Month: January 2017

By Tiffany Wismer Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 This verse is one of those that gets quoted a lot. It winds up on merchandise in kitchy Christian bookstores. We quote it to friends going through tough times. Some of us may have grown numb to its meaning because we’ve heard it so often. But there’s a reason why Christians quote this verse a lot. It is central to the Christian life. It’s talking about …

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No amount of good works or bad choices can change our unholy nature. That’s why Jesus Christ stepped in. Titus 2:11-14 (KJV) 11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. …

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Did you ever sit down and really think through all that the Bible teaches us about Christianity? If there is one thing about Christianity that really stands out in your mind, what might it be? What is there about Christianity that makes it different than every other faith/belief system? There are many answers to that question, but the one that I think stands out most, from the perspective of an evangelist, is its all-or-nothing character. Think of all the thousands of minute details that make up the Gospel story. If any of the events surrounding the life of Christ did …

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Reflections Christianity is, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col. 1:27) And IN CHRIST God has freely given us all things: He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? (Rom 8:32; also see,Eph. 1:3) It is so easy to chop up Christianity into THINGS or doctrines. But in the end, Christianity is the Living Jesus Christ in us. Thus, Christian growth is the revelation of Christ to us, and the forming of Christ in us. Indeed, God has given us ALL …

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Reflections From the Psalms I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. (Ps. 2:7-9) Jesus Christ is four times in the gospel of John called, “the only begotten Son of God.” The phrase could easily be translated, “the uniquely begotten Son of God” – either …

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Many believers struggle and strain to try to muster up out of themselves what they think a Christian ought to be. But this is doomed to failure. Unwittingly we are trying to call upon the resources of our natural man, thinking that this is what we are supposed to do — mistaking our natural man for Christ in us. Emotions and the psychic nature of natural man is easily mistaken for the spirit of God. This errant tendency is exactly what God must often let us fail, and bring us into the Truth of the utter emptiness in ourselves. Only …

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These days, it seems, we are more and more frequently given reports that a 100- year storm has occurred. These are happening about every other year, and many prophecy watchers believe that these great storms have biblically prophetic overtones. Certainly, I have to admit that there appears to be some relevance, these storms to how Israel is treated. White House correspondent Bill Koening is one Bible prophecy student who writes on these kinds of weather and other occurrences with regard to, particularly, America’s dealing with Israel. John McTernin is another writer on these matters that I find fascinating. We remember …

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Prophecy – Signs Monday, January 02, 2017 Pete Garcia After a volatile and ‘seemingly unpredictable’ election year, the newly forming Trump administration likewise promises to be one that is largely driven around the personality of Donald Trump. His campaign of Make America Great Again (MAGA) has pumped new vigor into a sagging economy, and has spurred both trepidation and curiosity of almost every nation around the world. President Elect Trump is unlike anything, anyone has ever seen in that office, and has been closely scrutinized for operating largely off script and predictably-unpredictable. With that said, Fortune Magazine (Fortune.com) has teamed …

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What would it take for you to be described as a man or woman after God’s own heart? Acts 13:13-22 (KJV) 13 Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. 14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. 15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of …

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“…Jesus Christ of Nazareth… Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:10,12 KJV). Today’s Scripture tells us who alone can save man from the everlasting hellfire he deserves! A frequent objection made against Christianity is that every religion has “good” members, and to ignore them and limit heaven to a few Christians is unfair. This is a defected notion. How does one arrive at a definite conclusion when there is no one standard to gauge everyone’s “goodness?” They are “good” according to whom, …

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Reflections From the Psalms Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? (Ps. 2:1) Without a true, inward knowledge of Jesus Christ, there is little more than any of us can do than, “imagine a vain thing.” We will live in the futility of our own mind; the self-assurance of our own mind. This is certainly true of unbelievers. But sadly, it is true of many who profess Christ. There are many whose supposed knowledge of God is a product of their imagination. They try to walk with a Jesus that they have created from out …

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Reflections In him was life. (John 1:4) If I put my faith upon Jesus Christ, I do not merely receive a THING called, “eternal life.” I receive Christ Himself — IN WHOM there is all life. Jesus Christ is THE LIFE. (John 14:6) Thus, if Christ is in me, I am alive – in Him. If He is not in me, then I am spiritually dead. Many professing Christians limit salvation to what amounts to a new legal classification. Yes, the doctrine of justification by faith rightly states that because Christ died for us, that if we put our faith …

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