Flying Honestly!

Flying Honestly!
By Michael Galloway

It is definitely a traveling season! I would daresay that most Americans in the past month have probably flown, or driven somewhere to visit family, to vacation, or to visit friends. What would you have done had you found $10,000 dollars of cash in two envelopes in an airport? Would you have thought that there was no way to find the real owners of this money? That it was finder's keepers? Or maybe you would have even thought I will try to return the money. What if the airport had told you it was against the rules to take down the details of what you had found. I would guess that most of us would have stopped there and been content to say that we had tried to do what was right, and then kept the money for ourselves. Mitch Gilbert of Colorado didn't stop there. When he found two envelopes that contained ten thousand dollars in cash at McCarren International Airport in Las Vegas he decided that he was going to show his kids what the right thing to do was. When the airport told him that it was against the rules to take down the details he kept calling and asking if anyone had reported the two envelopes missing. Finally a man from El Paso, TX reported the money missing and Gilbert returned the money to him. 

What an example Gilbert was not only to his kids but also to the world. He showed us the importance of going the extra mile in being honest. The Bible teaches the principle of integrity. 2 Corinthians 8:21 tells us "For we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of men." The Bible goes on and tells us in Luke 6:31, "And as you wish that others would do to you, do also to them."

It is hard to know how we would react in a situation such as Gilbert found himself in until we are there. I would hope that each and everyone of us would have the courage and insight that Gilbert had to do what was right not only to be an example to others but in order to please God. Let us all use his actions as encouragement and inspiration as we go throughout this next week and year.

The “changing role of Christianity”?

The “changing role of Christianity”?

By Michael Galloway

Barna Research recently studied the top religious trends of 2011. One of the top trends according to them was the “changing role of Christianity”. Barna said, “This year, Barna Group delved into many subjects of faith and culture, including the changing role of faith and Christianity. One of those shifts is the relative unknown nature of Christian leaders. Only Billy Graham, the Pope, Barack Obama and Joel Osteen were mentioned by more than 1 out of 50 adults as the most significant Christian leaders. What’s more, 41% of Americans are unable to identify any individual who they consider to be an influential Christian.”

As I read this study by Barna in some ways I was stunned. First I was stunned that only Billy Graham, Joel Osteen, the Pope, and Barack Obama were mentioned by more than 1 out of 50 adults as the most significant Christian leaders. Secondly I was surprised that 41% of Americans are unable to identify ANY individual whom they consider to be an influential Christian. Based on this study I believe there are several things that we must do.

1) It would be prudent for us to realize that there is no reason to look for Christianity to change. Jesus is the head of the church (Eph. 1:22). Jesus hasn’t given us a new guidebook, or way to look at Christianity. In fact, the Bible that was written 2000 years ago still relates to us today, and gives us all direction that we need.

2) We must promote Jesus to our society. The greatest and most significant leader the world will ever have is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only leader who is the son of God. He is the only leader who came and died for us. Joel Osteen, Billy Graham, the Pope, and Barack Obama never came and died for us, and made eternal life possible.

3) We must influence the world around us by using the teachings and actions of Jesus. When 41% of the world fails to name a single person whom they consider to be an influential Christian, the Church overall is not doing its job of being that light to the world (Matthew 5:14-16). We must stop being afraid of what the world might think, and start being instead afraid of what Jesus might think if we fail to influence the world. Our world is not opposed to the influence of the church, they are just not being influenced. Barna said that 19/20 adults believes the church is a positive influence, and 75% of Americans believe that churches are a positive factor in their communities. Let your light shine, don’t let Satan poof it out.

In 2012 let’s influence the world through the teachings of Jesus.

A Day of Infamy!

December 7th, 1941. If you are like me that date sparks emotion and thought. It was a day of deceit, death, surprise, and much loss. It was a date in which the United States were caught unprepared. If you didn't realize it, it is the date that Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Empire of Japan. When I think of that date the first thing that comes to my mind is President Roosevelt's speech as he asked Congress to declare war. President Roosevelt starts off his speech by saying "Yesterday, December 7, 1941- a date which will live in infamy- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan..." President Roosevelt was reminding us that we will remember what happened for a long time. This past Wednesday was the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. As I reflected on that day I had several thoughts that I felt were prudent to share in relation to our spiritual lives.

1) There will be a day that is coming which we will remember for a much longer time then the date in which Pearl Harbor was attacked. Judgment Day will one day come. The Bible has warned us of the great day that is coming. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18.

2) Just like the attack on Pearl Harbor took so many by surprise, Judgment Day will come as a surprise to many as well. The Bible tells us that it will be like a thief in the night. We don't know when this day is coming. It may come in our lifetime, it may not. We do have a responsibility to be prepared when it comes. 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4. 


