It is common to hear marriage spoken of in derogatory ways. And I understand why. The world does not promote healthy or Godly attitudes about self, others, or relationships. Thus, many people end up being selfish and sinful in their marriages, and then (little wonder) they have negative experiences with marriage...

Marriage was designed by God to be a beautiful union of man and woman. However, as with every good thing, the enemy tries to twist and corrupt that union into something that destroys people and their relationship with God. We as God’s people have the ability, and even duty, to reject the enemy’s corruption and follow God’s beautiful design for union between man and woman...

Life is full of distractions: They may be pleasant or unpleasant, but they are distractions never-the-less. Interestingly, what constitutes a distraction differs for people greatly since it is based on an individual’s goals. What a motivated, goal-oriented person sees as a distraction could be the perceived purpose in life for an unmotivated, aimless person. What a righteous person sees as a sinful distraction, an unrighteous person might see as the only thing worth pursuing.

When people go through hard times, they will often ask something like, “Why is God letting this happen to me?” They may even state it as an accusation: “How dare God put me through this?” These questions and the ideas behind them can easily shake or even topple a person’s faith. You may notice that these questions are phrased as though the person is a victim in the situation. The accusation is that God is acting unfairly against them...

“Anything that makes me this happy could not be bad for me.” “Surely, God wants me to be happy, right?” “It feels too good to be wrong.” From a humanistic point of view these comments sound accurate, and are common among people trying to justify sin. But, are these statements biblical and correct? To answer that question, let’s look at what John the apostle says...

It was the night before Christmas, when all through the house people were grumpy, even Aunt Gail. Uncle George brought up politics without any care, grandpa lost his temper right then and right there. Grandma hid in her room consumed with dread, while visions of disaster danced in her head. Aunt Jill and Uncle Tom were fuming that James brought that girl to dinner, and his sister was stoking the fire with her sarcastic ire...

While sin in general hinders the work of ministry, one specific sin will absolutely destroy a person’s effectiveness: the sin of pride. Pride is probably one of the hardest sins to overcome, because the prideful person doesn’t think they have anything to overcome. As the old saying goes, “Admitting you have a problem is the first step in recovery.” The Bible has a lot to say about how pride will hinder the work of ministry.

Most religious groups want to be holy. And God’s word teaches us how to be holy (c.f. 1 Peter 1:15-16). If those desiring to be holy simply did what God says to do, then the world would be a much better place. But for many, just “doing what the Bible says” seems oversimplified and they feel that there must be more to it than that.

Many people think that Bible reading and Bible study are the same. They are not. Simply reading the Bible is great for familiarizing ourselves with scripture, and for setting our minds on things above, rather than on things bellow. Bible study, however, goes deeper than Bible reading.

Many of us struggle with feelings of self-doubt and insecurity. These feelings impact many different areas of our lives. The area that we are going to discuss today is our Bible study.

Sometimes the most impactful areas of ministry are the quietest...

In 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, Paul points out that we must do all things with love, and if we don’t have love then we are useless. We must be taught what Christian love looks like and how it acts. Again, having knowledge without the actions of love is useless.

We need to honor and protect God’s holy name, and resolve to use it only when we are addressing Him in prayer or speaking of Him. His name should never be used in a selfish way, it should never become just another flippant phrase whether said by lip or in a text message: both are disrespectful.