Podcasts about because god

If there were no judgment, nothing in life would truly matter. In episode 17 of "God's Image in Man," Duane Sheriff teaches that judgment is not something to avoid, but something to redeem. Because God is Judge, judgment itself is part of His image in humanity. The real question is not whether we judge, but how we judge. Scripture instructs believers to reject judgments based on appearance, emotion, or culture, and instead judge with righteous judgment—rooted in God's Word and led by the Holy Spirit.Righteous judgment discerns good from evil, truth from deception, and aligns with what God has already judged. When judgment is restored to righteousness, clarity replaces confusion, accountability replaces chaos, and God's image is reflected in our lives.Click for FREE offer ➡️ https://pastorduane.com/landing/gods-image-in-man

Kelly Goshorn is an old-fashioned girl at heart who loves Jesus, her family, and all things historical. A native Virginian, she developed a deep love for history, exploring battlefields and museums, which eventually led her to write inspirational historical romance. After earning degrees in social studies, education, and history, Kelly spent nearly two decades as a licensed childcare provider before returning to writing – a passion sparked by her youngest son. Her debut novel, A Love Restored, was published by Pelican Book Group in 2018, and her nonfiction piece, “Beautiful Words,” appeared in the Spoken Moments anthology. She lives in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains with her husband of 30+ years, Mike. They enjoy BBC period dramas, board games, and spoiling her Corgi, Levi. You've described yourself as, “An old-fashioned girl trapped in the 21st century. How has that shaped your passion for historical fiction? Kelly: As long as I can remember, I’ve loved history. I had a wonderful grandfather who would tell us stories about his life growing up and stories about our ancestors. The random things I'd find – my dad's World War II Navy picture or my mom's ration book from World War II – I always found them fascinating. But I suspect Little House on the Prairie probably had something to do with it. That was my favorite show growing up. If I did anything to get in trouble, all my mom had to do was threaten to take that away. Because back then, we didn't have unlimited access to shows. If you missed it when it was on, you didn't get to see it again until summer re-runs. Then when Laura called Almanzo “Manly” and I discovered historical romance, I think that just sealed the deal. KyLee: Honestly, that sounds similar to my experience. I had grandpas who were in World War II in the Korean War, and we got to hear all their stories. And I watched a lot of old black-and-white shows, lots of westerns. I love that, as adult women, God's allowed a way for us to look back on those good memories and the values we developed, and now we're creating with them. Can you share how your youngest son inspired you to start writing? Kelly: When the time came to move on from my career as a childcare provider, I wasn't sure what the next step was, but I sensed from the Holy Spirit that it was not going back to teaching. So my husband and I , and our small group, started praying about it. Now my youngest son Noah always love to write. He might be watching SpongeBob, but he had a notebook he always carried with him, and he'd be writing some kind of story. I remember watching Noah one day and thinking how I always loved writing research papers in college and grad school. I thought of myself as hopelessly un-creative, but I loved to play with the sentences, move them around, tweak them. And that day I thought, “I should give fiction a try.” So I started writing, just for myself, no secret desire to be published. And after a few nights of me sitting in front of the TV with my laptop, my husband asked what I was doing. And when I told him, he wanted to read it, so I let him. And he said, “This is good, but you should write our story.” Shortly after that, I switched to writing our story, but set in the 1870s, and it became something I couldn't wait to do each day. I started study the writing craft, and in that process of writing and learning, I realized that was the answer to my prayer. And our story became my debut, A Love Restored. Darcy: I love how you say discovering your new path was a process. You had your family and church family praying, but the Lord didn't drop you a note in your lap to “write novels now.” You were curious, and you tried it, and in that, He show you this was what He wanted you to do. Sometimes we really want the writing on the wall, but God's like, “No. You'll find out. Just trust Me on this.” I think that's cool. KyLee: I was just about to tell you, Kelly, that you should go on the Hope-Filled Romantic Podcast with Heather Tabers. She and I chat quite a bit, and she just started her podcast for Christian romance lovers who believe in both storybook love and the hope that God provides in real life. So I was double-checking her podcast name on Instagram, and I see Kelly Goshorn has already been on the Hope-Filled Romantic Podcast! Authors get to share about their books, but also their real-life love stories, if they’re comfortable doing so. Just a quick shout-out for Heather – our listeners should definitely check out Kelly’s episode on her podcast. Kelly: And secondary shout-out, I had the privilege of reading and endorsing Heather's book that just released, Their Burden to Bear. If people like the World War I era, I highly recommend it. A fantastic novel. Do you have a favorite battlefield or museum or site that you visited that inspired a story scene? Kelly: I'm really inspired by the area where I live in Northern Virginia. Loudoun County has a lot of Revolutionary War and especially Civil War history. We're in a border county in a border state – the next county over became West Virginia. In the western part of our county, we had Quakers who were pro-union, and we have people who were pro-slavery and voted for Virginia to secede from the union. If I could set all of my stories here, I would. I have two, A Love Restored and The Christmas Carving set in Loudoun County. Is there anything especially interesting you could share with us, or something God has laid on your heart that you'd like to share with your readers? Kelly: I like to write about flawed characters that overcome their obstacles with faith and fortitude. Recurring themes in my books are about self-acceptance, and forgiveness, and second chances. The world can be so unforgiving, and we can be so hard on ourselves. I like to write those kind of stories where you kind of dig inside yourself and your faith, and you come out on the other side. And hopefully readers also find a swoon-worthy romance 'cause I'm a romance girl. Darcy: I love that. I was actually reading in Luke this morning, the stories of the prodigal son and the scriptures around there where the Pharisees condemn Jesus for hanging out with sinful and unrighteous people. And I was thinking how we know the story of the lost sheep where Jesus said, “I leave the ninety-nine, and go after the lost one.” Yet, even as we're trying to follow Jesus, we build this sense of self-righteousness. And then we start comparing: “I'm not as holy as that person. I'm not as far along as this person.” So I love that you write about flawed characters who learn to accept that. Because God uses flawed people. He says that over and over in His Word. Book Two in the Enduring Hope series, six stand-alone novels by six different authors, examining manmade catastrophes and how the characters overcome. When life seems weighed down by challenges, there are always pillars of enduring hope and love to be found. Henrietta “Etta” Maxwell, heiress to the Maxwell fortune, is a hard-hitting investigative reporter for The Enterprise Daily. The catch? Etta must pen her columns under the nom de plume, Henry Mason—a fact that routinely puts a knot in her knickerbockers. Leo Eriksson is a second-generation firefighter with a passion for rendering aid to those in need. When Leo discovers that Henry Mason is really Henrietta Maxwell, the fire department's wealthy benefactress, he agrees to keep her identity secret. After a sudden blast rocks the Grover Shoe Factory, Leo and Etta team up to determine if the explosion is related to a series of suspicious fires in the area. When an unnamed source reveals Etta's secret identity to a rival reporter, she falsely accuses Leo of being the informant. As the truth comes to light, Etta must persuade Leo to give her a second chance or lose the only man she's ever loved. What inspired your heroine, Etta Maxwell – a wealthy heiress living a double life as an undercover reporter? Kelly: I am not a plotter. I never know how the story will go; the Lord kind of brings it all together for me. But one thing I did know is I didn't want my characters to be employees of the factory because I thought that might take the reader too close to the grittiness of the disaster. I knew I wanted to make Leo a fireman, and I needed to keep Etta active in the story, so I decided on making her a reporter. Now there were some female investigative reporters, like Ida Tarbell or Nellie Bly, but most female journalists were relegated to domestic or social columns. So I decided Etta would have to masquerade as a man to pull it off. She also writes for The Gilded Gown, a social magazine in Boston. And her parents let her move back to Brockton and work with their charitable foundation, unaware she is secretly the top-notch reporter Henry Mason. How did you go about researching this real-life disaster, this shoe factory explosion? Kelly: I started with a list on Wikipedia of manmade disasters in America, and I'm not exactly sure why I clicked on the Grover Shoe factory. I can only say it was the Holy Spirit. And I immediately saw two images: one of this giant factory, four floors that covered three-quarters of a city block, and an after-picture in which literally nothing is left but the smokestack. And I instantly thought, “Nobody could have survived this. What happened?” I found myself reading more out of my own curiosity. And I just felt like I needed to tell these people's stories. I found a document called, The History of the Brockton Relief Fund, which was compiled a couple years after the disaster. And that became my bible, so to speak because it was written so close to the time. Sometimes even newspapers from the time contradicted one another, so this document became my ultimate primary source. I also found a lot of great information on the Brockton Fire Department through a document online. They have a fire museum there. And I found YouTube documentaries on early 20th-century firefighting and fire investigation techniques. Many of their techniques have now been proven to not be the best way to get to the bottom of an arson, but it's what they used then. Oh, and I found great information on the fire dogs and how they were used, why they were Dalmations. It was fun to incorporate so many details into the book. How do you balance the historical material with the romance? Kelly: It was kind of tricky to build a romance in the midst of such a disaster. It was the beginning of the workday when the fire started, so the building was full – nearly 400 people. And between the broken gas lines and floors treated with linseed oil, they had to call off the rescue within twelve minutes. Fifty-eight people perished. You almost expect it to be the reverse, that only 58 people survived, because it was just a perfect storm of things contributing to the fire. So trying to figure out how to put a romance in that, when you don't want to lighten the gravity of the situation, was tricky. It was another reason to keep my characters outside the factory, and not related to the factory owner or anyone bearing such a heavy weight that they can't think of romance. I started the story with fictitious arsonists she's investigating, and they team up for that. So when the disaster occurred, she already had sources inside the fire department and she's following leads, which enabled them to have that close proximity needed for a romance. Darcy: In some ways, the fact that their romance grows out of something so deep and tragic lets us know that these people are not involved in some light infatuation. They can't hide behind the typical early-romance stage, but have to get to know each other for real. What's next for your writing? Kelly: I don't have any contracts at the moment, but last week I turned in a proposal for a novella collection, along with Carolyn Miller, Angela Couch and Jacinta Meredith. If it's picked up, it will be four marriages of convenience at Christmas. (You might be able to tell that marriage of convenience is one of my favorite tropes. I will always pick that up to read – it fascinates me.) And this weekend, I'm working on a proposal for a book about a mail-order groom that's got some serious You've Got Mail vibes. Where can listeners connect with you? Kelly: I would love to have readers visit my website and sign up for my newsletter. I publish monthly, and I include updates on my writing, but I also cover a new historical romance release each month. I do giveaways. And I like to talk about historical tidbits that history-nerd girls like us enjoy. If you're on Facebook and Instagram, you can find me there, probably talking way too much about my Corgis. I love my Corgi dogs. Levi, who we mentioned at the beginning, has sadly crossed the rainbow bridge. So now we have another Corgi puppy named Biscuit. I also have pages on my website dedicated to extras and historical details for the book. Things that don't always make it into the story, which I hope readers will enjoy. Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor by Roseanna M. White THE BOOK As the beloved stepdaughter of the Earl of Castleton, Lady Mariah Lyons cherishes her home at Plumford Manor, but her idyllic world will be threatened when the estate passes to Cyril Lightbourne, a childhood friend she hasn't seen or heard from in years. Once, Mariah dreamed their friendship would kindle into something more, but that was before she heard Cyril was courting the cruelhearted Lady Pearl. Now Mariah is willing to welcome him as a friend and pray he will be the heir her stepfather needs, but she'll keep her heart locked safely away from anyone with such poor taste. Cyril Lightbourne has long avoided returning to Plumford Manor, yet he reluctantly arrives in time for Christmas. When his friendship with Lady Mariah reignites, he finds himself caught between his affection for her and her family's misunderstanding of his attachment to Lady Pearl. Then, more trouble arrives in the form of a Danish lord on a mission to win Mariah's hand by Christmas. Will the magic of the holiday season help lead to the discovery of true love, or will duty to country leave all longing for what could have been? Bookworm Review “Oh my giddy gumdrops, this confection of a tale is a sheer delight from beginning to end! Winsome and whimsical, “Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor” by Roseanna M. White captures all the splendor of the holiday season, from the effervescent joy of childhood to the awe-inspiring wonder of Christ’s birth. Nods to The Nutcracker will evoke smiles from fans of the classic story as they explore the luxury of an Edwardian Manor and the enchantment of a winter wood, glittering with snow. If you fancy a Nutcracker suite romance, spend your Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor!” Read more about Roseanna at her website. (www.RoseannaMWhite.com)  (www.jaimewrightbooks.com)~ Angela Bell, author of A Lady's Guide to Marvels and Misadventure Thank you, fellow bookworm, for joining us once again! We hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know Kelly and are excited to check out her book! If you enjoyed this episode, we hope you'll subscribe for more on your favorite listening platform, and join our newsletter (see the sidebar). Don't forget to share it with a fellow historical fiction reader! Until next time, may you find hope even in challenges! –KyLee & Darcy

