What if you lived your entire life believing a lie? Your faith and trust misplaced. What if others were concerned, but kept silent fearing you’d find offense? How would you know? Personalize the passage of scripture below. Let the words penetrate your heart, transcend your traditions, and stir your spirit. You may find the words of Jesus unsettling. I did. I hope you do too. At least for a moment. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many

When I came to Christ in my early twenties, I lived in a small one-bedroom house. I rarely cooked and didn’t frequent the kitchen much. Wendy, Jack, and Mickey D prepared most of my meals, resulting in the occasional food bag or wrapper lying around. One night, as I flipped on the light, several cockroaches scampered across the kitchen counter, quickly disappearing somewhere in the cabinets and drawers. Though they all ran in different directions, their destination was the same. Darkness. John 3:19 says, “And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men

The only New Year’s resolution I’ve kept was in 1984. It was the year I “resolved” to no longer make New Year’s resolutions. It’s not that I can’t make them. I can’t keep them. But I admire those who can, albeit from a distance, because that apple rolled far from this tree. There are passages of scriptures in which we can all relate, and unfortunately Romans 7:15-20 is toward the top of my list. “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that

“All you good people can have the streets of gold and jeweled buildings. Give me a vineyard and pasture surrounded by huge Valley Oaks and sycamores. Cattle grazing across the road and a river running by with all my friends and family. Simple meals, cold water to drink, and the ability to sit in the fading evening with all those I love, enjoying the product of my vineyard and garden.” Steve’s idea of heaven is a lot like many of yours. Nothing fancy, just the "simple life". Periodically a Facebook meme is posted with a painting of a mountain cabin