Relationships

Want To Be A Good Christian?

Lori Harding
3 Jul 2012
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I have had a few conversations recently with friends and co-workers on the subject of mentoring and discipleship.  Quite honestly, those two words make me a bit nervous.  Frankly, they conjure up images of two people sitting at a table, one with a Bible staring intently into the face of the person without the Bible. The all-knowing mentor proceeds to tell the unsuspecting disciple all the things necessary for living the Christian life. Have you experienced this for yourself on one side or the other?  I have, and I cringe when I recall the uncomfortable and ridiculous task of mentoring […]

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Can You Defend Your Faith?

Justin Young
2 Jul 2012
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Have you ever felt ill-equipped when discussing your Christian faith with a skeptic, atheist or follower of another religion? Do you spend time actually studying why you believe what you believe, or do you settle for taking someone else’s word for it? While Christianity is absolutely a walk of faith, being a Christian does not require you to check your brain at the door. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. In 1 Peter 3:14-15 (ESV), the Bible says,“Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make […]

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Thinking About Online Dating?

Annie Quinnell
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Commentary It was the fall of 2006; the ink had just dried on my divorce papers when a friend first introduced the idea of online dating to me. I had been married for what seemed like a lifetime, so this was a novel idea to me. Married people are married, so they have no idea what is happening in the world of single people. As I began to crawl out from under my married rock, I decided to do my own research on the recent phenomenon of online dating. I found multiple options. There are free online dating sites, like […]

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Hope for The Fatherless

Jeremy McKeen
5 Jun 2012
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Fatherlessness is the most urgent social problem affecting our society today. According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department for Health and Human Services, 40 percent of all children in America will go to bed tonight without a father in the home. The effects of this are staggering, considering that 85 percent of all children with behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes. In fact, fatherless children are at a greater risk of suicide, mental illness, poverty and substance abuse, and are 20 times more likely to end up in prison. However, despite these bleak statistics and the pessimism that […]

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Real Men…

Finley Walker
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“Be a man!” yells the coach to his starting middle linebacker. “Make the play!” Most men have heard it at one time or another, “Be a man!” But what does that even mean? Male-bashing has become a popular past time. Television sitcoms portray men as buffoons and “comic relief.” Our secular world is in a crisis of male arrested development and, sadly, men overall have not done much to make amends for this. Many disregard the responsibility for their lives and actions. One does not have to look very far to find single mothers struggling just to survive and provide […]

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The Myth of Happily Ever After

Dr. John Hawkins
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Fairy tales, bedtime stories, romance novels and romantic comedies – why are they so popular? It is because they strike a cord in the human heart. We all have the need to be loved, accepted, attached and to belong. For men, it is about being the hero, saving the day and for women it is about having their knight in shining armor rescue them. Myths often have a basis in reality. So the myth starts like this, “Once upon a time,” and it ends with, “They lived happily ever after.” In between is a villain, challenge or conflict to overcome. […]

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Living Sacrifice

Dr. Jeff Hazim
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Salvation is free; following Christ will cost you everything. This is a health column and this is a health message. But I need us to go on a short journey first. Imagine for a moment that we are in a typical courtroom. There is a judge, a jury, some lawyers, and of course, the person on trial. This defendant is a true criminal. His could be any crimes, but for our example they are extremely ugly ones. This criminal sold drugs to children in schoolyards, and when being chased by police he killed an innocent woman and her baby after […]

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Deliverance Is Coming!

Cory Nickols
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Has God put a dream in your heart or spoken something deep down on the inside, but no matter how much you try, your situation never changes? In fact, it seems to get worse! Maybe God has told you that you would overcome an addiction, but for the past 20 years you have battled with little or no results. No matter what programs you have been on and prayer lines you have been in, you just cannot seem to gain victory in the situation. Maybe your marriage has been less than meaningful for the past ten years and it seems […]

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Social Media Mistakes

Justin Young
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It is difficult to find a corner of the universe today that is not being impacted in some way by the phenomenon of social media. With over 800 million active Facebook users and over 100 million active Twitter users, everyone from tweens to grandparents are getting in on the social media frenzy. While social media sites can be powerful communication tools, they can also provide plenty of opportunity for embarrassment, temptation and even compulsive or addictive behavior. Keep the following in mind as you tweet, post, share, comment and like to help make the most out of your social media […]

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If Only You Would…!!

Dr. Tommy Boland
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How often we use this statement, tacking on a variety of endings to point the finger of blame at someone else for whatever it is in life that displeases us. I call this “victim mentality,” because when we point the finger of responsibility at others we play the role of the victim. Do any of the following statements resonate with you at all? If only you would grow up! If only you would do more around the house! If only you would be more intimate! If only you would get more serious! If only you would lose a little weight! […]

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only you