I don't worry about the weekends anymore. I feel GREAT knowing that Trump is on top of everything.Little things get handled, and we don't have to guess on the big things. If you ignore the fake news media, you will sleep like you're in a coma!But Democrats. Those suckers sleep like crack babies…wake up every two hours screaming.They have NO COVER! They pray that they are not found out, but who are they praying to? LUCIFER? Because God is NOT on their side.They pray for a bad economy. Cheer higher gas prices. They want Iran to win against the Middle East.They want murder and mayhem in the street, food lines, they need CHAOS!We won't know when Iran is finished until Trump tells us they are finished. And I predict they will be finished soon. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pastor Mike will be speaking on The Characteristics of a The Steps of Forgiveness Part 2. He will be reading out of Philemon 1:8-18. Because God has forgiven you, that I must forgive others. And the options and the alternatives of not forgiving are destructive to my own self and my own family. And therefore […] The post The Steps of Forgiveness Part 2 first appeared on Hope Worth Having.

What if the voice you have been looking for has been speaking all along but your life is too loud to hear it?In John 16, Jesus sits with his closest friends hours before the cross and tells them something shocking. It is actually better for them if He leaves. Why? Because God would send the Holy Spirit to live inside them. Not beside them. Inside them. The Helper who convicts, guides, comforts, and strengthens when life gets heavy. In a noisy world full of pressure, distraction, and confusion, many of us want God's direction but ignore the conviction that comes first.  The Holy Spirit does not shout over the chaos. He nudges. He exposes the baggage holding us back and leads us toward the life God designed. Conviction is not shame. It is an invitation to drop what is weighing you down so you can move forward. When we slow down and listen, we discover we are not alone, we are stronger than we think, and God is still guiding every step.

Hi friends! Real Life Decluttering Week is a 7-day decluttering reset designed for busy Christian women who want a calmer home without spending hours organizing. Each day includes: • a short Scripture reflection • one simple decluttering step (10–15 minutes or less) • guidance to help your home support your real life If you're a midlife Christian mom balancing family, work, marriage, and serving others, this series will help you clear the physical clutter that quietly drains your energy and clouds your focus. Instead of tackling everything at once, we take small, faithful steps toward a home that functions well and supports the life God has called you to live. Because God is not the author of confusion — and peace often begins with clearing what no longer belongs. Today in Day 7, we pause to reflect on what you've accomplished this week and choose one simple habit to carry forward so your progress continues beyond the challenge. New to the series? Start with Day 1: God Is Not the Author of Confusion — Start Clearing the Clutter Today and move through the week with us. As a professional home organizer and Christian mom myself, I know how quickly clutter can build during full seasons of life — and how powerful small, faithful steps can be in restoring peace at home.

Hello sister! Real Life Decluttering Week is a 7-day decluttering reset designed for busy Christian women who want a calmer home without spending hours organizing. Each day includes: • a short Scripture reflection • one simple decluttering step (10–15 minutes or less) • guidance to help your home support your real life If you're a midlife Christian mom balancing family, work, marriage, and serving others, this series will help you clear the physical clutter that quietly drains your energy and clouds your focus. Instead of tackling everything at once, we take small, faithful steps toward a home that functions well and supports the life God has called you to live. Because God is not the author of confusion — and peace often begins with clearing what no longer belongs. Today in Day 6, we focus on one everyday friction point — an entryway, purse, junk drawer, bathroom cabinet, or kitchen hot spot — and make it function more smoothly for your real daily rhythm. New to the series? Start with Day 1: God Is Not the Author of Confusion — Start Clearing the Clutter Today and move through the week with us. As a professional home organizer and Christian mom myself, I know how quickly clutter can build during full seasons of life — and how powerful small, faithful steps can be in restoring peace at home.

Hi friends! Real Life Decluttering Week is a 7-day decluttering reset designed for busy Christian women who want a calmer home without spending hours organizing. Each day includes: • a short Scripture reflection • one simple decluttering step (10–15 minutes or less) • guidance to help your home support your real life If you're a midlife Christian mom balancing family, work, marriage, and serving others, this series will help you clear the physical clutter that quietly drains your energy and clouds your focus. Instead of tackling everything at once, we take small, faithful steps toward a home that functions well and supports the life God has called you to live. Because God is not the author of confusion — and peace often begins with clearing what no longer belongs. Today in Day 5, we focus on one simple act of completion: filling a donation bag with items you're ready to release. New to the series? Start with Day 1: God Is Not the Author of Confusion — Start Clearing the Clutter Today and move through the week with us. As a professional home organizer and Christian mom myself, I know how quickly clutter can build during full seasons of life — and how powerful small, faithful steps can be in restoring peace at home.

Hey there faithful friend,  Real Life Decluttering Week is a 7-day decluttering reset designed for busy Christian women who want a calmer home without spending hours organizing. Each day includes: • a short Scripture reflection • one simple decluttering step (10–15 minutes or less) • guidance to help your home support your real life If you're a midlife Christian mom balancing family, work, marriage, and serving others, this series will help you clear the physical clutter that quietly drains your energy and clouds your focus. Instead of tackling everything at once, we take small, faithful steps toward a home that functions well and supports the life God has called you to live. Because God is not the author of confusion — and peace often begins with clearing what no longer belongs. Today in Day 4 - Today we restore flow by simply putting misplaced items back where they belong. New to the series? Start with Day 1: God Is Not the Author of Confusion — Start Clearing the Clutter Today and move through the week with us. As a professional home organizer and Christian mom myself, I know how quickly clutter can build during full seasons of life — and how powerful small, faithful steps can be in restoring peace at home. Praying over your next steps!

Prioritizing God in the middle of a busy life Does your quiet time with God feel impossible in a busy home? In this episode, we talk about letting go of perfect quiet-time expectations and learning how to invite God into the middle of everyday life—while cooking, homeschooling, working, exercising, or simply moving through your day. Because God isn't waiting for perfect silence. He's simply waiting to be invited in.     If you want to learn how to embrace the Dirt on your journey, come join me over on Substack at kawailani.substack.com

Hi friend, Real Life Decluttering Week is a 7-day decluttering reset designed for busy Christian women who want a calmer home without spending hours organizing. Each day includes: • a short Scripture reflection • one simple decluttering step (10–15 minutes or less) • guidance to help your home support your real life If you're a midlife Christian mom balancing family, work, marriage, and serving others, this series will help you clear the physical clutter that quietly drains your energy and clouds your focus. Instead of tackling everything at once, we take small, faithful steps toward a home that functions well and supports the life God has called you to live. Because God is not the author of confusion — and peace often begins with clearing what no longer belongs. Today in Day 3, we focus on decluttering one small category — such as mugs, pens, pantry snacks, or towels — so your decisions become clearer and lighter. New to the series? Start with Day 1: God Is Not the Author of Confusion — Start Clearing the Clutter Today and move through the week with us. As a professional home organizer and Christian mom myself, I know how quickly clutter can build during full seasons of life — and how powerful small, faithful steps can be in restoring peace at home.

What happens when Christians stop thinking for themselves — and hand that job to AI? In this episode of Refining Rhetoric, host Robert Bortins sits down with Dr. Ben Holloway — philosopher, professor at Judson College at Southeastern Seminary, and incoming Bruce Little Chair of Christian Philosophy — to explore why classical Christian education depends on mastering language, logic, and the great books. From defending the faith against hard questions to why you simply cannot outsource your thinking to a machine, this is a conversation that will challenge and equip every homeschool family to love wisdom and pursue truth. Dr. Ben Holloway grew up in England, spent his 20s playing in a band and preaching the gospel with no formal education, then moved to America at 34 with his wife, two kids, and 29 boxes — and started his bachelor's degree at Moody Bible Institute. That late-in-life educational journey shapes everything about how he teaches and what he believes education is for. The conversation opens with a rich discussion of Christian philosophy — not as an abstract academic exercise, but as the indispensable tool Christians have always used to answer the questions the Bible doesn't directly address. From the early church borrowing the language of "substance" and "persons" from Greek philosophy to describe the Trinity, to the everyday challenge of interpreting a difficult passage of Scripture, philosophy and language are inescapably central to the Christian life. Dr. Holloway makes a compelling case that language is foundational to how we know God. Because God chose to reveal himself through 66 books, Christians are permanently and inescapably committed to the hard work of interpretation. You cannot outsource that to anyone — and certainly not to AI. He explains that AI isn't a reasoning machine; it's a pattern-matching product built to please customers, not to pursue truth. Students who try to use it before developing their own thinking ability won't just miss the learning — they'll also be incapable of evaluating what AI produces. What You'll Learn: - What Christian philosophy actually is — and why you can't do good theology without it - Why language is one of the most mysterious and important features of God's creation - How to read the Bible the way the author intended — not just the way it "speaks to you" - Three practical techniques for interpreting any difficult text correctly - Why Christians specifically cannot outsource their thinking to AI — and what's at stake if they try - Why using AI before you've learned to think is worse than not using it at all - The surprising connection between Homer's *Iliad* and the biblical meaning of glory and honor - Why hard-earned education is one of God's greatest gifts — and what we rob students of when we shortcut it   00:00 — Introduction & Dr. Holloway's Background 01:44 — Growing Up in England, Ministry Without a Degree & Coming to America 03:11 — Discovering a Calling to Teach at Moody Bible Institute 04:22 — What Makes Judson College Unique: Theory Meets Practice 05:07 — What Is Christian Philosophy — and Why Does It Matter? 06:27 — How the Early Church Used Philosophy to Describe the Trinity 08:26 — Language, God's Creation & Why It's So Mysterious 10:07 — How Language Connects to Truth and Education 12:11 — Why Christians Can't Outsource Bible Reading to AI 13:43 — Who Gets to Fix the Meaning of a Text? The Author, Not You 15:03 — Why You Shouldn't Skip the Parts of Scripture That Don't "Apply" to You 17:02 — Three Techniques for Interpreting Difficult Texts Correctly 21:25 — Honor, Glory & What Homer Teaches Us About the Bible 24:17 — Bethlehem, Lambs & the Depth of God's Storytelling (with Robert) 25:38 — AI, Thinking & Why You Have to Learn Without It First 29:10 — The Ethics of AI in the Classroom: Why It's a Form of Deception 31:05 — Handwriting, Blue Books & Seeing Students' Work 36:19 — The Satisfaction of Hard-Earned Learning 39:36 — Philosophy Means "Love of Wisdom" — and That's the Point 41:12 — About Judson College: Preview Days, Campus Visits & April 16 Experience Day 43:07 — Closing Thoughts: Christians, Culture & the Duty of This Generation   Resources: https://judsoncollege.com/   This episode of Refining Rhetoric is sponsored by Worldview Academy: Students call Worldview Academy the best week of their lives. Through week-long summer leadership camps for teens, Worldview Academy trains Christians to think and live in accord with a biblical worldview so they can better serve Christ and engage the culture around them. Worldview Academy reinforces what students are learning at home and at church and trains this generation to apply that knowledge to the challenging cultural issues they're facing. To find a camp near you or learn more about Worldview's weekend conferences and other resources for families, visit www.worldview.org

