Why is the first step of Alcoholics Anonymous the admission that one is powerless over alcohol and that his or her life has become unmanageable? Because admission is necessary before the alcoholic can take the second step, which is to believe that a Power greater...
My wife shared with me an illustration from a sermon that she listened to online this week. The illustration had a point, but I narrowed my focus to the illustration and had to remind myself not to miss the point. This reminded me of the...
We shouldn’t wait until we run out of words to start praying, but sometimes we do. So much is happening in our personal lives and in our world that calls for us to speak. God gave us truth and tongues, so we should speak. But...
The great commandment given to us in the Bible, both the Old Testament and New Testament, is to love the Lord our God with our whole being (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Matthew 22:37-38). When the Jewish people of the Old Testament first heard these words, they were...
Sometimes we shout the loudest to silence our guilty conscience. The voice of our own conscience speaks to us. We are unsure about our rightness. We have no place to turn to settle this internal conflict, so we shout. Group shouting is even better, so we...
In our trials we must remember that though God will do it, we must go through it. This is the messages of the first chapter of the book of James. James is writing to Christians who are experiencing all kinds of challenges, some related to being...
I often find myself in the middle of a parent-child teachable moment. The parent is trying to teach the child how to introduce himself. “Look at Pastor Scott, shake his hand, and tell him your name,” the parent says. All the while, the child is...
When you read the book of James, the Holy Spirit will read your heart. This is a good thing. In most introductions to James you will read that this short New Testament book is like Proverbs in the Old Testament. James deals with practical matters and...
Devoted to Prayer: Praying Through the Book of James At Grace Community Church, we are beginning 2019 with prayer. The book of James will be our guide. James opens with this call to prayer: "If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God." (James 1:5). My paraphrase of...
A good phrase evokes a beautiful image. So it is when I read the Apostle Peter’s words to dispersed Christians in the first century. “As you come to him.” (1 Peter 2:4) Given the context of this phrase, we can see the beauty of God’s...
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