.
It was Halloween. I drove my kids with me to pick up some of our favorite chicken for dinner. Along our way, we drove past a local church—once a Baptist church, now rebranded as a community church. We noticed banners, loud music, inflatables, games, and an enormous amount of foot and car traffic crossing the streets near where we live. This spectacle was an announcement of their annual fall festival. According to their church’s social media account, they had over two thousand people in attendance this year!
Every year on November 2, the first thing that comes to my mind is Day of the Dead. During this time of year especially—whether you take it lightly, or take it with great caution—the unfruitful works of darkness come out in full force to pull the wool over the eyes of all who do not believe in the Lord. The enemy is equally clever at persuading believers to compromise their faith and warm up to his deceptions. Because we know that God has given Satan power over the earth, we need to be more vigilant now more than ever before.
It wasn’t too long ago that my daughter, aged 6, came home from spending a weekend at Abuela’s. She ran down the list of all the fun things she did and concluded that she had a new friend that she played at the local park with. I thought to myself, friend…really? Highly unlikely.
After the third week of homeschooling my daughter in Old Testament history, I won’t survey the account of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11: 1-9) the same again. The significance of that testament in the Bible is more palpable and illuminates much, for such a time as today.
This week, I’ve been feeling a bit blue. There are headlines in every turn of the social stream, in every hashtag of sorts, in every bulletin, television app, or post. We are saturated with media and heartache. We are witnessing the calamities of others right before our eyes.
Son,
In just a few hours it will be 2018. In all reality, there really isn’t anything magical about it. For many people though, it just feels like a new beginning. It feels like a chance to do better in more ways than one.
There was a time when Christians, both young and old, conducted themselves in a manner representative of the transforming power of Christ. Barna Group states that 77% of people surveyed say religion is losing its influence on American life. Of the people surveyed, 56% believe the Bible doesn’t have enough influence on American society today.
Since we moved into our new town over 2 years ago, we’ve gotten more and more familiar with our surroundings. We have favorite places to go, and not so favorite places. We have explored nearly every park in our vicinity and have taken walks through our neighborhood. We have seen buildings go up, and businesses go down. But one constant that is most present during our rounds out of doors is a man named John.