Today, Pastor Jeff explains that God's righteous anger is connected to His holiness and His commitment to truth. Because God is perfect and just, He requires truth about who He is and about His good design for everything He created. Romans 1:18    For God's wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth

Hey there! Real Life Decluttering Week is a 7-day decluttering reset designed for busy Christian women who want a calmer home without spending hours organizing. Each day includes: • a short Scripture reflection • one simple decluttering step (10–15 minutes or less) • guidance to help your home support your real life If you're a midlife Christian mom balancing family, work, marriage, and serving others, this series will help you clear the physical clutter that quietly drains your energy and clouds your focus. Instead of tackling everything at once, we take small, faithful steps toward a home that functions well and supports the life God has called you to live. Because God is not the author of confusion — and peace often begins with clearing what no longer belongs. New to the series? Start with Day 1: God Is Not the Author of Confusion — Start Clearing the Clutter Today and move through the week with us. As a professional home organizer and Christian mom myself, I know how quickly clutter can build during full seasons of life — and how powerful small, faithful steps can be in restoring peace at home. Today in Day 2, we reset one flat surface in your home — a counter, desk, or nightstand that has quietly become a catch-all — and create visible relief in less than 15 minutes.

Hi friends! Real Life Decluttering Week is a 7-day decluttering challenge designed for busy Christian women who want a calmer home without spending hours organizing. Each day includes: • a short Scripture reflection • one simple decluttering action (10–15 minutes or less) • practical guidance to help your home support your real life If you're a midlife Christian mom balancing family, work, marriage, and service to others, this series will help you clear the physical clutter that often clouds our focus and drains our energy. Instead of tackling everything at once, we take small, faithful steps toward a home that functions well and supports the life God has called you to live. Because God is not the author of confusion — and peace often begins with clearing what no longer belongs. xo Praying this series encourages and motivates you! 

In 2 Kings 5, we meet Naaman: a powerful military commander with status, wealth, and influence. Yet beneath all his success he carries a hidden disease: leprosy. His physical illness becomes a picture of a deeper spiritual reality.Through Naaman's story we see that:• Sin starts small but grows• Sin affects every person• Sin is ultimately a sickness of the heartWhen Naaman seeks healing, he is offended by the cure. Why? Because God's solution challenges his pride.The healing God offers is:Too simple: we are saved through faith in JesusToo free: we are saved by grace, not our earningToo exclusive: we are saved only by the name of JesusThis is the same message at the center of the gospel: salvation comes by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not through our own effort, status, or morality.Just like Naaman, the only way to be healed is to humble ourselves, step down from our pride, and receive what God has done for us.

John 4:4-42Jesus left Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him.Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.” In 2019, Jumbo's, a Netherlands supermarket chain, introduced Kletskassas, slow checkout lanes that encourage conversations and human connection. The goal is the opposite of what you normally want at a check line, but for good reason. They are a part of the Netherlands public health campaign to lessen loneliness and help people feel like they matter, one long conversation. This week, I heard and read in many places how we are in a crisis of mattering. In her new book by the same name, journalist Jennifer Breheny Wallace describes mattering as feeling valued by othersAnd having the opportunity to add value back to the world around us. She argues it is an even deeper need than other core needs such as purpose or belonging. One might belong to a workplace, a family, or a church and still not feel like they matter to the people there.Wallace believes that young people are struggling with mattering more than anyone—that this need is going unmet for them. After hundreds of interviews, she heard over and over how young people felt they only mattered when their GPA was high, the number on the scale was low, when they had a certain number of likes or views on social media, or they were a top athlete. But by no means is the crisis of mattering limited to young people. Nearly anyone who has gone through a major transition has struggled with the question: Do I matter?You worked for 35 or 40 years and suddenly, one day, it all stops. You cared for a child or children in your home every day, and then they moved out. You made nearly every decision in life with a spouse but then left to make those decisions alone. We are familiar with this feeling of mattering.And with the rise of AI and the threat of it replacing more jobs and roles, the question of mattering will only become more poignant and prevalent. Jesus—and thereby the church—have something to say about this crisis, and we see it in the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. Mattering is at the heart of this story.But in order for us to really see that, we have to remember last week—when Jesus was approached by Nicodemus. Near the end of their conversation, Jesus tells him that God loves the whole world. This encounter with the woman at the well reveals just how encompassing God's love really is.Jesus is leaving Jerusalem and heading back to Galilee when we're told he had to go through Samaria. As you can see, Samaria is immediately north of Judea and the fastest way to get to Galilee. But most Jews did everything they could to avoid traveling through that land, lest they come into contact with a Samaritan. Usually they would cross over the Jordan River and then go up. So this necessity of Jesus is not geographical, but theological. Samaritans were already despised outsiders—idolaters even—seen as a lowly, unclean enemy. Women were lower in social status than men, especially women who were not married. Jesus arrives at a well at noon and here comes someone the world didn't think mattered at all: An unmarried Samaritan woman coming to quench her thirst just like Jesus.She could not be more at odds with Nicodemus: a male, Jewish religious leader (who came at night, mind you). If anyone mattered, it was him. His words held value. He had status. The woman, who isn't even given a name, does not. Yet Jesus engages both of them.In fact, the conversation Jesus has with the woman is the longest conversation he has with anyone. Ironically, a long conversation was precisely what the woman was trying to avoid. That's one reason she went to the well at noon—the hottest part of the day, if I had to guess.To be clear, we don't know exactly why she's there at noon. There could be all kinds of reasons. One of them is NOT because she's an ostracized tramp, hated by the other women of Sychar. Yes she had five husbands, but it's not likely because of some scandalous reputation.It is much more likely that this woman was passed from husband to husband through a mixture of divorce and death. And she keeps getting married because she has had no children—or at least no sons—to take care of her. So she ends up in what was called a levirate marriage, where a man is obligated to take care of his brother's widow if the brother dies childless.Not only is she a widow, but a barren one at that. The main thing that gave women value—what made women matter in the time of Jesus—she couldn't do. I think she went to the well at noon because not only did she think others believed she didn't matter, but she believed that about herself, too. And when you feel like that, when you believe that about yourself, you withdraw. You disengage.But here is this man who breaks all the rules, who crosses all the boundaries, and asks for a drink. A conversation unfolds where Jesus tries to help the woman understand who he is and what he can offer her, but it doesn't click until he tells her everything about her. In other words, he names the reason the world thinks she doesn't matter—and the reason she believes she doesn't matter. But instead of brushing her off, instead of rushing away, he leans in. He talks to her more. He even debates theology with her, and finally reveals himself as the Messiah, the very one she has been waiting for.The woman rushes back to Sychar and tells the whole town what has happened. It's amazing—this woman who avoided people suddenly can't help but engage and share about the encounter she's had with Jesus. If mattering means feeling valued and adding value back to the world, Jesus has given her exactly that.This mattering crisis is indeed a crisis, but it's nothing new. We have always failed to name who matters and why. The world has long said women don't matter—or that only their bodies matter, and only if they produce offspring. In this country we have said, and continue to say in different ways, that Black and brown people don't matter—or at least not as much as those who look like me.In this capitalist society, we say that only those who contribute matter—and those who profit most matter most.And over the last few years, we have said that anyone who isn't from this country, or doesn't look like they are, doesn't matter.And what does this war say about who matters and who doesn't? What about the elementary girls bombed in Iran—did they matter? Were they a part of this world that God so loved?This encounter with the woman at the well tells us that God loves everyone in this whole wide world—and that's why they matter. Nothing more and nothing less. It does not matter what a person does or looks like, where they are from or what language they speak, what gender they are, or who they love. For God so loved the whole world.If you have ever felt like you don't matter, I pray I am not the first to tell you that you do. To the queer kid in high school, the twice-divorced woman, the retired elderly man, the noisy child running in the halls—you matter. And it has nothing to do with what you have done. In the kingdom of God you do not earn value, it's freely given to you! We call it grace. And grace tells us You matter because Jesus shows us that every single person matters. You matter because God loves you.We as a church can do something about this mattering crisis, and it's to tell people they matter. It sounds so simple, but it's the message people need to hear. If the church does nothing else but have long conversations with people who think they don't matter and then tell them that they are loved, kinda of like those checkout lanes in the Netherlands, we will be doing God's work. In this story, Jesus shows us something we cannot forget:The woman at the well mattered.Your neighbor matters.You matter.Because God so loved the world. Amen.

Because God's promises and prophecies are fulfilled in Jesus, I must trust Him as my only Savior, Who lived and died for me.

