Do you believe Satan is real?

In 1986, Pope John Paul II said “[The devil exists and] is a cosmic liar and murderer…[who] has the skill in the world to induce people to deny his existence in the name of rationalism and of every other system of thought which seeks all possible means to avoid recognizing his activity.” We also see from the gospels that Jesus believed he was real. Do you agree with Pope John Paul II and, more importantly, Jesus?

According to a 2013 article for the Washington Examiner, only 57% of Americans believe the devil is real. Denying his existence blinds us to the havoc he creates in our world because we then blame his actions on other things, such as bad luck.

The Devil is real. He does attack and harass God’s children. In 2013, my seminary cohort experienced his attacks when we had to go to Vietnam and Cambodia for a school trip. It happened during a visit to a Buddhist temple complex in southern Vietnam. The complex is located outside Chua Doc at a place called Stone Mountain. (more…)

Please prayerfully answer the following question: In my walk with Jesus, am I thriving – or merely surviving?

Are you growing closer to the Lord as you get older or are you struggling to hold onto and live out your faith? Perhaps you’re somewhere in the middle. Your faith is strong but, at times, your struggles seem overwhelming. (more…)

Basically my father and I have a close relationship. After I graduated from high school, I worked in our family business for almost two decades where dad was my boss. I made a conscious decision to respect him even when I thought differently than he did. Occasionally we would disagree. On rare occasions we would argue. When an argument did take place, we would keep the argument focused on the issues at hand. We never allowed them to morph into personal attacks.

I remember one time during the winter months when dad and I were at odds over a couple of issues and I was frustrated with him. It just so happened that it snowed during this time. Normally, dad took his golf cart with the snow blade attached and plowed my driveway right after he plowed his. This time, for whatever reason, he didn’t plow my driveway. I knew I was more than welcome to get the golf cart and do it myself. It took roughly 3 minutes to plow our driveway. Did I do this? No I didn’t. Since I was already frustrated with dad, I chose to clear the snow by hand with a shovel. (more…)

“There is an old story about a man who dreamed that an angel escorted him to church one Sunday. There he saw the pianist playing vigorously, the chorister leading singing, the organist playing with gusto. But the man heard no sound. The congregation was singing, but the sound was utterly muted. When the minister rose to speak, his lips moved, but there was no volume. In amazement, the man turned to his escort for an explanation.

‘This is the way it sounds in heaven,’ said the angel. ‘You hear nothing because there is nothing to hear. These people are engaged in the form of worship, but their thoughts are on other things and their hearts are far away.’” (more…)

Deora Bodley grew up in San Diego, CA. where she enjoyed reading, writing and spending time with her family. She showed her love for children in very real and practical ways by tutoring in afterschool programs and working as a peer counselor for troubled teens. She volunteered with several charity groups, including the Special Olympics and the local zoo. As a student at Santa Clara University, Deora studied French and psychology with aspirations to become a child psychologist. At one point in her life, she decided to take a break from her hectic schedule and visit some friends back East. When her visit was over, she boarded a plane to fly home. She never made it back. Deora died 35 miles from here when her flight, Flight 93, crashed on September 11^th. She was 20 years old. (more…)

The book of Acts tells about the formation of the church. It started in Jerusalem with a small group of people who were dedicated to Jesus. The Holy Spirit gave them boldness so they began to share the Gospel. People were being saved and miracles were happening. However, the Jewish leaders weren’t happy about it.

Acts 5:17-42 says – ¹⁷ Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. ¹⁸ They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. ¹⁹ But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. ²⁰ “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”

²¹ At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. (more…)

Please answer the following question- Three areas where injustice and oppression is happening in our country are…?

It’s fairly easy to name areas where injustice and oppression are happening in other parts of the world, such as Syria, Iraq and Nigeria, where brutality and human rights violations run rampant. Can we do the same for our own country?

As Christians, we should be able to it. God expects us to be aware of these areas. Isaiah 1:17 tells us to –

“Learn to do right; seek justice,

encourage the oppressed.

Defend the cause of the fatherless,

plead the case of the widow.”

We have to know where there is injustice if we’re going to seek justice for the victims. We have to be able to recognize oppression if we’re going to free people from it. The truth is most of us can’t identify these situations unless we or someone we know is a victim. Plus, we live in a rural, white area that doesn’t have all of the problems which plaque diverse, urban areas. (more…)

Contentment in life is a wonderful thing. Everyone wants it but many people never find it. We’re usually content when things are going the way we want them to go and when our expectations are being met. We usually aren’t content when things don’t go our way and our expectations are not being met.

Overall, are you a content person? Perhaps at this point, it would helpful to know the definition of “content.” OxfordDictionaries defines it as “a state of satisfaction.” To help see if you are a content person, please prayerfully and thoughtfully answer the following questions. Let’s start off on a positive note. The first question is – The areas in my life where I’m content are….?

So, in what areas of life are you satisfied? They might include your job, marriage, family, health, finances or some other area.

After you’ve taken time to ponder this question, please answer one more. The second question is – The areas in my life where I’m not content are…? (more…)

When I was in first grade music class, our teacher, Miss Fowler, gave us a test one Friday morning. Her final instructions before we started were, “No cheating.” I don’t want to brag on myself but I made an effort all throughout my school years to keep from cheating. Except for that day. During the middle of the test, I whispered to a friend, “What do you call the side of a bass?” “Ribs,” he replied. Within a few seconds, Miss Fowler had taken both of our test papers from us. Not only were we going to get a “0” on the test,  we were embarrassed because the whole class knew what happened.

It’s one thing to face a test in first grade music class, but how should we respond when God tests us? Let’s see how Jesus did it. (more…)

Paul starts his letter to the church in Rome by eloquently showing that every person who ever lived is a sinner in the eyes of God. Sin was unleashed on the world when Adam disobeyed God and ate the fruit from the tree in the Garden of Eden. His disobedience affects every one of us. All we have to do to be a sinner is to be born. Following the Old Testament laws or other rules doesn’t make us righteous. We’re made righteous when, through faith, we follow Jesus Christ.

This brings us to our passage in Romans 6:1-14 – “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (more…)