PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE If you were planning for the future, how would you prepare? With an IRA or paying into Social Security? Purchase a house and think about retirement savings for the trips you’d take? I met a fellow once who said, “I don’t prepare for the future. That’s unspiritual.” Then I walked with […]
LET JESUS LEAD Many remedies cure spiritual dullness. One big way includes removing faith roadblocks. Release the Holy Spirit through confessing sin. Tell Satan where to go. Remain faithful in prayer. And then, expose your faith. That is, let your faith show, in actions for hurting people, with quick and open response to Christ’s commands, […]
Open Winter Beetle Blues Winters up here in the mountains of Idaho happen in various degrees of severity. This last one was what we call an open winter. That is, we experienced a fairly mild winter with few blizzards or cruel, relentless storms. The snow never got past two feet deep, and the temperatures never […]
SIGNS OF A SPIRITUAL HOME What makes a spiritual home? What do you think? Try this True or False Quiz. A spiritual home is one in which … ? At least three pictures of Jesus hang on the wall. A pulpit is displayed in the living room. A large, black King James Bible lies open […]
EMOTIONAL MATURITY & THE PERFECT FAMILY What was it like to be part of King Ahab’s perfect family? (See 1 Kings 21:1-6). When Ahab returned to the palace after being turned down from making a nice little vegetable garden out of Naboth’s vineyard, he slammed those big, old palace doors, and marched across to yell […]
Keys to Family Intimacy According to surveys over the decades, materialism, inattentive parents, and a lack of spiritual foundations in the home rank as the biggest threats to family life. I maintain that each of those three threats can be dealt with by strengthening family intimacy. A need for intimacy is at the core of all […]
SIX WAYS TO BE YOUR MATE’S BEST FRIEND BY STEPHEN BLY I remember the first time I met my future best friend. She had long, brown, shiny hair; big smile; and lips that reminded me of a movie star. At thirteen-years-old in 1958, she seemed to always be chomping gum. I didn’t talk to her […]
Are You a Home Manager? You can tell spiritual maturity by how a person manages their family. When family life becomes unmanageable, something’s wrong. A measure of control should be expected. Your home management style indicates possible readiness for spiritual leadership in the church and other areas of ministry. But how do you manage a […]
Before You Confront Your Mate In growing friendship in marriage, you love one another enough to call each other to account. For instance, most rate pretty good to confront your mate in the physical realm. Your husband’s about to give a speech at the banquet. You notice he has a piece of huckleberry stuck in […]
Baby Christian Blues I happen to have a picture in my wallet of my baby. He’s a cute little fellow. The photo is quite small, but you can tell it’s a baby. And though babies come in all sizes, you can distinguish them from children and adults. However, it’s harder to spot spiritual babies. They […]
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