Helping you grow in God's all-sufficient grace and truth
But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. (Rev. 2:4) Jesus’s letter to the church at Ephesus contains words of affirmation as well as this pointed rebuke. The believers there were encouraged
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The prophet Jeremiah once prayed to God, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart” (Jer. 15:16). Jesus echoes this sentiment when He quoted Scripture to
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Deliberate praise is an act of faith and a remedy for anxiety at the same time. It shifts our focus from the object of our worries (such as sickness, job stress, financial troubles, or a fight last night with our
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PODCAST: Hope + Help for Pornography Addiction – Solid and really helpful counsel for Christian men and women from Deepak Reju. How to Read the Bible Better – Many of us started reading the Bible shortly after becoming Christians, but
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If you’ve ever driven on the turnpike across Pennsylvania then you have driven through the Allegheny Mountains. You’ve admired their constant beauty, no matter the time of day. Whether the morning fog is lifting, the sun is shining, or dark
Continue readingIn 2015, around 16.1 million adults aged 18 years or older in the U.S. had experienced at least one major depressive episode in the last year, which represented 6.7 percent of all American adults. Depression is the leading cause of
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Last week, I finished reading God’s Battle Plan for the Mind: The Puritan Practice of Biblical Meditation. Essentially, what the author David Saxton has done is collect and organize what many Puritan pastors and theologians believed and taught in regard
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Since our church service was cancelled, due to heavy snow, strong winds, and extreme cold, we gathered in our Family Room to learn from Psalm 1. Here’s the outline that I walked the family through, discussing its truths, and applying
Continue readingPsalm 1 testifies of the immeasurable value of mediating on Scripture. The person who habitually ponders the truths of God will be like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf
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Our spiritual growth in holiness, and breaking free from sin’s dominion, are directly dependent upon our daily interaction with Scripture. As ingrained sin habits are being cast aside through the Put Off/Put On process, the follower of Christ must also
Continue readingThis week, another pastor and I were talking about the analogy of faith as a muscle that needs to be regularly exercised in order to grow. This is based upon the simple understanding that true faith is living faith, as
Continue readingLast week, we noted two reasons God gave us the very sad book of Lamentations. First, to show us the awful reality of sin and its devastating consequences so that our hearts will long for reconciliation with our holy Creator.
Continue readingIn yesterday’s post, I encouraged you to study the Old Testament book of Lamentations because of it’s description of the sobering realities of sin. Sin never ultimately delivers its promises. Rather, it brings only pain and misery into our lives.
Continue reading[This is the first of four posts encouraging you to study the Old Testament book of Lamentations.] In truth, all suffering can be traced back to the entrance of sin into our world; that is, before sin entered the world
Continue readingThough I have lived in the Psalms the past few years, a while back I used Grant Horner’s highly-acclaimed Bible reading plan and was blessed. This morning, I began it again. This is a unique and challenging system where you
Continue readingWe are privileged to live in a day in which there is an abundance of excellent resources to encourage biblical ministry. However, one gap that remains is in the area of small books to use with curious unbelievers or brand
Continue readingHow much better to get wisdom than gold! – Proverbs 16:16 4 Steps to Building a Bible Reading Rhythm – If your 2017 Bible reading resolution is waning already, here’s some encouragement. Already, Not Yet, Right Now – And God
Continue reading“Invest your time in the Bible and there is a payoff,” writes John Kohlenberger, III. How much time? Ten minutes a day for the average reader will result in reading through the Bible in a year. But there are different
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By God’s grace, I’m a husband, dad, grandpa, and a pastor at Cornerstone Community Church in Mayfield Hts, OH. I love Christ because He first loved me.
