Christian Living

Before the recent election transpired, I happened across a newspaper article reporting the predictions of several well-known present-day evangelists. Each evangelist had a special “word from the Lord” that the former president would defy the polls and enjoy a resounding triumph to be elected for another term. That stirred my curiosity, so I decided to search if other “prophets” had come forth and echoed the same prophecy. I’m sure my search was incomplete, but I was amazed at how often that prediction was confirmed at the mouths of other popular ministers.

“Trump is asking all Christians to pray as he goes before the Supreme Court.”
Have you seen any announcements like this? Maybe a friend posted it on WhatsApp or sent it via text. Maybe some friends were talking about it at church or work. How should a Christian respond to a request like this?

The current Covid-19 pandemic has provoked the world to respond in ways unprecedented in this generation. State governments are shutting down schools and churches, forcing businesses to close, and asking citizens not to leave their homes. This highly contagious virus is spreading infection around the globe, and along with it, a great deal of anxiety. People are understandably concerned about their health and the health of loved ones. People are worried about the economy and wondering how they will make ends meet, or if their businesses will be able to survive Covid-19.

2020 will be etched in our minds for years. It felt like things were forced on us in a way we never previously experienced. We were forced to wear masks. Forced to stay at home. Forced to have church at home. In numerous cities across the nation, BLM activists used force to try to get their message across to the nation. Then the 2020 elections started. There were reports of poll watchers being forced to stay way back from their posts. President Trump began to argue that the election was taken by force and was fraudulent.

What do you believe about child evangelism? How do you answer the person who is thrilled about their son or daughter receiving the Lord at a very young age? What do we believe? It is very important what we believe because it will play out in our life.

What was the wise man Solomon thinking as he penned these words many years ago? “Ponder the path of thy feet.” To ponder means to stop and view with deliberation. What are we to deliberate? The path of our feet! Why?
Every person’s life is a path. We can stop and look back one day, one year, one decade, or even one century. Solomon is saying, stop - ponder your footsteps. Past footsteps show a direction of travel. What is that direction, more God-ward or more world-ward? The footsteps of the past can predict the direction of our next footstep.

“Oh, he reads everything he can get hold of—novels, story papers, sea voyages, robber exploits, pirate yarns, and everything to make him discontented with his home, sick of his work, and ready for any sort of crazy adventure.”

Choice is a powerful word. It comes into play when we are given the opportunity to select between two or more options. We can declare our independence from the control or input of others by our choices. We make many choices in any given day, many of them subconscious or inconsequential. However, it is true that many of our choices were probably greatly influenced by a former deliberate decision by ourselves or someone else.

Covid-19 has brought a new term, unheard of even one year ago – social distancing. But the concept was not new. All through the ages, people at times distanced themselves from others for a variety of reasons. But distance can have some very real tests for us.

Christmas! The annual commemoration of Jesus’ birth, Christmas, has been celebrated for hundreds of years. The mere thought of Christmas likely brings many different thoughts to your mind. Perhaps you are looking forward to the family gathering and getting caught up with relatives you haven’t seen since last year. Or it could be that the thought of Christmas saddens you a bit as you think about bygone years and loved ones who are no longer here to share Christmas with you. Or maybe you’re planning a nice Christmas dinner at home with only your spouse and children.