“Who is my neighbour?” (Luke 10:29b) Jesus answers this question not just with words, but with His life. Through His love, He shows that the story of God's compassion has no boundaries—it stretches across race, culture, and circumstance. Because God so loved, we are invited to do the same… to see every person as part of God's beloved story. If you are new to Community Church, WELCOME! We would love to get to know you. Please fill in the following form and we look forward to connecting with you: https://bit.ly/cc-new-connect You can find all timely and relevant links from this service on https://bit.ly/cc-links You can also find out more about us at https://communitychurch.hk/ ================ This Week's Scripture: // John 3:16 (NIV) // For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Before culture defined us, before politics divided us, and before confusion entered the conversation, God created humanity in His image. In episode eight of "God's Image in Man", Duane Sheriff explores the profound mystery of being created in God's image as male and female.Because God is Spirit, His image is not defined by physical anatomy but by spiritual attributes expressed through both masculine and feminine qualities. Scripture reveals a God who is strong and protective, yet also nurturing, compassionate, and wise. These attributes find their fullest earthly expression when male and female come together in covenant marriage, reflecting God's image through unity, diversity, and fruitfulness.Understanding this reveals why marriage, gender, and the family are under such relentless attack. The cultural obsession with gender confusion is not merely social—it is a spiritual assault on the image of God itself. Today's confusion calls us back to Scripture, common sense, and God's original design. To understand who we are, we must first understand who God is—and how His image is revealed in us.Click for FREE offer ➡️ https://pastorduane.com/landing/gods-image-in-man

Edge God In Podcast 311: Lent: God Has Decided EdgeGodIn.com | Host: Lauren E Miller, pulling from Josh Kelsey’s sermon at Fount Church, NYC Championing Human Potential in Christ Download Bible Study Template Learning Objective: God has already decided He is for you, He will never leave you or forsake you. God has decided He loves you forever. Believing this will set you free. Scriptures: Psalm 56:8 | 1 Peter 1:19-20 | 2 Timothy 11:9 | Genesis 50:20 | Phillipians 4:11 | “Sovereignty is not God’s Power over you it’s God’s promise to you.” “Because God is Sovereign NOTHING that has happened to you is wasted.” “Sovereignty gives us a freedom the world cannot manufacture.” Prayer: Lord, help us remember you have already decided you are for us, you run to meet us, love us and restore us. Thank you Lord that you have already decided…empty me, fill me, use me (M. Ulga). Thank you that you are the 4th man in my fire. Previous Edge God In Podcast: Lent: The One Thing That Counts Support Resources: Award Winning Books: Hearing His Whisper, with Every Storm Jesus Comes Too  https://amzn.to/3nNxdya 99 Things You Want to Know Before Stressing Out!  Emotional Intelligence in Christ Project: Book, 6-Week Study Guide & Course Now Launched Stress Relief Video Techniques: Click Here https://laurenemiller.com/stress-relief-coaching-expert/

The Dismantling of the Religious Self Four Lenten Reflections on Delusion, Abandonment, and the Life That Remains in God “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” John 12:24 Second Reflection The Violence We Call Righteousness On the Ego That Survives Inside Virtue “They being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” Romans 10:3 When the man sees that fulfillment cannot be found in religious life itself, he turns toward righteousness. He disciplines himself. He purifies his conduct. He restrains his passions. He orders his thoughts. He seeks purity. Outwardly, transformation occurs. Inwardly, something remains untouched. The ego survives. It survives inside virtue. St. John Climacus writes that vainglory completes every virtue the man performs. It attaches itself to fasting. It attaches itself to prayer. It attaches itself to obedience.
 It whispers: This is yours. Virtue becomes possession. The man begins to live from righteousness. He experiences himself as stable because he is righteous. He trusts his righteousness. This trust separates him from God. Because union with God requires the loss of trust in oneself as source of life. The Pharisee stands before God and speaks truth. He fasts. He obeys. He lives faithfully. And remains separate. Because he still exists as the center of his own existence. The tax collector possesses nothing. He cannot lift his eyes. He does not trust himself. Christ says he goes home justified. Because justification belongs to the man who has nothing left to preserve. St. Isaac says that until the soul despairs of itself, it cannot rest in God. Not emotional despair. Ontological despair. The knowledge that one does not possess life. Righteousness that preserves the ego prevents union. Because union requires death. Not moral improvement. Death. The man must lose the self that lives apart from God. Virtue cannot substitute for this death. Virtue can conceal it. The ego can survive indefinitely inside righteousness. And remain alone. ⸻ This is the most dangerous stage of the spiritual life. Because sin is obvious. But righteousness can conceal separation. The sinful man knows he is sick. The righteous man believes he is alive. Christ said to the church of Laodicea, “You say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” Revelation 3:17 This is not addressed to pagans. This is addressed to believers. To those who have acquired religious identity. To those who possess righteousness and draw life from it. They do not feel their need. They do not cry out. They do not seek life because they believe they possess it. This is why Christ says, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:32 Not because the righteous do not need Him. But because those who believe themselves righteous cannot receive Him. They are full. And God only fills the empty. St. Sophrony writes that the greatest tragedy is when man begins to live from himself rather than from God. Even if this life is clothed in virtue, it remains separation. It remains death. Virtue can purify behavior without destroying autonomy. It can cleanse the exterior while leaving the center untouched. Christ speaks with terrifying clarity about this. “You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self indulgence.” Matthew 23:25 The outside can be purified. The inside can remain intact. The ego does not resist virtue. It feeds on virtue. It incorporates virtue into itself. It expands through virtue. It becomes righteous. And this righteousness becomes its shield against God. Because God does not come to improve the ego. He comes to crucify it. St. Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Galatians 2:20 This is not metaphor. This is the destruction of the autonomous center of existence. As long as the man lives from himself, even virtuously, he remains separate. Because life belongs only to God. St. Silouan the Athonite saw this with terrible clarity. He had labored greatly. He had prayed. He had struggled. He had purified himself. And yet the Lord allowed him to descend into hell. Not because he was sinful. But because righteousness had not yet been shattered. And Christ said to him, “Keep thy mind in hell, and despair not.” Not because hell was his destination. But because only in the destruction of self trust could union be born. As long as the man stands on his own righteousness, he stands alone. Only when this ground collapses does he begin to stand in God. Archimandrite Zacharias writes that God allows even the virtuous man to see his utter poverty so that he may cease drawing life from himself. This is the blessed despair that gives birth to true life. This despair is not psychological collapse. It is ontological revelation. The revelation that without God, one does not exist. Christ says, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 Not less. Nothing. Not even righteousness. When this is seen, virtue loses its power as identity. It remains. But it no longer belongs to the man. It becomes the life of Christ within him. Before this death, virtue belongs to the ego. After this death, virtue belongs to God. This is why the saints do not trust their righteousness. They fear it. They flee from it. Abba Poemen said, “A man may appear to be silent while his heart condemns others. Such a man is talking constantly.” Outward virtue. Inward autonomy. Separation remains. Another elder said that even if a man raises the dead but trusts himself, he has lost everything. Because union is not achieved by virtue. It is achieved by death. This is why the saints see themselves as sinners even when they are purified. Not because they deny reality. But because they do not live from themselves. They live from God. St. Isaac writes that the man who has truly seen himself is greater than the man who raises the dead. Because he has seen the truth. He has seen that he does not possess life. He has seen that all righteousness belongs to God. This vision destroys the ego at its root. And only when the ego dies can God become life. Until then, righteousness remains violence. Violence against truth. Violence against union. Violence against love. Because it preserves the illusion of existence apart from God. The elder Sophrony says that as long as man attributes righteousness to himself, he remains enclosed within the prison of his own being. He cannot escape. He cannot breathe. He cannot live. Only when righteousness is lost as possession does it become life. Only when the man ceases to exist as source does God become his existence. This is why Christ says, “Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 16:25 Not improves it. Finds it. Because it did not belong to him before. This is the second dismantling. Not the destruction of sinful identity. The destruction of righteous identity. Not the loss of vice. The loss of ownership of virtue. The loss of oneself as the one who lives. Until this death occurs, the ego survives. It survives inside prayer. It survives inside obedience. It survives inside humility itself. It survives inside righteousness. And remains forever alone. --- Text of chat during the group: 01:28:35 Danny Moulton (Lakeside, Ohio): I'm wondering how fear and ego interplay in producing unhealthy religiosity. It seems to me ego and fear are two sides of the same coin. Ego is fed when we think we are righteous and doing religion right, but fear calls the shots when we think we are unrighteous and doing religion wrong. It seems both can lead to obsession with something other than Divine love. The Apostle John says that perfect love drives out fear. I believe this is absolutely true, but fear sure can put up a good fight at times. 01:32:27 Fr Martin, Arizona: What do you think of this? Shortly after arriving at my first parish, I told my spiritual father about all the things I would change. He said, “Check with God. He didn't give you the football and tell you to run with it. What if God send you there to fail?” 01:33:46 Jaden Abrams: Father, bless! I was really impacted by these last two talks, thank you very much. What change can I make today to die to myself and stop sitting next to the vine. 01:35:31 Kate: When you speak about the death of the ego, is it more like a process of dying rather than something that is accomplished once and for all?  And I find my self asking how, how does the ego die?  Is it a simultaneous process of the dying of the ego and the soul growing in union with Christ? 01:40:29 Una: I was a complulsive A-getter in college, too. Thank you for sharing. 01:41:05 Angela Bellamy: Reacted to "Father, bless! I was..." with ❤️ 01:42:47 Shannon: It feels must bleed out our ego and diappear into the darkness in order for God to turn light.  Not knowing where the next step, but trusting in God.  We disappear into prayer/ looking through window with lamps lite hearts 01:44:16 Fr Martin, Arizona: Today's retreat convicted me. I'm not sure where to begin poking at my sense of self-identity and autonomy. My anxiety reveals to me that I harbor some delusions about myself. I used to visit a Romanian monk who was imprisoned and tortured by communists. Surprisingly, he never complained about that. Rather he said to me once, “Before I was imprisoned, I knew God in my books. After I was alone in prison, I found God in my heart.” 01:45:02 Jaden Abrams: How do I go about finding a spiritual Father? Am I supposed to choose, discern, let him "come to me", combination of all? I have fallen in love with the east in general and am immersing myself as much as possible please pray for me. 01:47:13 Julie: Reacted to "How do I go about fi…" with

Why did Jacob have to struggle for so much of his life?I mean, he struggled in the womb.He struggled with his only brother and twin.He struggled with even his uncle Laban.He struggled with his dad.He even struggled with himself. And ultimately, the man wrestled with God.If he was chosen, I must ask, why then did he have to wrestle so much?I mean, Genesis 32:24 records a defining moment in his life:“Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of day.”And at this turning point, the verdict from God was unmistakable.I quote his response: “For as a prince thou hast power with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”The struggle was not about rejection.It was about transformation.Did you know that life's greatest battles hardly ever announce themselves as obvious opposition?Infact, more often, they appear as pressure, delay, and resistance — each demanding discernment and a response.Because God develops capacity before He releases influence.He reforms the man before He entrusts the mantle.So perhaps the wiser question to ask is not,“Why is this happening to me?”But instead,“What is this producing within me?”Because before outward change, there has to first be inner reformation.

In Genesis 4, we discover that sin isn't just something we do. It's a power. It crouches. It waits. It desires to rule us.Through the contrast between Cain and Abel, we uncover:The seriousness of sin — its predatory nature and destructive powerThe subtlety of sin — how comparison, pride, self-pity, and hidden lust quietly reshape our heartsThe hope of the gospel — how the blood of Jesus speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (see Hebrews 12:24)Even in judgment, we see a God who is both just and astonishingly gracious. Cain never repents—yet God still protects him. Why? Because God's kindness is meant to lead us to repentance.This message ultimately points us to the “better Abel”—Jesus Christ—whose blood doesn't cry out for vengeance, but for mercy.If sin is crouching at your door, this sermon will show you how victory is found—not in self-mastery—but in surrender to Christ.

