abandoned to Christ.

Today, "Son of God", a new movie produced by Roma Downey and her husband Mark Burnett opened in theaters across the country. Individual Christians and well-known Christian churches, organizations and even schools are raving about seeing Jesus on the big screen. Many Christian groups bought out multiple screens at theaters or purchased mass quantities of group tickets for this epic film...or rather, epic fail of the true and biblical story of Jesus, the Son of God. Last year I was contacted by a media group for The History Channel. They emailed me requesting my help in promoting their upcoming 10-episode miniseries called "The Bible". After reviewing their material, Bible studies based on the series, and clips of every episode, I responded kindly telling them that due to the unbiblical nature of the series, I was unable to help promote it. After watching the entire miniseries I wrote and published my review and I haven't heard from them since. Pr...

prodigal   (ˈprä-di-gəl)  adj  1: exceedingly or recklessly wasteful. Before I share where our youngest son, our prodigal is today, I want you to join me as I remember where we've been; soberly view where we are now; and with great hope, share where we're headed. From the day we found out God blessed us with each son; beautiful gifts of life growing inside of me, we sang songs of worship and read Scriptures to our boys so their lives (as much as it was up to us) would be saturated with God's grace, peace and love. Every moment was beautiful, even the hard moments when we nearly lost both of them. Our oldest son was born with a rare condition called pyloric stenosis. If this developed, it usually happened two months after birth, but Michael was born with it; so by the time he was only two weeks old, he required emergency surgery so he wouldn't die from starvation. He's now a very healthy and robust 21 year old young man and we are grateful to the Lord! ...

In short...no. We'd like the answer to be yes, but in reality, we can't control another person's heart, mind or will—only God can...and does. It's easier to parent our children with the euphoric expectation that if we follow all the rules and train them up "right" that we are guaranteed perfect results...or at least the results we always hoped and dreamed for. While this nice and neat image of a family does happens to some, it doesn't happen to all. I wasn't raised in a Christian home, but was saved when I was four, and remained the only Christian in my household throughout my entire childhood. I rode the bus to church every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. I held tightly to God's Word and His standard of living. Were there challenges? Yes. Did I behave perfectly? No. But no matter the persecution from others or my own personal failings, I always ran back to my Lord, who alone could then (and now) provide me with ...

So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." ~Jesus the Christ (Matthew 7:12, ESV) Few in this world understand this concept and even fewer live by it. Too many harm others as harm has come to them. Or they withhold good from others as it's been withheld from them. Sadly, we've often heard parents say to their children, " I can't help it! I yelled, hit, scared, etc. you because that's what was done to me!" or "Well, I did without love and affection from my parents and I turned out fine. So don't expect to get love and affection from me." But it should not be so with the Christian. A Christian is saved from merely reacting to our environment and empowered from on high to respond to all things with the love, grace and the righteousness of Christ. Unlike the world, we're not enslaved or overpowered by our sinful flesh; rather, we've been emancipated by ...

All three women have succumbed to the wiles of our enemy, the devil—leading masses away from sound doctrine and luring them to follow and practice panentheism , western mystiscm (e.g., lectio divina ), extra-biblical revelations and viewing our holy relationship with God Almighty in a sexual manner. Though I will speak clearly and firmly as I ought about all three women and the dangerous effects of their writing, speaking and teaching of God's holy Word, I will refrain from making any unnecessary personal attacks about these desperately deceived souls. The purpose of this article is not to demonize any of these women, but to carefully and lovingly warn and exhort them and other women to be more diligent in studying the Word, seeking wisdom and biblical teaching from their husbands (if they're Christians), submit to their husbands' headships whether or not they are Christians (1 Cor 7:13-16, 2 Peter 3:1-2) and imitate the faith of those who are singularly faithful to...

...she keeps her heart "clean" for Christ so that what flows out of her mouth is most pleasing to the Lord (Matt 15:18-20; Ps 19:14, Eph 4:29-32). "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue...God shows no partiality..If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors...So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin."  ~Proverbs 31:26; Romans 2:11; James 2:8-9, 4:17 We women "open our mouths" not just with our physical mouths, but also with our pens and keyboards. And too often, we "show partiality" as we ought not. We pay attention only to those we think "love" us just because they serve us and make us feel good. We don't tend to care very much if what others say are from God...

Walmart has pulled a toddler Halloween costume off their shelves after receiving many complaints by outraged parents who deemed the costume as inappropriately sexual for children. The name of the costume is "Naughty Leopard", but as you can see, the actual costume itself isn't sexual or even slightly immodest. As a matter of fact, it has more material on it than most women wear, as well a what most parents dress their little girls in. The dictionary definition and common understanding of the word naughty is "disobedient; mischievous (used especially in speaking to or about children)." I honestly find this parental outrage quite hypocritical. Let me tell you why. Parents dress their babies, toddlers, children and even teen girls in clothes that are highly sexual, extremely provocative and yet, because the label that's on the name of the shirt, dress, skirt, etc. doesn't have a "naughty" name attached to it, it's okay. Ha...

Early last week, I had the special blessing of attending a luncheon with Keith and Kristyn Getty at Redeemer Seminary in Dallas, Texas. Then, the very next day, God increased my blessing by allowing me to interview this lovely couple. It's always a joy when the Lord connects me with saints in Christ who love the Him and are devoted to His Kingdom work with humility and integrity. I really can't say enough about how genuinely kind, down-to-earth and pleasant both Keith and Kristyn are. "Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interest of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus" ~Philippians 2:3-5 My interview with Keith and Kristyn reminded me our heavenly Father's command to love Him with everything we have and love others as Christ has loved us. I was greatly encouraged by their p...