Articles
BUT GOD: Retrospective on my Daughter’s Suicide – Part 1
BUT GOD: Retrospective on my Daughter’s Suicide By Darlene Franklin My daughter, Jolene, committed suicide ten years ago this March. My world still stops for a few seconds when I say those words. I still feel the enormity of the loss, the emptiness left in her wake....
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34 NASB). Jesus loved us by laying down His life for us. This is how we’re to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. We cannot love each...
“For the word of God is . . . sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even to the dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitude of the heart.” (Hebrew 4:12b) Destructive thoughts and negative attitudes cannot exist in a...
“Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle” (Psalm 144:1 NASB) Prayer is more than just asking God for things. It is the battlefield where we apply our spiritual armor (Eph. 6:10-18). We are at war and prayer is the warfare....
“For there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12b NIV). Jesus + our sins = His death on a cross. Jesus + 3 days in the grave = the keys to death and Hades. Jesus + resurrection = our justification. Jesus + nothing = our...
“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3 NIV) The Christian life is not about what you do; it’s about Who you know. This is because only life can produce life and God’s objective is to...
In the beginning God . . . (Genesis 1:1 NIV) God is first. Nothing began before He began it. And, when He began it, He called it “good.” The way to make this a good year for you is to begin it with God. Ask Him to begin a new work in you and through you. It may be the...
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12 ESV). This is the power of God’s grace: it brings...
'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!” (Matthew 25:23 NIV) Edward Kimble was a shoe salesman. Even though he was a bit shy, he shared Christ...
What If The Traditional Spiritual Disciplines Aren’t Working For You
By Larry Osborne, Pastor & Author, North Coast Church If you've ever felt like a spiritual loser because you’ve consistently failed to maintain or master the traditional spiritual disciples, you're not alone. Lots of Jesus followers feel the same way. And that's...
“. . . that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend . . . what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." The divine...
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1 NASB) My dad was a master at inventing games to keep us entertained or in line. When I was very young, one such game was, “Steppin’ On My Shadow.” Dad would start the...
“The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him, and He will make them know His covenant” (Psalm 25:14 NASB). There is a secret place where the Lord meets with those who fear Him and whispers to them the mysteries of His covenant. He holds them in private counsel,...
“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5). There are times when no amount of positive thinking, confessing, proclaiming, or praying can immediately pull...
“Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again” (1Thessalonians 5:23 NLT) Intrinsic to holiness is the idea of wholeness. God is holy; that is, He is whole,...
“I count all things loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Philippians 3:8 NIV). C. S. Lewis said, “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink...
“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised” (Hebrews 10:36). It’s the nature of human nature to want the quick fix. We’re always looking for the “zap.” We expect God to “zap” away all of our problems,...
Abandoned for Our Sake
Abandoned for Our Sake by Steven Furtick I was talking to someone who grew up largely without a father. His father was abusive to him in his early years, and then the father died. I asked him, “How do you think it affected you to be abandoned by your father?” He...
“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit . . . You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit--fruit that will last” (John 15:8, 16) The meaning of the Greek word for glory (“doxazo”) here is “to be revealed...
“For we are His workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (BLB). God has written an epic poem – you. The word “workmanship” in this passage is the Greek word “poiema” from which we get...