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video. Our text today is 1 Corinthians 7:1-7. Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: "It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman." But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. — 1 Corinthians 7:1-7 Corinth celebrated sexual indulgence as entertainment, expression, escape, and even religion. Sex was merely a convenience—not commitment. But Paul doesn't invent a new sexual ethic here. He reaffirms the historic, biblical blueprint of marriage. The sexual ethic the Corinthians had forgotten: Sex belongs in monogamy. Sex outside marriage violates the covenant. Sex inside marriage is a shared responsibility—not one-sided. Here is how he starts: "But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband." — Cor. 7:2 Our sexual desires aren't the problem. Dislocation of sexual desires from the covenant is the core problem. God created us with sexual desires. He is very much pro-sex, but he is also pro-covenant and designed our sexual desires and sexual acts for inside the covenant, not outside it. Sex in the wrong place fractures the plan and design of God and impacts you and others. But sex in the right place fortifies. And then Paul goes where no Greco-Roman man expected him to go: "The husband should give to his wife… and likewise the wife to her husband." — Cor. 7:3 This isn't Paul trying his hand at sex therapy like Dr. Ruth Westheimer—it was ancient biblical wisdom: Her needs matter. His needs matter. Her authority matters. His authority matters. Paul's words shatter the cultural norm: "The wife does not have authority over her own body… likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body." — Cor. 7:4 He is not suggesting domination—sexual devotion. He is not suggesting ownership—sexual surrender. He is not suggesting power—sexual partnership. He is dispelling the myth that sex was designed to be a bargaining chip, a tool of control, or a means of manipulation. It was designed to be a covenant bond. That's why Paul warns: "Do not deprive one another… so that Satan may not tempt you." — Cor. 7:5 Withholding doesn't heal—it harms. Distance doesn't purify—it exposes. Neglect doesn't strengthen—it weakens. Paul is not condemning couples in sexless seasons that they did not choose. He is confronting sexless marriages created by indifference, resentment, avoidance, or false holiness. When intimacy disappears by choice rather than circumstance, the marriage weakens—and temptation looks for an opening. Marital intimacy is spiritual protection. A safeguard. A shared shield against temptation. Then, finally in verse 7, he says: "Each has his own gift from God…" — Cor. 7:7 Marriage is a gift. Singleness is a gift. The assignment differs—the grace is the same. So Paul pulls it all together: Desire matters. Marriage matters. Holiness matters. And God designed them to work together. Sex outside marriage fractures. Sex inside marriage fortifies. Because God made desire holy—and He placed it inside the covenant for our good. DO THIS: Invest intentionally in your marriage today: initiate a needed conversation, express affection, schedule time together, or remove a distraction that's weakening your connection. ASK THIS: Where have I treated desire as convenience rather than covenant? How can I serve my spouse (or future spouse) with greater mutuality and intentionality? What part of my understanding of sex or marriage needs to realign with God's design? PRAY THIS: Father, thank You for designing desire with purpose and placing it inside the covenant for our good. Teach me to honor You—whether married or single—with purity, mutuality, and devotion. Strengthen marriages, protect hearts, and anchor us in Your design. Amen. PLAY THIS: "Goodness of God"

For many of us, evangelism can feel like a huge weight and completely undoable—often because we tend to think it's all on us. The truth is that God does the work, we just need to be faithful to share our story and his story. Each week we're looking at both God's part and our part in being Ready Storytellers. This week we look again at our strategy of “P.E.A.R.L.” as we wrap up our series. Because God brought you back to himself in Christ, live as a Ready Storyteller—available and intentional—looking for open doors to reveal Christ.

Romans 11:1-10 Big Idea: The story of Israel provides the opportunity to rejoice in and respond to the arc of the story of redemption! There are Remnants… (1-5a) Because God is Gracious… (5b-6) And God is God! (7-10)

Whatever the Word says… we're in. Because God is a good Father, His commandments are not burdensome. In this message, Pastor Dan challenges us to stop living like owners and start living like stewards—trusting God with what He's entrusted to us, and using it for His purposes as we put Him first.

John 3:1-17Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews, who came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God because no one can do the signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said, “How can one be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?”Jesus answered him, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh and what is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Do not be astonished that I've said to you, ‘You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it chooses and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak about what we know and we testify to what we have seen and yet, you do not receive our testimony. If we speak to you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe when we tell you about heavenly things?“No one has ascended to heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up a serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.“For God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” I heard about the shoes long before stepping foot into the Holocaust Exhibition yesterday in Cincinnati with the group of Cross of Gracers who made the trip there. Not only had I heard about the shoes, but I'd seen something similar at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. several years ago. In Cincinnati there were pictures and a couple of stories about individual shoes from murdered Jews. D.C.'s museum hosts an exhibit of actual shoes, though, piled several feet deep – hundreds of them – men's shoes, women's shoes, the tiny shoes of children – stacked, like bodies you might say, as a grisly reminder – not just of the number of lives destroyed by the Holocaust, but the very simple, profound, fairly universal symbol of humanity that was lost in those years.What's also sobering to realize is that there are museums and memorials around the world with equally large and disturbing piles of shoes of their own. Which makes sad, terrifying sense of course. More than six million murdered Jews leave behind plenty of shoes to go around. (And let us not forget the queer folk, the Roma people, those with disabilities, and thousands of others who were also murdered as part of Hitler's Holocaust and Final Solution.)Anyway, and of course, we also saw, yesterday, plenty of pictures, video footage, and so many living, personal testimonies about the horrors of that regime, and of those days, and of that sinful stain on humanity's history. And they are difficult to see – sad, shameful, and scary – but necessary, to look at, in my opinion; as people of faith, as responsible citizens, as human beings on the planet, as children of God.And, for so many reasons, I thought of these things when I thought about this morning's Gospel.See, when Jesus reminds Nicodemus about that time in Israel's history when “Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,” he's recalling that strange story from the book of Numbers when God's people had lost faith and had been disobedient and doubtful of God, so that poisonous serpents showed up to bite them as punishment, so the story goes. When they realized the error of their ways and asked for help, Moses – at God's direction – put a bronze serpent on a pole, and set it up so that God's people could look at the serpent – like some sort of sacred, spiritual anti-venom – and be healed from the poisonous of those snakes that had plagued them. They were called to look back; to face their fear; to stare their struggle, their sadness, their sin – the source of their pain and punishment – in the eye – in order to be healed of it.And isn't that, a lot of the time, the very last thing we are inclined to do – get close to and look at the source of our struggle and sinfulness, I mean? Isn't it hard and scary, sometimes, to look our fear, our shame, our guilt, and our greatest threat in the eye? Aren't we pretty good at – if not inherently wired for – avoiding so many of the difficult, scary, broken parts of our lives and of our history, rather than face them, admit them, let alone engage and get close to them and expect good things to come of it?And it's no wonder, really. Our world is an unforgiving, judgmental, punishment- seeking, vengeance-hungry, score-keeping, death-dealing kind of place to live in. Admitting mistakes is bad for approval ratings – just ask a politician. Failure is to be avoided at all costs – just ask a student or a young athlete in your life. Admitting sin and seeking forgiveness feels like weakness – just look in the mirror.But this is what I hear Jesus ask of us in this morning's Gospel. “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” … on a pole… on a tree… on a cross for all the world to see, so that we might look at him, so that we might look to him for deliverance from that which we fear threatens us most – our greatest mistakes, our deepest guilt, our darkest shame, our unfathomable brokenness, our Sin – with a capital S – heaped upon God, in Jesus, and left to die on a cross.And that's the power – and the practical, holy importance – of museums and memorials that point to and remind us of our history, and that force us to look it straight in the eye, even when, especially when, it's terrible and terrifying – like any Holocaust exhibit, like the Lynching Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, like the Vietnam Wall, the 9/11 Museum, the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village, New York.These are hard, holy reminders of humanity's capacity for inhumanity. But there is also warning and hope and potential for transformation when we dare to confront, study, learn from, and be changed by what we've done.- I don't know how anyone could spend 5 minutes in that Cincinnati exhibit and deny the atrocities of Hitler's regime – but there are too many who still pretend it didn't happen or that it wasn't as bad as it was, and who refuse to believe what their eyes could see if they'd just look.- After learning that some of the Nazi's first sinister steps toward “Making Germany Great” included very deliberately “Germanizing” the names of towns, villages, and streets, I'll think even harder every time I hear or see someone refer to “The Gulf of America” on a map.- And when I hear about innocent US Citizens being unfairly, unjustly detained, imprisoned, and deported, I'll remember the way that happened to innocent Japanese Americans once before, too, while we were simultaneously, ironically, fighting to liberate Jews from similar tyranny in the same damn war.We need all the reminders and reality checks we can get, people. Because, as Maya Angelou used to say, something with which I believe Jesus would agree: “When you know better, you do better.”That's why yesterday – and all of this – is more than a history lesson for me. It's an exercise of faith because these Lenten days are all about doing this work – looking back, acknowledging, admitting, confessing, repenting of our sins – working to change and be changed because of them – and extending mercy, grace and love to the world of God's children as a result.Because “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.” And because “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”It's hard to look at what hurts, horrifies and threatens to kill us – at what has killed too many of us – and trust that, in doing so, we can be saved. But that's Jesus' invitation today, nonetheless… “to look and live” like those Israelites were commanded to do, way back when. To look at the Sin that has bitten us and that bites us, still. To see, repent for, and change all the ways we manage to break the heart of God; not avert our eyes, not run from, not pretend or deny the fullness of our Sin – and to not be fooled into believing God can't redeem it, either.And that's why we look to the cross … so that we might stop hiding from the sins that hang there – all the things done, left undone, and yet to be done – so that we might look full in the face at our greatest shame and our deepest fears and into the threat of our own brokenness – into the face, even, of death – and to see God's promised salvation in spite of it all.Because when we see the whole of our SIN crucified and killed … then forgiven and raised to new life … it can't bite, burden, or betray us any longer. And when we receive and accept the fullness of this grace, we can learn to walk in the shoes of our neighbor and live transformed lives in return – asking for forgiveness, extending mercy, and loving one another – wholly – the way we have already been loved, by God, in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

