By Steve Horn Psalm 67 As we begin 2018, it seems appropriate to think upon a prayer to guide God’s church in 2018. The prayer that I want to show you today is a Biblical prayer. Rather than a prayer that we would pray for ourselves, this is a corporate prayer. Consider Psalm 67. May God be gracious to us and bless us; may he make his face shine upon us. Selah 2 so that your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. 3 Let the peoples praise you, God; let all the peoples praise you. 4 Let the nations rejoice and shout for joy, for you judge the peoples with fairness and lead the nations on earth. Selah 5 Let the peoples praise you, God, let all the peoples praise you. 6 The earth has produced its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. 7 God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him. Some people see in these seven verses what is called a chiastic structure. That means that the first verse mirrors the last verse, the second verse mirrors the next to last verse, and the third verse mirrors verse 5. What remains (which in this Psalm is verse 4) serves as the most important line. Think of it as a bullseye. I want to put this Psalm, which is a prayer, in one … [Read more...]

By Waylon Bailey I have been blessed to study and preach from the Birth Narrative of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew’s Gospel gives the events of the birth of Jesus from the point of view of Joseph while Luke gives us the point of view of Mary. What we see in Matthew’s Gospel is an emphasis on divine providence and human faithfulness. Matthew shows that Joseph was a man of character who could be counted on in the worst of times. When God called Joseph he called him to stand up to one of the cruelest tyrants in the history of the world. Joseph was found faithful as he listened to God and cared for “the child and his mother” (Matthew 2:19-23). Joseph gives us a great example of both finishing strong and beginning well. Matthew 2:19-23 gives us the end of the birth narrative and the beginning of training “up a child in the way he should go” (Proverbs 22:6). These verses point to an ending and a beginning. We all have the responsibility to finish strong and begin well. Life is filled with endings and beginnings. Today is one of those times. Even if we didn’t finish this year strong, we can certainly begin well. Sometimes we think of giving the next year to God of giving Him the rest of our lives. While we all … [Read more...]

You can have Christmas without Santa and his elves, without Frosty the snowman, without Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, and without Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen. You can have Christmas without Mr. Grinch, Ebenezer Scrooge and Tiny Tim. But you cannot have a real Christmas without Jesus. Otherwise, it’s a fake Christmas. Don’t get me wrong. I like Christmas. But the problem is that we have made Christmas almost too beautiful with our horse-drawn carriages, snow, crackling fireplaces and hot cocoa. We have bathed the Nativity story in blue light with music swelling in the background. It’s all wonderful, but sometimes I think we’ve missed the raw power of the story by making it almost sentimental. We’ve romanticized Christmas or even homogenized it, taking the real edge off the story that God Almighty came down from heaven to be born on the floor of a stable. To think that God did all this for us is more powerful than any romanticized version of Christmas. Jesus came at the appointed time, at the perfect time. The Bible tells us, “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he … [Read more...]

By Charles Stanley When Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” they replied, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” But Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:13-16). What set Jesus apart as the Messiah? His birth:He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born, as prophesied, in Bethlehem to a virgin. Though angels announced His arrival and He reigns over all creation, Jesus entered our world in a lowly manner so He could be identified with the meek and the poor. His wisdom: At age 12, He spent three days with rabbis, asking questions that showed his uncommon understanding. His baptism:Though He didn’t need cleansing, Jesus asked John to baptize Him so He could identify with sinners and demonstrate His love to them. His temptation:Satan tempted Him relentlessly for 40 days, yet He did not sin. His ministry:He challenged man-made religious traditions. And by healing people—regardless of nationality—raising the dead, and forgiving sins, He revealed that God wants to be involved personally in our lives. Leading Pharisees wanted Him dead, but the Father protected His life until the … [Read more...]

By E. Calvin Beisner Because “having one fewer child reduces one’s contribution to the harms of climate change,” Travis Rieder argues, “everyone on Earth ought to consider having fewer children.” Why? Because people use energy, more people use more energy, some 85 percent of energy worldwide comes from fossil fuels, and using them adds carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. That in turn makes the atmosphere warmer. And that makes severe weather events like hurricanes, floods, droughts, and heat waves more frequent and more intense. The argument seems conclusive. Unless human action isn’t really a major contributor to climate change, or unless climate change isn’t so self-evidently harmful as Rieder and many others think. Rieder and others who argue similarly appeal to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). They consider it the world’s most authoritative scientific body on the subject. Its 2013 Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) famously declared, “It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.” Forget that the IPCC is more political than scientific, riddled with bias, conflicts of interest, and beset by serious violations of … [Read more...]

