Thoughts for Today

It is easy as Christians to become dismayed by cultural changes that seem to be rejecting God and infringing on our religious freedoms. But in the past several weeks I have found encouragement and hope from a statement by present-day Jerusalem pastor Wayne Hilsden. He said, “The early Christians did not say ‘Look what the world has come to.’ Rather they exclaimed ‘Look what has come to the world!’”  In our case it is WHO has come to the world! My question is, are we willing to proclaim the answer to most world problems to those that do not know WHO the answer is? People are willing to listen IF we are willing to talk. Evangelism is another area where the church is in a slump. We are often willing  At United yesterday I explained the situation like this: Romans 3:23 : "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" 2 Peter 3:9 : " The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to p

We are all in the same boat: We have people that mistreat us, disrespect us and are jealous of us in various ways. Many times, this translates into words and actions of meanness from those we see every day. Wow! Now we have to listen to the Apostle Paul in the Bible as he tells us how to deal with this: Colossians 3:13 "Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others." Forgiveness is not minimizing the seriousness of the offense against you.  -It’s not an instant restoration of trust from someone who has wronged you.   -It’s not resuming a relationship without any changes.   -Forgiveness isn’t even forgetting what someone has done to you, because if you literally forgot it and never remembered it, you’d also forget the lessons you were supposed to  learn. Forgiving others takes a type of love that says: "You don't owe me anymore!" To this, we m