It wasn’t until I had kids of my own that I truly “got” Christmas, and even then it took several years for it all to really sink in. It was the Christmas Eve when my oldest daughter was about three years old. We were at the evening church service, and my daughter and about four [...]
Archive for the ‘Insight & Encouragement’ Category
Surrogate Father
Posted: December 29, 2011 by ryanblanck in Insight & EncouragementTags: Angel of the Lord, christmas, Jesus, Joseph, Mary, Saint Joseph
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Spiritual Responsibility
Posted: January 21, 2011 by Paul Carter in Insight & Encouragement, Journey Sermons, Scripture & StudyTags: change, Dallas Willard, psalms, spiritual formation
“Spiritual formation . . . is the process by which the human spirit or will is given a definite “form” or character. It is a process that happens to everyone. The most despicable as well as the most admirable of persons have had a spiritual formation. Terrorists as well as saints are the outcome of [...]
Faith, Love & Circumsicion
Posted: September 19, 2010 by Shawn in Be the Difference, Fellowship & Ministry, Insight & EncouragementAs followers of Christ we enjoy a lot of freedom. There is not a big list of do’s and don’ts to bog us down. We have a simple mandate to love. Yet, like Timothy, we sometimes need to sacrifice our freedom in order to show love.
“If you have failed on the journey. Ask God to give you wisdom. He won’t hold your sins against you. But don’t just give Him lip service; don’t just ask because you know that’s the right thing to do. That will do no good. You need to be willing to submit to His wisdom. Until [...]
I am amazed at the way God stretches us. We think we’ve been stretched all we can be stretched. But as soon as we start getting used to the new us—as soon as we think we’ve got it—God puts us in a new situation or drops a new thought in our minds and, all of a sudden, we’re [...]
A Form of Beauty
Posted: February 11, 2010 by Shawn in Insight & EncouragementTags: beauty, life, purpose
When a car is made to best conform to the laws of physics that our Creator put in place, it turns out that the design of the car naturally takes on a form of beauty.
Jesus: a rude houseguest?
Posted: January 25, 2010 by ryanblanck in 2-BELONGING, Insight & EncouragementRevelation 3:20 tells us that Jesus “stands at the door [of our hearts] and knocks. If anyone hears [his] voice and opens the door, [he] will come in to him and sup with him.” I’ve heard this passage preached a plethora of times, usually coming about three minutes before the altar call. Just about every [...]
That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terribly frightened, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news of great [...]
Overcome with Faith
Posted: September 19, 2007 by Shawn in Be the Difference, Insight & EncouragementThe following was taken from a Voice of the Martyrs report… On September 12, South Korean Christian aid workers held hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan for six weeks, reported being beaten and ordered at gun point to convert to Islam, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). According to the BBC, the former hostages [...]
Haggai: When God Shakes the Heavens
Posted: June 13, 2007 by Shawn in Insight & Encouragement, Scripture & StudyTags: messiah
Background In 586 B.C., Solomon’s Temple was destroyed and the last of God’s people taken captive by Babylon. In 539 B.C., Cyrus the Great took power over the then Persian Empire. About a year later, he allowed displaced peoples to return to their land. This included the Hebrews, many of whom left for Jerusalem around 538 [...]
