One of the most important ingredients in marriage is forgiveness. I read on Pinterest, which is renowned for both its wisdom and accuracy, that a good marriage is made of two good forgivers. Few things are more true than that statement. Inevitably, you will fail each other. You will sin against one another. So, if your husband/wife sins against you what should you do? Forgive. Easier said than done I know, but it really is freeing. In the silent whispers of our minds often lurks the lie that if we refuse to forgive, somehow that will make everything ok and cause him/her to change. Holding onto your unforgiveness in the form of a grudge will only poison your marriage further. It will NEVER improve your marriage. It will NEVER make your husband/wife want to please you. Unforgiveness is cyanide. Stop drinking it. If you want your marriage to survive you must learn to drink the fresh water of forgiveness instead. I heard a story once about a woman who was married to a pastor. He cheated on her multiple times over the years and kept it from her. Eventually, he confessed it to her and repented. Everyone around her kept encouraging her to leave him and divorce him, but she wanted to forgive him. Because of the pressure from those around her she felt guilty for wanting to forgive him. She sought counsel and was given some very wise words. They were these: It is never foolish to hope and pray for the redemption and restoration of your marriage. Those words helped free her to ignore the bad advice from others and pursue forgiving her husband. How beautiful! I know most people would think it is absurd to forgive your husband/wife for doing something so terrible. Yes, sins have consequences and a wayward spouse should not be given freedom to "run around" and expect it not to affect the relationship. But when the spouse is truly repentant, we must forgive. How many times have you failed your spouse? What if they held that over your head constantly, though you repented? If...

"No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything." 2 Timothy 2:4-6 I've caught a glimpse of him a few times now on my way to church. Early in the morning. Full gear. Wide open. Strange though, there was no fire. There was no alarm. There was no one in danger. The station was calm and the fire trucks were in the bay. What was this guy doing? He was acting in a way that was consistent with his belief. That's what he was doing. What did he believe? He believed that one day someones life would be on the line and he would have to be ready to act. He couldn't be weak. He couldn't afford to put it off another day. It wasn't if there was going to be a fire, but when. He truly believed in fire. He truly believed fire kills. He truly believed life was precious. He truly believed that if he stayed behind in the station that those lives would perish. More than all of those he believed that the mandate of the fire station and its captain was to be honored, because those mandates were and always will be good. He had a sincere devotion to the captain and his mandate. Therefore he moved. I would like to share with you a fictitious story to illustrate a point. An experienced firefighter was recently charged with grave neglect of duty. Prosecutors maintained that he had abandoned his responsibility when he failed to release rescue equipment. This resulted in the needless and tragic deaths of a family of five. Eyewitnesses were sickened when they discovered that the reason the firefighter remained locked in the emergency vehicle was simply because he was testing a new, hi-tech, CD player which, he maintained, he had bought as a gift...

The second half of a sermon preached by Spurgeon on Lord's-day Morning, March 24th, 1866. He addressed two types of people in the sermon. The first group he called "THOSE WHO ARE AVOWEDLY DISOBEDIENT TO GOD" and the second group he called "THE DECEPTIVELY SUBMISSIVE." This is well worth the read. I pray it challenge you. Here is the text of his sermon. "But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him."—Matthew 21:28-32. Bear with me a little time while I speak to the second character, THE DECEPTIVELY SUBMISSIVE, by far the most numerous everywhere in England, probably the most numerous in this assembly. Oh! you, my own regular hearers, you who have heard my voice these thirteen years many of you are in this class. You have said to the Great Father, "I go, sir!" but you have not gone. Let me sorrowfully sketch your portraits: you have regularly frequented a place of worship, and you would shudder to waste a single Sunday in an excursion, or in any form of Sabbath breaking. Outwardly you have said," I go, sir." When the hymn is given out, you stand up and sing, and yet you do not sing with the heart. When I say, "Let us pray!" you cover your faces, but you do not pray with real prayer. You utter a polite, respectful...

1 Corinthians 15:57- But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:18- Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Psalm 28:7- The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. Psalm 106:1- Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Ephesians 5:20- Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Psalm 107:1- Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Colossians 4:2- Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. Romans 14:6- The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. Psalm 30:12- That my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever! 1 Corinthians 1:4- I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, Psalm 69:30- I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving....

33 Minutes that will rock your world!! What changed their minds...in seconds? Invite your friends to watch 180 at http://www.livingwaters.com/180movie/sendtofriends.php...

