December, 2015

• 12 December

  Our Hope: The Words We Speak

  

  Jesus said, ‘Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.’  Matthew 12:34 (NIV) Have you ever spoken a word, or perhaps more, and immediately wished you could take it back?  Or spoken something in all honesty, but when it came out of your mouth it did not come ...

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• 12 December

  Luke Warm or Rearing To Go?

  

  So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth!  Revelation 3:16 Jesus has good reason when informing the people to avoid being lukewarm when relating to Him.  Some synonyms of lukewarm are: tepid, blase’, bored, indifferent, mundane, sick of and uninterested.  Would ...

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• 11 December

  The Weight of the World at Christmas

  

  I bet you didn’t expect to find an intersection between Greek mythology and Christ–did you? For that matter, would expect to see a connection between the chaos of politics and the peace of Christmas? The iconic Christmas passage, other than Luke 2, is doubtless Isaiah 9:6: For to us a ...

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• 11 December

  Checkup Time For Your Heart, Emotions and Thinking Powers!

  

  Have you considered your heart lately? How about your emotions and your thinking powers? Like a physical checkup with your doctor, it can be tempting to put off a spiritual checkup to see what is going on inside. But just as it can be dangerous to put off a physical ...

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• 10 December

  Evidence of God’s Faithfulness in Hanukkah

  

  What does Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah) have to do with Christianity?  Well, on the surface, nothing. Now I know what you are thinking: “Why is this article so long if we have already established that these two have nothing to do with each other?”  Hold on, do not give up ...

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• 10 December

  Identity Theft: A National Problem

  

  It’s likely that you have heard, on more than one occasion, the warning about the risk of identity theft. Some companies provide software to protect you if you fall victim to this crime. Some of the services they provide are credit monitoring and suspicious activity alerts, or reimbursement and assistance ...

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• 10 December

  Happy Christmas or Merry Holidays

  

  Christmas is a Christian celebration. Many people, however, are not Christians. So, should everyone be expected to say, “Merry Christmas?” I, for one, am perfectly okay with people greeting me with “Happy Holidays.” The word “Christmas” means “more of Christ.” Non-believers don’t even know Jesus personally, let alone want more ...

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• 10 December

  “Here I Raise My Ebenezer”

  

  Ever wonder what that line in the classic hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” means? “Here I raise my Ebenezer; Hither by Thy help I’m come; And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home.” The hymn was written in 1758 by Robert Robinson a pastor and ...

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• 9 December

  Our Hope: Dealing With Disappointment

  

  “When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider:  God has made the one as well as the other.”  Ecclesiastes 7:14 (NIV) Disappointment is a difficult thing.  It can break your heart, it can make you feel small, it can affect all your relationships.  Disappointment can also ...

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• 9 December

  Does Prayer Remind God or Us?

  

  When we pray, we are intimately connected to God, and while we ask for His help, ask for others’ frailties and quietly listen for His answers, we are one. Prayer is a complicated business. Sometimes when we think of it and talk about it, it seems it sometimes generates more ...

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