Posts from October 2023 (Page 2)

  DISCUSSION         A few years ago, I was passing through the town of Selma, Alabama and discovered a very unique cemetery. The graves were very old and there was some Spanish moss in the trees. It was just all out creepy! There was one tomb that had what I thought was a very humorous epitaph. It had the women’s name, the year she was born and the year she died; but then there was this “She did what…

  DISCUSSION       Why is it that the grass always looks greener on the other side? Don’t we always seem to think everyone else has it so much better than we do? Take for instance the nation of Israel,   they had been surviving fine under the leadership of the judges. It wasn’t perfect, but as long as there were godly judges, the people seemed to follow in their footsteps. When there wasn’t good leadership, the people swayed. It was…

  Do you ever hide from God? Sounds kind of crazy doesn’t it?  As teenagers, we may have “hid” a lot of things. We may even “hide” things today.  When God walked through the garden looking for Adam and Eve after their sin, the bible says they hid from God. He called for them, even though he knew where they were, he still called for them and allowed them the opportunity to reveal themselves.  Before their sin, they had no…

    Sin can be fun. There is now doubt, sin is very attractive. However, the joy is short-lived. After the short period of enjoyment, reality sets in, guilt appears, and we realize the price that is or will be paid for the action.  I am sure the fruit on the tree in the Garden was very beautiful to Eve, but, was it that much more beautiful than the other fruit?  Do you think that Eve thought of the consequences of…

    Remember the time your best friend got a new bicycle in elementary school? Remember the time someone else took the girl you wanted to take to the Prom? Remember when your neighbor bought a house on the lake and you couldn’t afford to do the same? How did you feel? Were you happy for them, or were you jealous?  The funny thing about jealousy is that it does nothing to harm the person who actually got the benefit…

  The shooting in Las Vegas a few years ago was tragic.  What a senseless act of violence against innocent people who were just enjoying a concert.  It is impossible to understand irrational behavior, and what state of mind one would have to be in to do such a brutal thing.  As per usual, the media immediately began the blame game.  One said it was because of the conservative nature of the country music fans, one said it was because…

  How many times have you said, “If I just had more money?” or “If I just had that House.” of “If I just had that job, I would be happy”. ?? While it is human nature to want a better situation, it is not natural to be unhappy until you get it.  Adam and Eve had a wonderful situation. They had happiness, no illness, the most beautiful rivers called the Tigris and the Euphrates, fertile soil, and all the…

       We all know the story of Adam and Eve.  We typically identify this story with the first sin and the “fall” of mankind.  While this is true, there are so many lessons we can learn from this story. This week, we will discuss this story and how we can use their mistakes to make us stronger today.  The topics we will discuss are temptation, contentment, blame, jealousy, the attraction of sin, and hiding from God.    …

  All things are possible with God. Sarah felt that she was too old to have children and even though she had prayed for a child she did not think it would happen. She and Abraham had spent a lifetime trusting God and maybe through the years they had become bitter by not getting what they wanted and expected according to God’s promise. We must realize that we are on God’s time table and if He promises us something, it…

    A truly sad side of David was his parenting skills or the lack therof. 1 Kings 1.6 says, “Now his father had never corrected him by saying, why do you do such things?”  David had sons who killed each other and tried to kill him. Why did this happen? He did not question their decision making as they grew up. We need to focus on our children and make sure they follow God. Children need to make decisions…

  I remember some of the greatest years of my life were spent as a child, as a member of the church Bible Bowl team. We were good, no, we were very good! We went month after month after month either winning or placing second among our local churches. The winner got to keep a banner until the next Bible Bowl. We would hang that banner with pride in the front of the auditorium, knowing that our hard work and…

    One of the most effective tools that Satan has within his tool box doesn’t involve cursing God, worshipping Satan or even getting us to do bad things. In fact, the most effective tool that the Devil has is distraction. He knows that any reasonable person can see that there is a God and the He is coming back to the earth to judge us according to how we have handled ourselves while here. But if he can just…