As powerful as The Force was in the Star Wars sagas, there is an even greater power available to us. And unlike the Star Wars characters who received the force from midi-chlorians (fictitious microscopic, intelligent lifeforms), we receive our power, a real force, from Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit…

This morning I was reading Philemon (a very short letter) and the opening remarks caught my attention. As the case, Paul often opened his letters by letting the recipient(s) know that he prays for them. Several thoughts came to mind as I studied the opening remarks in Paul’s letters, but one in particular really got my attention. 

Many people express difficulty reading the Bible. Reasons include it’s a book of rules, it’s depressing (O/T mainly), hard to understand, outdated or irrelevant, and so forth. The one that gets me the most is when people say it’s boring. The Bible is filled with all kinds of nuances, humor, some sarcasm, but mostly hope. Not sure how that can be boring or irrelevant.

The two Greatest Commandments, in a nutshell, are to love God and love each other. If we can get just those two right, everything else generally falls into place. I didn’t say everything becomes easy, what I mean is our priorities, and our life balance fall into place: God first, Family second, Friends next, everything else after that. However, we tend to make that formula way more complicated.

Today's study is of a command that is actually quite easy to understand. It’s a command that God presents in a straight forward, clear manner. There is no confusion about what we are being told to do. So you may be asking, if it’s so easy to understand why study it?.  We’re studying it because it’s a critically important command and while it’s easy to understand, it’s extremely difficult in today’s day and age to obey.

In many churches there is a time of worship, as they call it, when we sing songs of praise. We also hear the directive, ‘Let’s continue worshiping’ following a pause in the singing. And the one leading the singing often has the title of ‘Worship Leader.’ So, one could naturally conclude that worship is the act of singing praises. While singing is a form of worship, if you stop there you will miss what true worship is as well as not see the many opportunities we have to worship our Lord in every aspect of our lives.

If you search the internet for “the wisest people in history” you will be given a number of different lists more or less centered around people’s IQ levels. While intelligence may enhance your ability to gain wisdom, the ability to gain wisdom is not solely driven by your intelligence.

There is no doubt LIFE continues to become more complex with divorce, poor economy, decrease in job security, decrease in family values, etc. The list can go on for pages. Somewhere in the midst of all this we can find ourselves experiencing one or more of these complexities. But what happens when that pressure leaves you gasping for air?

Ever wonder why you do the things you do for others or why you don’t do them? There are four things we tend to consider when thinking about why or why not to do something for someone else.

Christianity is not a religion based on cloning its followers meaning all Christians don’t think exactly the same nor do they live out or express their faith exactly the same. What Christianity does profess and encourage is that we have the same core beliefs, and moral compass.

If I’m to be honest, it’s not the verse I hate, it’s my constant failure to consistently apply and live by the verse that I hate. The worst part is, I know how to fix it.

According to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America, 40 million or 1 in 5 U.S citizens suffer from Anxiety. Anxiety often leads to depression, which if untreated, can lead to hopelessness. Learn how to change hopelessness to hope.

Several years back, like 20+ years ago, I had the most amazing prayer time which I haven’t ever had to experience again. 

It was an early morning and I was having a difficult time clearing my mind while trying to pray. Thoughts were swirling in my head and I just couldn’t get focused on a conversation with God. 

In my frustration, I changed my prayer to, “Please clear my mind so we can talk” 

When you read the title, ‘Forgive…Never’ what immediately came to your mind? Did you think of someone who hurt you and you refuse to forgive them? Or, did you think of someone you hurt and refuses to forgive you?

What is forgiveness anyway?

Many feel forgiveness is condoning someone’s actions or letting someone ‘get away’ with something without consequences. From a Biblical perspective, both of those perspectives are wrong.

True humility is a powerful character trait

False humility is nothing more than pure arrogance

Let me Explain…

In my studies I try to slow down enough to catch words and phrases which I would otherwise normally pass over. Then I try to immerse myself into the events I’m reading about. Luke 8:22-25 provides a great example of how that works.

When reading Acts 10, I learned a very simple yet very important truth about sharing our faith and the forgiveness found in God’s grace.

I mentioned last week I gave up New Year’s resolutions except for one…seek God’s praises. While continuing that theme in my studies this week, a lesson I taught several years ago came to my mind. The lesson pertained to changing habits and was titled, Backfill. As I delved bit deeper into that study this week, I learned a few more things which I’d like to share with you today.

I gave up making New Year’s resolutions a log time ago, except for one, to succeed at gaining praise from God. Yeah, yeah, I know you can’t earn or work your way into heaven, it’s a free gift. You can’t even do anything to justify that gift. Amazingly, God offers the gift of forgiveness regardless of what we've done in the past. That’s explicitly stated in Romans 10:8-10. While that message is pretty clear, some still feel doing something, anything is a required part of the formula.

What exactly is a silver lining? A silver lining is when something good or productive is generated from a less than favorable situation. Optimists tend to look for silver linings in most situations, pessimists, not so much. While optimism and pessimism are a part of our DNA, at the end of the day, it’s ultimately our choice to which philosophy we ascribe. Paul was the ultimate silver lining preacher.