Revival (long)
April 26, 2010 at 4:51 pm | Posted in Christianity | Leave a commentTags: Abinadab, affliction, Ahab, altar, America, ark, Ashteroth, asleep, Assyria, ateasetees, attack, Baal, Babylon, Benjamin, Beth-shemesh, Bethel, Bible, burden, captive, change, Christian, church, compromise, covenant, cow, cut, daily grind, David, death, deceive, denomination, drought, Edom, Egypt, Elijah, emotional, evangelism, evangelist, excitement, faith, fast, fire, foreign, forsake, God, gospel, grace, guilt, harlot, harm, heart, hell, holy, hope, idol, idolatry, immoral, incense, Israel, Jacob, Jerusalem, Jesus, Judah, Judge, judgment, kill, king, Laban, lament, law, life, love, meeting, mercy, Milcom, ministry, Mizpah, Moab, mock, Molech, Mount Carmel, offering, Ohio, outreach, ox, peace, Philistines, plan, prayer, preacher, prophet, rain, refresh, Rehoboam, repent, revival, sacrifice, salvation, Samaria, Samuel, Saul, scripture, serve, sin, Solomon, South, stone, temple, ten commandments, topical, trench, tribe, tribulation, truth, tumor, turn, voice, water, wisdom, witness, wrath
I don’t know what it is like in other areas of America (I’m originally from Ohio and don’t remember hearing a lot about this up there), but over the next five or so months, churches across the South will be holding revivals. These will be big to-dos varying in length from three or four days to an entire week. During the time leading up to these events, the church excitement grows and people look forward to this in order to be “refreshed” and get a spiritual boost so that they continue to “work for the Lord”. They will dress in their Sunday best, notebooks in hand, to hear what the preacher/evangelist (usually a guest) has to say. Depending on the denomination and area, these meetings will range in volume and action. The expectation is that at the end of the week, they will have heard the very thing they needed to hear so that they can move to a new level with God and “do more” for Him. I remember attending a few revivals (I haven’t been to one in years) and recall them being emotionally charged appeals (in some cases) or sound, steady topical teaching (in other cases). For weeks following the revival, people would make larger efforts to have more ministries, outreaches, events, and other things geared toward the church. As I look back though, I seem to also remember that after about two months the revival wore off. People began getting caught up in the daily grind again and all of those new ministries and events just fell by the wayside. I have thought about this a lot lately. In my own life, I am striving harder to have everything I do line the Scriptures. I am not even close yet, but things are moving along. I started wondering what Scripture said about revival. What I found was interesting. Continue Reading Revival (long)…
Design of the Week – He’s Alive
April 21, 2010 at 7:50 pm | Posted in Designs of the Week | Leave a commentTags: alive, artist, ateasetees, atheism, Bible, Charles Darwin, Charles Taze Russell, Christ, Confucius, dead, design of the week, Elijah Muhammed, evangelism, faith, God, good deed, gospel, grace, Hailie Selassie, heaven, hell, holy, hope, Islam, Jehovah, Jesus, Joseph Smith, judgment, law, life, love, mercy, Mormon, Muhammed, Nation of Islam, Nekar Vat, nirvana, peace, prayer, rap, repent, salvation, scripture, Shai Linne, Siddartha Gautama, sin, ten commandments, truth, witness
This week’s design is called He’s Alive. It is based on scriptural truth and was inspired by a song by Christian rap artist Shai Linne. The design shows a simple truth that many people seem to forget when arguing about religion. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and others always try to show why their religion is the best. They talk about how they are the right way to God/Nirvana/Heaven, but they fail to provide strong evidence on this claim. The founders of every world religion but one are now dead. Mohammed is dead. Siddartha Gautama (Buddhism) is dead too. Hailie Selassie is dead. Nekar Vat (Sikhism) is dead. Joseph Smith, Charles Taze Russell, Elijah Muhammed, Confucius, and Charles Darwin are all dead. Ok, some wouldn’t consider Darwin a religious figure. Granted, he didn’t set out to start a religion, but his theory is (by default) the foundation of both atheists and secular humanists. Regardless, they’re all dead. Continue Reading Design of the Week – He’s Alive…
Real Men
April 14, 2010 at 4:20 pm | Posted in Designs of the Week | Leave a commentTags: ateasetees, Bible, blame, camping, children, Christian, church, country, design of the week, Ephesians, evangelism, faith, family, fear, flannel, God, godly, gospel, grace, hell, holy, hope, husband, Jesus, judgment, kid, law, life, love, marriage, mercy, money, nuture, peace, play, prayer, priority, real men, repent, salvation, scripture, serious, sin, soldier, sports, storm, strength, ten commandments, truck, truth, weakness, wife, work
This week’s design (yes…I know it’s been awhile…) is entitled Real Men. Today, people are bombarded with what advertizers think is a “real man”. The problem is, depending on what the company is selling, the “real man” changes. If the company sells camping supplies, the “real man” is a rugged, outdoorsy type of guy with a flannel shirt and a five-o-clock shadow. If they sell trucks, the “real man” is someone (supposedly like you) who can’t finish the job without the newest $50, 000 truck (how many people can actually afford those?). But the truth is, advertizers don’t know what a “real man” is and they probably don’t care all that much because he won’t make them a ton of money.
A real man could be someone rugged with facial hair and it could be someone who drives a truck. A real man is defined, not by what a man has but who he is. According to scripture, a real man is someone who is a godly man. He fears the God of the Bible and obeys His law. He is also a family man. A real man loves his wife like Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:25). He is not ashamed of this and sees it as a strength and not a weakness. He nutures and protects his family. He doesn’t desert them when things get tough and he doesn’t blame them or take out his frustrations on them. Instead, he does everything he can and sacrifices all that he has to help his family weather the storm. He will give everything for his God, his family, and his friends (in that order). There is nothing so important (sports, work, play, money) that it would cause him to neglect his priorities. He understands that he is raising up the next generation of Christian soldiers and takes that seriously (even though it’s fun). He studies the Bible with them and makes sure that they understand the scriptures the way God meant them. A man doesn’t have to be married or have children to be real. He may not have the familial resposibilities, but he does have resposibilities to God and he takes those to heart as important.
The church, the country, and the world all need real men. It is because of a lack of real men that we have many of the issues that we now face. I challenge you this week to take a look at your life and see if you are a real man. If you aren’t a man at all, then I challenge you to find those men in your life who are real and let them know that you appreciate it. If you’re not a real man, then there is still time for you to repent and start living like one…
Get the Word out! 