Practical Application

Six Pillars of Parenting for Fathers

Dr. Tommy Boland
1 Jun 2014
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pillars

The first Father’s Day in the United States was observed on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington. The day was proposed by Mrs. John B. Dodd, who wanted to honor her father, William Smart, a Civil War veteran who raised six children alone after his wife died in childbirth. Clearly, Mrs. Dodd took seriously the Lord’s instruction, set forth in the fifth commandment, to honor your father.  I understand that not all of us have a father like William Smart, who seemed worthy of honor. But the commandment does not tell us to honor our father if he is honorable; […]

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Unburdened

Tullian Tchividjian
29 May 2014
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In 1 John 5:3-4 John makes what seems, on the face of it, to be a ridiculous claim: the commands of God are not burdensome. What? Has John not read the Old Testament with its 613 commandments? Was he not there for the Sermon on the Mount, complete with Jesus’ proclamation that his followers are required to be perfect, just as their father in heaven is perfect? Self-imposed commandments As if those laws weren’t burdensome enough, we could add all of the self-imposed Christian commandments, like the kinds of movies we allow ourselves to watch (maybe a swear word or […]

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Spring Clean Your Soul

John Hawkins, Sr
7 May 2014
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Anyone who has lived in the North has experienced the long cold grey of winter. Your home becomes the warm cocoon sheltering you from the harshness of the outside elements that seem to last forever. Then one day it happens — spring. The warmth of the sunshine parts the grey skies, birds sing, and life returns to the trees and flower gardens. It is the rebirth of a new world. The blue of the sky, green of the grass and bright yellow of the sun all speak of new life, hope, and beginnings. It is with this renewed mental outlook […]

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Has Your Family Altar Altered Your Family?

Dr. Tommy Boland
6 May 2014
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Members of our congregation often ask me about how to have family times of prayer, Bible study, and worship in the home. What they are inquiring about comes under the heading of “family altar,” which is a “spiritual” way of referring to family devotions—Bible study, prayer and worship in the home. As a pastor I would like to tell you that this is a daily practice and routine in our home . . . but I cannot. Oh, we were quite regular when we had our first child all alone for 20 months. When our second child joined the mix, […]

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altar

Learning to Have Self Control

The Good News
22 Apr 2014
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A question from my radio program, Ask the Counselor: Q: How can I gain the ability to control myself and not make a mess of things by just speaking and acting on impulse? A: Self-control is the most important ability for any human being. Without it, we cannot hope to succeed in any way or have any inner peace. To have self-control, we must increase the gap between something that happens, what we call a stimulus, and our reaction to that event. The smaller the size of that gap, the less self-control; the larger the size of that gap, the […]

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The Marks of a Christian

Jeremy McKeen
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Christians are meant to live with an assurance of their salvation. It’s God’s desire that all of his children know that they are his children. God doesn’t just want to save a person; he wants that person to know that they’ve been saved. So how do you know that you’re saved? How do you know that you’re among the eternal people of God? What are the marks of a Christian? In John 17, Jesus describes the Christian, and he gives four irreducible marks of every genuine believer. In other words, there are more than these, but there are never less […]

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He is Risen, Indeed

Dr. Tommy Boland
1 Apr 2014
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risen

(Comment below on what Christ being risen means for you) This month, all over the world, Christians will celebrate Easter and the undeniable fact that the tomb was empty; that Jesus Christ was raised from death to life. Our Lord Jesus Christ, after having spent three days in the tomb, was raised from the grip of death to the glory of life and is sitting at the right hand of God the Father. We know that the tomb was emptied by the power of our Most High God. Christ has risen! “Then the angel spoke to the women. ‘Don’t be […]

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Jesus in the Passover

Bob Woods
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The Jewish people have celebrated the festival of the Passover for thousands of years. It is the retelling of the great story of the redemption of the children of Israel from 450 years of slavery and bondage in Egypt. On this night, Jewish children may ask their father, “Papa, why is this night different from every other night?” The celebration itself was given to the Jews while they were still in Egypt. The original celebration centered on the Passover lamb, which was sacrificed and its blood put over the doorposts as a sign of faith, so that the angel of […]

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Do You Want to be Happier?

The Good News
11 Mar 2014
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By: Dr. Norm Wise Happiness is one of the goals that people consider of significant value in their lives. However, if happiness comes from outside circumstances and other people, then only to the extent that we can control these factors will we be happy. Therefore, happiness is very fragile because we have little or no control over our circumstances. What can be done? One key to feeling greater happiness is having realistic godly expectations of life “East of Eden” and a committed acceptance of our community of imperfect people. If we can lower our expectations and increase our forbearance of […]

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