Series: God's Promises, Our JourneyTitle: “How Does God's Promise Shape Our Faith Journey?”Scripture: Genesis 15:1-6 NIV Habakkuk 2:4 Luke 2-3Ephesians 2:8-10Romans 4:3-5; 20-22Galatians 3:6-9, 14James 2:21-23Bottom Line: When we trust God's promise, our journey is secure—He makes us right with Him and leads us step by step.INTRODUCTIONCONTEXTSERMON OUTLINECONCLUSIONNOTESOUTLINESQUESTIONS TO CONSIDER DISCUSSION QUESTIONSMAIN REFERENCES USEDMy opening prayer: Lord God, help us grow to be and do like Jesus, while abiding in him and leading others to do the same. INTRODUCTION“The Signed Contract Before the House Exists”In 2006, we started looking for a house to buy in Summerville. We'd just accepted the position to come to Grace and were excited about what we might move into. But our excitement faded as we saw what we'd care for the money we were bringing from our last house sale. So, in the end, it made more sense for us to build a new house over buying an existing one. Imagine a young couple buying a home that hasn't been built yet.There is:• No framing• No roof• No walls• Just dirt and a blueprint or renderingBut they sign a contract.They put down earnest money.They commit financially.Why would they do that?Because they trust:• The builder's reputation• The written promise• The legal agreementThey are acting today on something they cannot yet see.That's Genesis 15.Abram:• Has no son• Has no visible nation• Has no fulfillment• Only a word from GodAnd verse 6 says he signed the contract in his heart.“Abram believed the LORD…”Faith is not pretending the house is already standing.Faith is signing your life to the One who promised to build it.That sets up:• Romans 4 — persuaded God will do what He promised• Galatians 3 — we inherit the same contract by faith• James 2 — if you signed it, you start living like itCONTEXTGenesis 15 comes at a pivotal moment in Abram's journey. In Genesis 12, God called Abram out of Ur with sweeping promises of land, offspring, and blessing — but Abram still has no child. In Genesis 13, he lets Lot choose the better land and must trust God again for the promise. In Genesis 14, Abram rescues Lot, defeats powerful kings, refuses the riches of Sodom, and is blessed by Melchizedek — demonstrating growing faith and allegiance to God alone. Yet despite spiritual victory, the central promise remains unfulfilled: Abram is aging, Sarai is barren, and the land is still occupied by other nations. Genesis 15 opens in that tension — between promise and fulfillment, between faith and visible reality — and God responds not with rebuke, but with covenant.OUTLINE (with references):1. Fear Meets God's Promise (Genesis 15:1-2): Abraham's fears—reprisal and no heir—are met by God's protection and provision.2. Who God Is in the Journey (Genesis 15:1, 5): Present, protector, provider, sovereign, life-giver—all shaping trust.3. Faith Receives God's Promise (Genesis 15:6): Abraham believed, and it was credited as righteousness.SERMONReview from Genesis 12:1-3:God Is the Initiator of RedemptionGod Calls His People to Trust Him Before They Understand HimGod's Blessing Is Never Merely Personal—It Is MissionalGod Promises to Anchor His People in Uncertain Times & PlacesGod's People Respond with Obedience, Worship, and Witness1. Fear Meets God's Promise (Genesis 15:1-2): Abraham's fears—reprisal and no heir—are met by God's protection and provision.2. Who God Is in the Journey (Genesis 15:1, 5): Present, protector, provider, sovereign, life-giver—all shaping trust.The stars in the sky in Uganda. (Show Chris' pic)"On a clear night, at most 5,000 individual stars can be seen with the naked eye, as well as objects like the fuzzy outline of the Andromeda Galaxy, with its estimated 100 billion stars, 2.5 million light years away!" -Lennox, p. 113"ACCORDING TO THE WRITERS of Hebrews and the Genesis record, the link between faith and righteousness was not a New Testament invention, nor was it even a patriarchal innovation. Instead, the dynamic connection between faith and righteousness is rooted in primeval history well before the flood. The lives of three famous pre-diluvians-Abel, Enoch, and Noah— make this very clear.Of Abel we read, "By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks" (Hebrews 11:4). Faith-righteousness was exemplified in earth's first family by the second son of Adam and Eve.Of Enoch Genesis says, "Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him" (5:24). The metaphor "walked" indicates closest communion and intimacy—a righteous life. Enoch's godly walk grew out of his faith, as Hebrews makes so clear: "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God" (11:5). According to verse 6, his God-pleasing faith believed that "God is" (literal translation of the Greek)-that the sovereign God of creation is God. He also believed that God "rewards those who seek him"-that God is positively equitable.As a result, Jude 14, 15 records that he became a preacher of righteousness, apparently for his entire life, for some three centuries! Enoch's life demonstrated a righteousness based on faith.Of Noah Genesis says, "Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God" (6:9). That Noah "walked with God" identifies him with the godly character of Enoch. But even more significant, the statement that "Noah was a righteous man" is the first occurrence of the word righteous tsadiq) in the Bible. Noah's righteousness was not derived from his being perfect or any antecedent righteousness, but because he believed God, as the writer of Hebrews explains: "By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household" (11:7). The biblical doctrine of imputed righteousness (a righteousness from God) began here in primeval history before the flood!" -Hughes, pp. 221-2223. Faith Receives God's Promise (Genesis 15:6): Abraham believed, and it was credited as righteousness.Cross-References for Genesis 15:6 - Faith credited as righteousness. #core• Romans 4:3-5, 20-22 - Faith credited as righteousness. #standing #position• Galatians 3:6-9, 14 - Faith connects us to the promise. #family #mission #nations• James 2:21-23 - Faith is active, not passive. #living #practical #behaviorsBottom Line: When we trust God's promise, our journey is secure—He makes us right with Him and leads us step by step.So How Does God's Promise Shape Our Faith Journey?He brings security, confidence and peace because of who he is and what he does as our personally present provider and protector.More application:First, when you face fear—whether fear of the future or uncertainty—remind yourself that God is both your protector and provider. Concretely, when you face a major decision, begin by praying for His presence in it.Second, trust in God's promise of righteousness—when you feel inadequate or guilty, recall that your standing is secure by faith. For example, when you fail, don't retreat—confess and continue walking with Him.Third, active faith leads to action—like Abraham, step forward in obedience. If God's promise is sure, what step of obedience is He calling you to right now?Fourth, when considering your connection to God's larger promise (like in Galatians 3), remember that your faith ties you to a bigger family of faith. Practically, live out that community—extend grace and include others in your faith journey.Finally, as James 2 emphasizes, ask yourself: How is my faith visible in action this week? Identify one tangible act of service or obedience you'll do in response to trusting Him.CONCLUSIONBottom Line: When we trust God's promise, our journey is secure—He makes us right with Him and leads us step by step.“The Shield You Carry vs. The Shield You Trust”You could return to Genesis 15:1:“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield…”In ancient warfare, a shield only works if you trust it enough to stand behind it.If a soldier:• Keeps peeking out• Keeps lowering the shield• Keeps running forward in panicThe shield cannot protect him.The issue is not whether the shield works.The issue is whether he will stand behind it.Abram's fear was real:• Eastern kings• No heir• An aging bodyGod doesn't say:“Be brave.”He says:“I am your shield.”And Abram stands behind that promise.Romans 4 says he was fully persuaded.Galatians 3 says we now stand in that same promise.James 2 says if you really trust the shield, you'll fight differently.So the question becomes:Are you standing behind the Shield?Or are you trying to carry your own?That lands the plane cleanly on:• God as protector• God as provider• Faith that rests• Faith that actsINVITATIONPeter puts it all in perspective in his first sermon:““Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭36‬-‭39‬ ‭NIV‬‬How do we respond? Answer 2 questions:Take out a card or piece of paper right now. Write down the answer to these questions: What is God saying to me right now?What am I going to do about it? Write this down on a sheet of paper. What I hear you saying, Lord, is ___________________.[my name] is going to believe/do __________________________________________________ as a result.Finally, share this with your Home or Mission group this week when you gather as a testimony about what God is doing in your life. You don't have to get too specific to give him praise.Lord's Supper, 1 Cor 11:23-26 is good passage.Also, say something like, "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again." (past, present, and future)PrayNOTES"As Von Rad has said, "But above all, his righteousness is not the result of any accomplishments, whether of sacrifice or acts of obedience.Rather, it is stated programmatically that belief alone has brought Abraham into a proper relationship to God."This understanding is revolutionary! Circa 2000 B.C., Abram was declared righteous because of his belief. This declaration was in profound accord with the primeval fathers Abel, Enoch, and Noah. Furthermore, the principle has remained operative through both primeval and patriarchal history and the entire old-covenant era and is the foundation of the new covenant." -Hughes, p. 225"It has always been the same-in primeval times and patriarchal times. under the old covenant and the new covenant: Faith brings righteousnessand salvation.So it was for Abel: "By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain" (Hebrews 11:4). Abel was saved by faith, a faith that was not alone because it produced better works than Cain.So it was for Enoch: "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death" (Hebrews 11:5). But Enoch's faith was such that he "walked with God" (Genesis 5:22) before he was no more. His faith was a real faith a faith that worked.So it was for Noah: "By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith" (Hebrews 11:7). Noah's profound faith produced a profound obedience. And his works were monumental: "He did all that God commanded him" (Genesis 6:22; cf. 7:5, 9, 16). His was a faith that worked.So it was with Abram: "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going" (Hebrews 11:8). "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac" (v. 17a.). Abraham was saved by faith alone-a faith that was not alone faith that works!We conclude this study with two penetrating questions. Have you rested your faith on God the Son, Jesus Christ, alone for your salvation? That is the first question. Are you trusting your works or Christ? Now if you answer, I am trusting Christ alone," then the second question is, has your faith produced works? Is your faith real enough that it has changed your life? These are salutary questions because you are saved by faith alone. But if it is true faith, it is faith that is not alone but a faith that works." -Hughes, p. 218"When someone is called 'a person of faith' it usually means that they are adherents of a particular religious tradition. It does not normally refer to the obvious yet frequently overlooked fact that everyone exercises faith every day in a myriad different ways - just think what would happen if people did not place their faith/trust in maps, traffic lights, electric appliances, or doctors, surgeons, pilots, lawyers and so on. In that important sense, everyone is a person of faith. Faith, as such, is not a religious concept." -Lennox, p. 117Below is:1. A refined opening (pastoral tone)2. A clean covenant pivot3. A governing Big Idea4. A simple sermon skeleton that keeps the focus where it belongs

Because God has already blessed His people in Christ, Paul doesn't move to pressure - he moves to prayer. In Ephesians 1:15–23, Paul prays that the Father would give believers Spirit-given wisdom and revelation so they truly know their hope, their inheritance, and the immeasurable greatness of God's power toward them - power proven in the risen and reigning Jesus, Head of the church. In this message, Pastor David shows how Christian life is lived from grace, under Christ's reign, and in dependence on the Spirit - not from anxiety, hype, or self-effort.

Because God has shown the ultimate expression of his love by sending his Son, we must love one another, and as we do, his love is put on display for the world to see.