By Lane Corley Here’s a few simple holiday outreach projects that any church, small group, family or individual can afford. I can testify that these make a big impact with a small investment of time and money. 1. Gift cards for ICU waiting rooms. At any given time in your community there are people reeling from traumatic events or devastating illness. Their families can be found in waiting rooms at your local hospital. Pick up a handful of gift cards to the closest restaurants and coffee shops, drop by and give them out with a “Praying for You” card from your church. Offer to pray for anyone you get to talk with. Simple act of kindness can breathe life into someone that is overwhelmed with bad news. If no one is there, give them to the nurses desk and they’ll pass them out for you. These nurses could also use prayer and encouragement. Call ahead and find out when visiting times are so that you know when people are in the waiting rooms. $100 for five to ten gift cards. 2. Care packages for the homeless. If you live in a metro area or near the interstate, you probably get an invitation to serve the homeless everyday at area red lights. “Should I give them money?” is a constant question. Few of us carry cash anymore. Doing … [Read more...]

By Joe McKeever “Now, team, this is a football!”  (Said to have been an opening statement from legendary coach Vince Lombardi after his team’s devastating loss the previous day.) Coach Dabo Sweeney sits in the catbird seat.  As his team, the Clemson University Tigers, sits atop the latest football poll–making them number one in the nation–they are preparing to face the tough Miami Hurricanes this weekend.  Survive that, as they probably will, and Clemson will be set for the championship playoff, two games to decide the final ranking of the 2017 season. This morning on ESPN’s “Golic and Wingo,” Sweeney was asked how he gets players not long out of high school ready to face these tough challenges.  He said two things worth our consideration: “I start over every year.”  “I try to get buy-in.” A college coach trains his leadership just the way he wants them.  Finally, about the time they are functioning at peak level, they graduate.  A new group of freshmen comes in and the coach has to start over. A coach does, however, have a sizeable cluster of sophomores and juniors who have heard all this before. Presumably, they are already on board with the coach’s lessons and will need little prepping. But “I start over … [Read more...]

By Waylon Bailey When Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, he concluded his letter by asking the church at Philippi to greet all the saints in his name. He also passed along the greetings from the saints in Rome and especially those from the household of Caesar. You find the same situation in the last chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans. Except in Romans 16, Paul gave greeting after greeting including the names of many people who would be known by the church at Rome. Why were these greetings so important to Paul? First, it shows how much we need fellowship and encouragement. Paul thrived on that fellowship. So do we. We must make it a priority in our lives. Everywhere Paul went, he first looked for the fellowship of the believers. We all desperately need to know there are Christians around the world worshiping at the same time as we are each week. Second, these greetings show us the power of God and the world wide reach of the kingdom of God. Those believers in Rome and Philippi give us encouragement about the future and show us the power and work of God in the world.  The fact that there were believers in “Caesars household“ shows the reach of the Gospel. If the gospel could go to the seat of Roman power, … [Read more...]

By Greg Laurie What is integrity? It’s really the same as having character. D.L. Moody defined integrity as what you are in the dark. In other words, integrity is who we are when there is no one around to impress. It’s the real us. Humorist Will Rogers once said, “So live that you would not mind selling your pet parrot to the town gossip.” That’s the idea of integrity. Personal character and integrity is something we develop on a daily basis. With every thought we think, with every deed we do, we are either building it up or tearing it down. It’s been said, “Sow a thought, reap an act; sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit; reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.” Moses was a man who had integrity, so much so that his influence and personal godliness prevented 2 million-plus Israelites from turning to full-tilt idolatry. As long as Moses was around, his influence was so profound, significant and strong that it kept these people from doing the wrong thing. God had instructed Moses to go to the pharaoh and demand the release of the Israelites, who had been in bondage for many years. The pharaoh refused, and his heart grew harder. Miracles were done to convince him, and still he refused. So a series of 10 … [Read more...]