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  Free Will Is Not Biblical. The Will Is Enslaved. and because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. Jeremiah 16:12 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:13 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave  to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.John 8:34-36 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. John 15:16 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Romans 3:10-12 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves,  you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? Romans 6:16 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Romans 6:20 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. Romans 6:22 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will...

I ran across a blog a few months back entitled How is an Andy Griffith Church going to reach a Lady Gaga World? and I've been trying to find the time to write a response. I feel like a response to this question is fitting for our heavily pragmatic church age. I think this question opens up the door to some very core issues dealing with the nature of man, the nature of God, and power of the gospel and the authority of scripture. What prompted a response from me was the fact of the pastors ending to the blog. He said he just didn't know the answer to this question. I was shocked; shocked mainly because this is a fundamental issue at the core of the gospel and this shepherd of souls doesn't know which way to turn. Well, I've found the time and I wanted to write a reply. The blog might go a bit long, but I think it will be worth sitting down and thinking through. You just can't expect to answer critical questions like this in a five minute snippet. I think if we take a little time to answer three basic questions we can have an answer for all ages, cultures and situations. Those three questions are: What is the nature of God? What is the nature of man? What is nature of scripture and the gospel? I believe that if we get answers to these three questions, the question posed by the blog mentioned above can be put to rest eternally because we will be giving a finite question an answer rooted in the eternal Word and that answer should never change. Here's the thing. Before we get started, if you aren't willing to research the scripture, pray over them and dig through this scripture by scripture then stop right here. Go no further. You aren't willing to seek truth. So close the browser page already. If, on the other hand, you are willing to dig, search, pray and learn then let's move forward with the Spirit of Christ and His Word as our guide. May He meet...

The problem of pain and suffering is a big problem, philosophically speaking, for a lot of people, but probably not as many people you as think. It seems to me that most people default to it as a means of staving off Christianity, and it's kind of juvenile that way. It's not something they've given a great deal of thought to; just mainly a way to get God off their backs. Philosophizing requires time and introspection. The former is whisked away by the unflinching demands of busy lives—given away, really, and probably to avoid the latter. Anything but the latter. Perhaps it's because if they see what's inside of them, they may feel the need to address it. Kind of like avoiding the couch for fear of what's underneath the cushions. To those for whom the reality of suffering and the existence of the Christian God conflict, I say this: if there never were such a thing as human suffering, or if were only a tenth of what it is now, would you know it? Of course, not. You'd be used to it. Well, how do you know that isn't the case now? How do you know that things couldn't be worse, a lot worse, and God, through His providential care, restrains sin's annihilative effects? Could things really be worse? You bet they could, and you and I both know it. But even if it were already as bad as it gets, how does taking God—who gives all things purpose—out of the equation make suffering more copacetic? I mean if suffering serves a purpose greater than itself, what legitimate charge can we really bring against God? But if doesn't—if chaos is king—if the universe is a tornado of discord and our lives a trailer park—what then? Are you consoled? Do you feel better now that you know no one is helping you? because no one can help you? because there is no one? Some people win the lottery; some people get cancer. It's all the result of a cosmic roll of the dice. Is this it? Is this all there is? Is there more? What...

While sharing the gospel and passing out gospel tracts, what would you say to someone that says, “I have my church”? They don’t profess Christ.   They do not even call themselves a Christian or claim to be born again or say, “I’m saved”. They just say “I have my church” and walk away. What does that mean? What do you think they were meaning by that statement? I’ve never heard this statement before but last night (Oct. 14th, 2011) I heard from three different people.   I am overwhelmed by it. If you profess to be a Christian, what are you really professing- Christ or your church? It is an important question and it carries with it eternal implications. When you stand before God and give an account for your whole life, will you say the words “I had my church” as your defense? It doesn’t make sense yet is this not essentially what these people were saying to me as I handed them a tract? So many people profess to be “Christians” but they don’t actually profess Christ. They are not standing on Christ as their righteousness. They are standing on their own righteousness whether it be good deeds they have done, like repeating the sinner's prayer after someone, or that they go to church. Going to church will not save you.   Only Christ can.   Standing before the Holy Judge one day you will realize what a flimsy defense it is to say, "But I went to church.".   Jesus’ words are ringing in my head, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.” -Matthew 7:13 Thankfully, I was able to have a conversation with one of the ladies that made this statement. Her name is Cheryl. Cheryl was on our town square with her family. She shared with me that her son is a minister and knows my pastor. Then she told me that her grandchildren were visiting from Utah, which launched us into a discussion about Mormons. Cheryl has a high...