Okay, try to picture it. Maybe you don't have to picture it. Maybe you've been there. It's the Friday morning after Thanksgiving, just before doors open at, let's say, Walmart. It's still dark, but a lot of people are lined up, anxiously waiting to enter. It's the day of those fabulous sales that stores like this have to encourage your early Christmas shopping. And for a short time after the doors open, there are some absolutely amazing prices on many popular items. But you have to move quickly and scoop them up. One year recently, I remember the crush of people was so great, at one store a lady was nearly trampled to death when the doors opened. And at another store, another year, a man actually was trampled to death. Once you're in the store, you know what to do. No browsing. No chatting. You're on a mission! Just look for those sales opportunities and grab them while you can! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Grabbing Opportunities to Save a Life." Aggressively seizing opportunities because time is short - that's not just a picture of a sale day shopper. That's supposed to be the picture of every follower of Jesus Christ. Not just browsing and cruising through our days, but really making them count...really making a difference with your life. If you read our word for today from the Word of God in the original language of the New Testament, you can see just that kind of urgency and intensity. It's Ephesians 5:15-16 - "Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise, but as wise" - now what follows is God's definition of what it means to "live smart." "...making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil." The original Greek conveys the idea of aggressively buying up every opportunity you have to do something about the darkness around you. Near the end of this letter that Paul wrote from a prison cell, probably chained to a Roman guard, he gives us a living example of this "make a difference" mindset in action. He says, "Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the Gospel...pray that I will declare it fearlessly, as I should." In another letter, we learn that there were believers ultimately in Caesar's household; likely some of those soldiers Paul spent so much time with. He saw his imprisonment, not so much as an ordeal, but as an opportunity to tell people there about his Jesus and to rescue them from evil. Life is full of life-saving opportunities for those with eyes to see them; for those who understand that we're supposed to be looking for them wherever we are. I know when one member of our family was in the hospital, the reason seemed clear. There was a patient who left a trail of Jesus all through that hospital. There just to get well? No. They were there positioned by God to help spiritually rescue some of the people in that hospital. If you want to make the greatest possible difference with the rest of your life, and I hope you do. If you want to help some people be in heaven with you, and I hope you do. Then each morning pray for natural opportunities to bring up your Jesus. "Lord, open a door." Then look for those opportunities to open up. Buy them up like an alert shopper. When someone shares a burden or a concern with you, don't just promise to pray for them. Ask if you can pray with them right then. Chances are they have never heard their name in a prayer all their life! I've never had anyone turn down that offer by the way. And if God opens the door, tell them after you pray that you weren't always able to talk to God like that because there used to be a wall between you and Him that Jesus took down. Look for opportunities to share your personal hope story, which is the story of the difference Jesus has made for you in certain life situations, particular needs, and certainly your eternal situation. Look for those opportunities. Pray for those opportunities. Grab those opportunities. Why? Because God is putting people in your life so they can have a chance at Jesus...and a chance at heaven. That's an opportunity you just must not miss.

God has not run out of mercy — not for you, not today.Tuesday, Feb 24, 2026 — Haggai 2. Obedience has begun… and so has the discouragement.They finally start rebuilding the temple, and then the comparison creeps in: “It's not like it used to be.” “This isn't as impressive as Solomon's.” And the moment the work can't be stopped, the enemy tries to shrink it with nostalgia and negativity.So God speaks straight into weary hands and tired hearts:“Be strong… work… for I am with you… fear not.” (Haggai 2:4–5)This episode is a reset for anyone measuring faithfulness by flash:Don't measure your obedience by the size of the task.Measure it by the presence of God in it.Because God's promise is wild: “The latter glory… shall be greater than the former… and in this place I will give peace.” (Haggai 2:9)The temple didn't need better bricks. It needed the presence of God. And what feels small in obedience today may be massive in eternity.If He's calling you to it, He'll walk with you through it.

Get the NEW APP - Apple Google PlayGod Works Through Human Hands — Our Obedience, His FaithfulnessMost men are waiting on God to move… while God is waiting on them to obey.Throughout Scripture, God accomplishes supernatural things through ordinary people who are willing to take a step of faith. From Moses raising his staff, to the servants filling jars with water, to the priests stepping into a raging river — miracles didn't happen instead of obedience… they happened because of it.In this powerful episode of New Path New You, Ron Cool unpacks how God partners with men who are willing to act, why delayed obedience can keep you stuck, and how your simple “yes” can unlock God's faithfulness in your life, marriage, leadership, and purpose.If you've been waiting for clarity, confidence, or the “perfect moment,” this episode will challenge you to stop waiting and start moving.Because God doesn't just work for us — He works through us.

What compelled Paul to write his letter to the Romans?1) Because God had graciously called him to, he had to obey God2) because God empowered Him to through Jesus. 

Who Said That? #RTTBROS #Nightlight"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." — Philippians 4:8You know, I heard a story once about a young soldier in World War II who was separated from his unit deep in enemy territory. In the darkness and the confusion, he kept hearing voices, some calling him toward safety, some toward danger. The terrifying part wasn't the silence. It was that some of those enemy voices were calling out to him in perfect English.That story has stuck with me, because I think it's a pretty accurate picture of the inner life of most of us.We assume that every thought that pops into our heads is our own. But here's something worth sitting with today: not every voice you hear in your mind is actually you. The enemy of your soul is a real being, and Scripture is clear that he is the accuser, the deceiver, the one who comes to steal and kill and destroy. He is not above whispering fear into your ear and letting you think it was your own idea. Too soon old and too late smart, I spent a lot of years arguing with thoughts that never should have gotten a hearing in the first place.Martin Luther, that great reformer, understood this. He's often quoted as saying you can't stop a bird from flying over your head, but you can certainly stop it from building a nest in your hair. Not every thought deserves a lease agreement in your mind. Some of them need to be evicted on the spot.The Apostle Paul wasn't writing poetry when he penned that verse in Philippians. He was handing us a filter, a way to examine what's knocking at the door of our thinking before we let it set up house. Is this thought true? Is it honest? Is it pure? Is it lovely? Because if it isn't, it didn't come from the Father of lights. It came from somewhere else entirely, and you don't have to receive it.So the next time fear starts whispering that everything is falling apart, or that old condemning voice tells you that you're worthless and beyond hope, stop for just a moment and ask yourself, whose voice is this, really? Because God's voice brings conviction that leads to life. The enemy's voice brings condemnation that leads to paralysis. Learning the difference just might be one of the most important things you ever do.You get to choose what you think about. That's not self-help talk, that's Scripture.Let's pray: Father, help us be good gatekeepers of our own minds. Give us the discernment to recognize the voice of the enemy, and the courage to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Remind us today that Your voice is the one worth listening to. In Jesus' name, Amen.#SpiritualWarfare #RenewYourMind #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #Faith #BiblicalWisdom #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Because God is righteous… 1. He alone is qualified to define it. 2. He alone is qualified to demand it. 3. He alone is qualified to demonstrate it. 4. He alone is qualified to declare it.

The fathers did not endure silence. They loved it. This is the difference between a man who is forcing himself to be quiet and a man who has discovered God. One clenches his teeth and calls it discipline. The other falls silent because he has found Someone worth listening to. Abba Or never lied, never cursed, never spoke unnecessarily. Not because he was following rules. Because he had seen the damage words do when they are born from ego. He had watched how speech leaks the life out of the soul. How it dissipates grace. How it feeds the illusion that we exist by asserting ourselves. Every unnecessary word strengthens the false self. Every unnecessary word delays repentance. Every unnecessary word postpones intimacy. The fathers were not minimalists. They were realists. They had learned that most of what we say does not come from truth but from anxiety. We speak to control. We speak to secure ourselves. We speak to make sure we exist in the minds of others. We are afraid to disappear. Silence terrifies the ego because silence exposes that we do not sustain ourselves. God does. ⸻ St Ephraim says that he who speaks much multiplies quarrels and hatred. This is not moralism. This is anatomy. Words inflame the passions. Words solidify judgment. Words give form to resentment that would otherwise dissolve in the presence of God. A garden without a fence is trampled. A soul without silence is plundered. Every idle conversation opens the gate to distraction. Every irrelevant word invites the demon of listlessness. Antiochos names this with terrifying clarity. Loquacity does not merely waste time. It hands the mind over to the enemy. Because God is not found in noise. God is found where nothing of the ego remains to obscure Him. This is why silence is not empty. Silence is full. It is full of Presence. It is full of Light. It is full of a Word that cannot be manufactured by human thought. St Isaac the Syrian says that silence is the mystery of the age to come. Words belong to this age. Silence belongs to eternity. Because in eternity, God is not explained. He is known. Not through concepts. Through union. ⸻ When the fathers entered silence, they did not enter absence. They entered encounter. They discovered that beneath the constant internal narration of the mind there was Another Voice. A Voice that did not shout. A Voice that did not argue. A Voice that did not flatter or condemn. A Voice equal to God Himself. Because it was God Himself. The Logos. The Word through whom all things were made. This Word does not force Himself upon us. He waits. He waits for the noise to stop. He waits for the ego to weaken. He waits for the endless commentary to exhaust itself. He waits for the man to become poor enough to listen. And when He speaks, He does not merely inform. He creates. His Word heals what sin has disfigured. His Word restores what pride has shattered. His Word brings into existence a new heart. This is why the fathers guarded silence with ferocity. They were protecting the place where God is born in the soul. ⸻ Antiochos says that those who possess the Holy Spirit do not speak when they wish but when moved by the Spirit. This is freedom. Not the freedom to speak. The freedom to remain silent. The ego must speak to survive. The Spirit does not. The ego is restless. The Spirit is still. The ego needs witnesses. The Spirit is its own witness. This is why the saints speak few words. Not because they have nothing to say. But because they see the cost of speech. They know that every word must pass through fire. They have seen the devastation caused by words spoken without God. They have seen how words born from self obscure the Word who gives life. So they wait. They remain in silence until speech itself becomes obedience. Until speech is no longer self-expression but revelation. ⸻ We resist this silence because it feels like death. And it is death. It is the death of the self that must assert, explain, defend, and secure itself. It is the death of the self that believes it exists by speaking. In silence, this self collapses. And something else begins to appear. Something quiet. Something uncreated. Something that does not depend on being seen or heard. Christ Himself begins to live where the false self once ruled. This is why silence is not endured. It is loved. Because in silence we discover that we were never sustained by our words. We were sustained by Him. And when every unnecessary word falls away, when every inner argument dissolves, when every effort to secure ourselves finally collapses, there remains only this: God speaking His Word in the depths of the heart. And this Word is life. And this Word is light. And this Word is love. And this Word is enough. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:03:08 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: https://www.philokaliaministries.org/post/philokalia-ministries-lenten-retreat-2026 00:03:37 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: https://www.youtube.com/@philokaliaministries/videos 00:04:06 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 355 number 11 00:10:00 Janine: Father…still sick..but here…thank you for prayers 00:12:40 Mary and Al: Albert 00:16:30 Andrew Adams: Will the Lenten retread be on the podcast feed? 00:47:12 Jessica McHale: Interesting---I discerned contemplative monastic life at two different monasteries. In both experiences, the nuns were too social for me. They spoke during two meals during the day, and most of the talk was politics. Since I was discerning, I imagine they wanted my opinion on political topics to see if I would "fit in" with the community. They let me know that socialization and speaaking was part of commnity life. It just wasn't for me. It is hard to find a "community" tha understands the importance of silence. For me, silence is essential. It's a prayerful existence centered on God. 00:47:37 Maureen Cunningham: If someone is quiet , the mind can be  in constant thought. How  do you combine the silence and. Empty out the mind 00:51:22 Erick Chastain: Clear creek monks didn't know who Trump was not too long ago (after he ran for president) 01:00:49 John ‘Jack': Silence ultimately brought me back to the Church.  About 15 years ago my wife asked what I wanted for a birthday gift? After listening to an elderly freind speak so lovingly of her time spent at the Abbey of the Genesee, I decided to ask for a  weekend retreat. She gave it to me, best gift ever. The first evening I thought I was  going to lose my mind. I've grown to love silence! 01:01:21 Jessica McHale: Reacted to "Silence ultimately..." with ❤️ 01:02:04 Carol Nypaver: Reacted to "Silence ultimately b..." with

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 / February 18-19, 2026 Jabez emerges in the midst of epitaphs on tombstones as the Spirit of God is pleased to hover over his life a bit longer than any other mentioned in this context. Because God singles out Jabez, we are wise to pause and learn the truth of the story. By doing so, many who feel their lives are marked by obscurity and insignificance can gain fresh courage to excel. From the Series: Fascinating Stories of Forgotten Lives: Rediscovering Some Old Testament Characters read more

