PTL Wednesdays

Remember those Charlie Brown cartoons where the adults always made that weird “whon, whon, whon” sound when talking? Well that’s how my history teachers sounded to me. I didn’t see history as relevant to my daily life. Learning about the War of 1812 was not going to help me get a job. As soon as the bell rang history class became just that– history. Sadly, too many of us view the Bible the same way I did history class. We know it’s important but it doesn’t seem relevant in the daily hustle of our lives. Jesus walked on water and healed the sick but what does that have to do with me getting the kids to school and myself to work? Honestly, God was like this abstract being that I couldn’t see, touch or hold a conversation with so I really couldn’t appreciate Him. So what changed for me? Ironically, it took a history lesson during a Bible class to open my eyes.   Secular people and surprisingly some Christians think the stories in the Bible are just that– stories. The events in the Bib...

  Whoever came up with the saying ‘sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me’ had no idea what they were talking about. Words are powerful. They can build us up and they can certainly tear us down. People will call you everything but your name; they will criticize and belittle you. So why do we listen to the negative junk people say? Why do we allow people to discourage and dissuade us? It’s because we keep forgetting who we are. Repeat after me, “I am God’s child.” Say it again, “I am God’s child.” Keep saying it over and over until it sticks in your mind. You’re an heir to a kingdom that will never end (Rom 8:17). You’re destined to have a rank higher than the angels (Heb 1:13,14)! God has given you his Spirit to live inside you. So why listen to people who are lost? They’re filled with the words of their father, the Devil. It sounds harsh but I hope you know there are only two sides. If God isn’t their father, there’s only one other option.  Lis...

You pause for a moment to take in the dazzling array of colors as the sun begins to set. It’s been an exhilarating day of hiking but you know you need to head back before it gets dark. To make up for lost time you decide to take a short cut. It seemed like a good idea but the longer you walk the less familiar your surroundings look. “Should I have turned left at the dry riverbed?” you ask yourself as the burnt orange and yellows give way to an ever darkening sky. You’re lost and alone. The decision to hike without the map a park ranger offered has become the worst mistake of your life. There’s no map, no guidance, no hope… just darkness.  You’re probably thinking to yourself that you would never be so crazy as to go hiking without that park map. Yet that’s exactly what so many of us are doing right now. We’re going through the wilderness of life without God (the park ranger) and the map he’s offering you (the Bible). I believe one of the reasons we don’t  regularly study ...

Millions of Christians attend services each Sunday but have you ever stopped to think if the things you do in worship are based on scripture or are they man-made traditions.?The importance of how we worship can’t be overstated so let's examine what acts of worship the apostles taught and compare them to how you worship. Keep in mind that the apostles were ordained by Jesus to start His church. Equally important, they were given all truth by the Holy SpiritI (John 16:13). That being said, we can now examine Acts  2:42 . for the church had just been established and we’re given three of the five acts of worship: "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers" (Acts  2:42 ).  1)  Apostles' Teaching (Preaching)— The early church studied God’s word. The word is for teaching, correcting, and training in righteousness (2Tim   3:16 ). 2) Breaking of Bread (Communion)— Christians are commanded to take th...