Recently I was catching up with an old family friend of many years ago. He was always a big man — tall, strong, large — but now that he is growing older and is in his nineties, he’s not as nearly as large as he used to be. Because of age and lack of activity [...]
Ephesians 2:11-22 The word reconciled is simply defined as to “restore harmony” or to “account for.” Today’s lesson deals with two groups of people, very different in culture and background, joining together or being reconciled, because of Christ. This wonderful word portrays what the function of the church should be: a place of harmony and [...]
1 Timothy 6:6-11, 17-19 Who is more content: the person who has half the world but craves the other half, or the person with few possessions but satisfied with what he has? Obviously, the one who has enough. God knows the struggles that believers have with the desire for possessions and dissatisfaction with our circumstances [...]
No doubt, many of our older readers can remember their long-ago school days beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance and prayer, usually reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Back then, there was even an occasional devotional thought the teacher might give or other special emphasis related to praying about what was taking place in the world or [...]
Ephesians 2:1-10 Today’s lesson contains one of the most quoted biblical scriptures. For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift. (Vs 2:8 CSB) Many years ago I stood before a preacher, said, “I do.” The pastor quipped, “Cyndi has been praying for grace her whole [...]
Philippians 4:10-20 Right thinking leads to right attitudes. After pointing out the right things to think about in Philippians 4:8-9, the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, shows us the right attitudes in verses 10-20. An attitude of contentment is what powerfully distinguishes the Christian from the world. I personally believe that it was Stephen’s [...]
Let me begin this article by giving you the definition of “whaddyamean?” It’s a Southernism for, “What do you mean?” It’s not unusual for people of any age or stage in life to throw out the question this multiple-words-reduced-to-one-word represents as a response to something that’s being said or planned. Whaddyamean? The word came into [...]
Ephesians 1:15-23 This week I lost a family member with whom I was rather close. I put it on Facebook which is something I usually wouldn’t do, but I found myself needing assurance that everything was going to be okay. I received an enormous number of comments which read: “Praying.” Somehow knowing others thought about [...]
Philippians 4:4-9 Let me say it again: “Rejoice!” The Spirit of God reverberates great encouragement through the Apostle Paul to rejoice in the Lord always. Joy is an overall theme of the book of Philippians. Pursuit of joy should not be confused with pursuit of worldly happiness in pleasure and pleasant circumstances. The joy of [...]
It was somewhere back in the 1970s that a man by the name of Lonnie Edwards was a physical education instructor at an elementary school in Georgia. One day Edwards was leading the kids at the elementary school in an exercise that was going to require them to be a part of square dancing. You [...]