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 / February 18-19, 2026 Jabez emerges in the midst of epitaphs on tombstones as the Spirit of God is pleased to hover over his life a bit longer than any other mentioned in this context. Because God singles out Jabez, we are wise to pause and learn the truth of the story. By doing so, many who feel their lives are marked by obscurity and insignificance can gain fresh courage to excel. From the Series: Fascinating Stories of Forgotten Lives: Rediscovering Some Old Testament Characters read more

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 / February 18-19, 2026 Jabez emerges in the midst of epitaphs on tombstones as the Spirit of God is pleased to hover over his life a bit longer than any other mentioned in this context. Because God singles out Jabez, we are wise to pause and learn the truth of the story. By doing so, many who feel their lives are marked by obscurity and insignificance can gain fresh courage to excel. From the Series: Fascinating Stories of Forgotten Lives: Rediscovering Some Old Testament Characters read more

For thousands of years, empires have fought over it, religions have claimed it, and the world has fixated on it. Why? Because God said, “I will put My name there.” From Abraham on Mount Moriah… to Solomon's Temple… to Jesus teaching and prophesying there… this mountain has always been at the center of God's plan. Now we're seeing dramatic shifts happening on the Temple Mount once again — and it's raising a powerful question tied to the declaration of Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.” Is what's happening in Jerusalem right now setting the stage for prophecy to be fulfilled? Let's talk about it.  ⭐️: True Gold Republic: Get The Endtime Show special on precious metals at https://www.endtimegold.com📱: It's never been easier to understand. Stream Only Source Network and access exclusive content: https://watch.osn.tv/browse📚: Check out Jerusalem Prophecy College Online for less than $60 per course: https://jerusalemprophecycollege.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As he reached the end of Romans 8, Paul presented a triumphant closing argument, grounding Christian assurance in God's decisive action in Christ. Because God did not spare His own Son, believers can be confident that nothing essential will be withheld from them. Every charge is silenced by Christ's death, resurrection, reign, and intercession, Alistair Begg explains. Though suffering and opposition remain real, they cannot sever believers from Christ's love. In all circumstances, Christians are “more than conquerors,” fully secure in God's unbreakable redeeming love in Christ Jesus.

I sat and thought for a moment. How much do I love the Word of God? Having access to the Bible my entire life, has it become common place? Do I take it for granted? I began to pray and ask God for a renewed love for His Word. I prayed for a fresh hunger to know God more through the pages of Scripture.Main Points:1. You and I are to be people of the Word. The Bibles we possess are the very words of God. The chapters and verses are not simply the thoughts and insights of man, nor are they just historical stories of ancient peoples. 2. Because God has revealed His Word through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and because it is infallible and without error, the Bible is authoritative rule of faith and conduct. We accept the Bible as the final and unchanging authority for what we believe and how we are to live.3. Since this is true, the Bible must become our daily spiritual food. We must become people of the Word. We must allow scripture to shape our worldview. Through the pages of the Bible we come to know God in a personal way. We discover His will for our lives and we learn how to please Him.Today's Scripture Verses:2 Peter 1:20-21 - “Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet's own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.”Psalm 119:105 - “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”Psalm 119:47-48 - “…for I delight in your commands because I love them. I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees.”Quick Links:Donate to support this podcastLeave a review on Apple PodcastsGet a copy of The 5 Minute Discipleship JournalConnect on SocialJoin The 5 Minute Discipleship Facebook Group

Because God is so holy, He had to remain separated from His people because of their sins before Christ. It was Jesus' perfect sacrifice of His death on the cross that broke the barrier between us and God so that now we can have access to God at anytime and any place and we can approach Him boldly. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/640/29?v=20251111

Because God has revealed his saving work in Christ, we must hold fast to the word of life and shine as lights in the midst of the world God loves. Philippians 2:12–18 (ESV): 12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

Because God's purposeful sovereignty reaches absolutely everywhere, his gospel can satisfy, his mission will succeed, and his people can never be lost.

Because God is so holy, He had to remain separated from His people because of their sins before Christ. It was Jesus' perfect sacrifice of His death on the cross that broke the barrier between us and God so that now we can have access to God at anytime and any place and we can approach Him boldly.

St. Isaac does not flatter us. He does not tell us that the ascetic life is noble. He tells us it burns. He does not tell us it is peaceful. He tells us it wounds. He does not tell us it feels like fulfillment. He tells us it feels like loss. Because what stands at the heart of the ascetic life is not discipline. It is death. Not the death of the body, but the death of the self that has lived for itself. And until that self begins to die, the soul remains cold. The modern man wants illumination without humiliation. He wants consolation without affliction. He wants joy without tears. He wants Christ without crucifixion. But St. Isaac tells us plainly. The sign that the soul is drawing near to life is not comfort. It is fire. Your heart is aflame both day and night. This fire does not come from effort. It comes from surrender. It comes when a man has ceased defending himself. It comes when he has ceased preserving his image. It comes when he has ceased negotiating with God. He stands stripped of illusions. He sees his poverty. He sees his weakness. He sees that he has nothing. And this is where grace begins. Because God does not fill what is full. He fills what has been emptied. The Lord says through the prophet Isaiah I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite. The fathers knew this. Abba Poemen said The man who understands his sins is greater than the man who raises the dead. Because the one who raises the dead may still live for himself. But the one who sees his sins has begun to die. And it is this death that gives birth to tears. St. Isaac says that tears join themselves to every work. Not because the man is trying to weep. But because he can no longer protect himself from reality. He sees God. He sees himself. He sees the distance between them. And he weeps. These tears are not weakness. They are truth. They are the breaking of the heart that has lived in false strength. King David understood this when he said My sacrifice is a contrite spirit. A humbled and contrite heart you will not spurn. God does not desire your accomplishments. He desires your brokenness. Because brokenness is the door through which He enters. This is why St. Isaac says that afflictions suffered for the Lord are more precious than every offering. Because affliction destroys the illusion that you are alive apart from God. Affliction reveals the truth. That you are dust. That you are weak. That you cannot save yourself. And the ego cannot survive this revelation. This is why affliction is feared. Not because it harms us. But because it exposes us. The Apostle Paul understood this mystery when he said We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not driven to despair. Struck down, but not destroyed. Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. Affliction carries death into the false self. So that life may be born in the true self. And this is where the paradox appears. Because the man who embraces affliction does not become miserable. He becomes free. St. Isaac says that when this fire is born in the soul, the whole world becomes ashes. Not because the world is hated. But because it no longer enslaves him. He no longer needs it to feel alive. He no longer needs recognition. He no longer needs control. He no longer needs to preserve himself. Because he has found something greater. He has found Christ. And Christ becomes his life. St. Paul says I count all things as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. This is not poetry. This is the testimony of a man who has passed through affliction into freedom. Because when the false life dies, the true life appears. And this life cannot be taken. This is the joy that St. Isaac speaks of. Not emotional happiness. But the unshakable certainty that Christ has become your life. This joy is born in tears. It is born in humiliation. It is born in affliction. It is born when the man ceases running from the cross. Christ did not say Avoid suffering. He said Take up your cross and follow me. Because the cross is not the end. It is the door. On the other side of affliction stands resurrection. On the other side of humiliation stands freedom. On the other side of tears stands joy. This is why St. Isaac warns us. If the fire grows cold, woe to you. Because the greatest tragedy is not suffering. It is returning to sleep. It is returning to self protection. It is returning to the illusion that you can live apart from God. The ascetic life is not about becoming strong. It is about becoming defenseless before God. It is about allowing Him to strip away everything false. It is about allowing Him to destroy what cannot live. So that what is eternal may appear. And when this happens, the man no longer fears affliction. Because he has seen what it produces. He has seen the fire. He has tasted the tears. He has known the joy that cannot be taken. And he understands at last the words of Christ Your sorrow will turn into joy. Not because suffering disappears. But because Christ has become your life. And nothing can take Him away. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:00:58 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 177 paragraph 24 00:07:15 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 177 paragraph 24 00:07:36 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Ascetic life begins where excuses die When a man stops speaking about God and begins to suffer for Him Humility takes root so deeply that tear flow unceasingly Heart burns without knowing why When grace comes the battle grows more dangerous - soul tempted to become prudent. Where most turn back Ascetic life requires a kind of violence against instinct to survive 00:16:15 Jesssica Imanaka: Looks I can attend these retreats since they don't start until the 21st. 00:20:28 Angela Bellamy: The devil does not only tempt with sin — he tempts with carefulness. I remember that from the "Unseen warfare" 00:30:50 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Baptism of the Holy Spirit? 00:31:58 Ryan Ngeve: Father with his emphasis on tears, does that mean a lack of tears entails the lack of working of the Holy Spirit 00:32:00 Angela Bellamy: Does such a thing that has happened that the unemotional/tenderness tears come... Would "carefulness take it away before time" 00:36:24 Angela Bellamy: Reacted to "Does such a thing th..." with ❤️ 00:39:24 Angela Bellamy: But with certainty one can assume that they are the one who pulled away, not Him? So there can be a drawing near again...? 00:46:03 Holly Hecker: it would appear that consolations at these times could be sort of dangerous - do we want to go back or go forward 00:46:09 David Swiderski, WI: I have noticed when repentance seems distant my mind turns towards pride forgetting being freed from it is not by me but by grace of something. When I turn back to repentance I find myself like Abba moses walking around with a hole in a bag of sand and more open to others struggles 00:50:21 John ‘Jack': Since reading the fathers, I've come to realize that I am only responsible for my own salvation, it seems like our culture has convinced us that we are somehow responsible for others salvation. Since I've been focused on this I've found my “witness” if you will has become far less burdensome. 00:54:35 Joan Chakonas: My prayers are usually in context of afflictions (my judgmentalism, my ridicule, my thoughts in general from living my day )and asking for Gods help and guidance.  When I am at peace I am not actively petitioning God for abstract things - I am trying to repent all the time and peace is what I get when I get His message. 00:55:09 David Swiderski, WI: Sin is followed by shame, Repentance is followed by boldness- St. John Chrysotom 00:56:10 Joan Chakonas: I just say thank you God over and over when I get to peace. 00:56:26 John ‘Jack': Perfectly stated, Father thank you. 00:56:53 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "I just say thank you..." with ❤️ 01:01:18 Anthony: Preach Father! I saw the Faith in Southern Italy was so different in its tone than what I've seen as an American Catholic. 01:01:41 Myles Davidson: A word for sorrowful joy seems like a word we lack in English (bittersweet is probably the closest). Is this the Greek word you mean Father? χαρμολύπη (charmolýpi)… pronounced as khar-mo-LEE-pee 01:02:05 Ben: Anna; This conversation reminds me of something Jesus said, "This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you." 01:02:45 Angela Bellamy: Reacted to "Anna; This conversat..." with ❤️ 01:02:57 David Swiderski, WI: Reacted to "Anna; This conversat..." with ❤️ 01:05:51 Angela Bellamy: I'm not really sure why this conversation reminds me of Malachi.