3) December 7th, 1941 was day in which the United States lost quite a bit in the realms of life, and the ships in the naval fleet. I think historically it would be safe to say that the Japanese came out the victors of that battle (although they would not go on to win the war). Judgment Day will be a day in which there will be many losers, and few winners. Matthew 7:13-14.

4) The United States wishes that they had been better prepared for the Japanese. There were many warnings that were ignored, and as a result Pearl Harbor was caught by complete surprise at 7:55 a.m. as the attack began. The Bible gives us many warning about the day of judgment. Sadly there are many that are ignoring the warnings.

5) It has become obvious the amount of preparation that the Japanese put into their attack on Pearl Harbor as  it had been in the planning stages for several days and weeks before the attack. Although this attack will be remembered for years to come by the people of the United States.There will come a day that has been planned for thousands of years. The Bible tells us that we don't know when it will happen, however we must be prepared. This day of judgment will last FOREVER. This day will truly affect all of mankind.

The question is are you ready for the day that is coming? If not I would encourage you to look to the Bible for directions on how to be prepared.

Tebowing!

Tebowing!

By Michael Galloway

I will admit that I have always been intrigued by Tim Tebow. It is not that I have been a fan of the teams that he has played for, or even that I agree with some of the religious views that he holds. I have always been amazed by his willingness to do something that sadly many of us are too scared to do, won’t do, or maybe even haven’t figured out how to do it. Tebow is an example that we can all take to heart as we think about how we are supposed to let our lights shine (Matthew 5:15) and not conform to the world. Here are a couple of the things that Tebow does so well:

1) He finds ways to bring religion into conversation. Almost every time you see Tebow on television you will also hear or see something that has to do with “Christianity”. Jesus did this as well in John 4. How well do we do this (including me)?

2) He is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.  Tebow doesn’t care what people think about what he does. I believe that many times we are scared of what people might think or say about our religion. Paul says in Romans 1:16 that he is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Are we?

3) He prays. Tebow prays so often that people are referring to what he does as Tebowing. What an example. How often do we pray? 1 Thessalonians 5:17

4) He attempts to give God credit for his success. Tebow realizes that God is in charge. He is always giving God credit for his success how often do we do this? James 4:10

I realize that Tebow is not someone who follows New Testament Christianity. I also realize that Tebow is not afraid to let people know what he does believe. He says that his reasons for this are as follows as he responds to some things that others have said about how he carries himself: “Well, first I'd say, thank you for the compliment of calling me a winner and then I'd also say if you're married and you're a [husband] is it good enough to only say you love her on the day you get married or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and have an opportunity? And that's how I feel about my relationship with Jesus Christ. It is the most important thing in my life so anytime I get an opportunity to tell him that I love him or give him an opportunity to shout him out on national TV, I'm gonna take that opportunity…”(ESPN). Do we have the same attitude as Tim Tebow? Are we Tebowing?

A Cake Half Baked

Yesterday, Urban Meyer was officially introduced as Ohio State's new football coach. It was interesting to me that most of the talk didn't center around the past successes of Urban Meyer at Florida and Utah, but instead around why he walked away from the game at the end of the 2010 season at Florida. Meyer had walked away because of health and family reasons. During his tenure at Florida Meyer had stopped living a balanced life. He was spending to much time on football related activities and not enough time with his family. Before Meyer took this job at Ohio State he had a meeting with his family in order to get their blessing and talk about how to prevent the same problem from occurring in the future. One of Meyer's daughters even sent him a contract listing things he was to do in relation to the family if he took the job. As I have been reading and digesting this story it brings to light the importance balance can have in life. The only way to truly be successful in life is to live a balanced life. Meyer was uber successful football wise at Florida when he won two national championships, however he realized that it meant nothing to continue winning championships if he did it to the detriment of his family. Here are some reminders of ways for Christians to live a successful life through balance.

1) Balance your relationship between God and the world. It is so important for us to have balance in the way we live in the world. If we become too much in the world then we will fail to fulfill our responsibility to God in living the Christian life. If we live our lives too much away from the world then we can fail to be in the world enough to let our light shine, and evangelize and once again fail to fulfill our responsibility to God. James 4:4


2) Balance your relationship between work and the family. It is also very important as Christians to balance our relationship between work and our family. As a Christian we have a responsibility to work in a way to exemplifies our relationship to God, to work honestly, to fulfill our responsibilities at work, and provide for our families; yet at the same time we must make time for our family as we also have a responsibility to be a good Christian spouse, parent, and child. We have a responsibility to not turn our Children away from the Lord, but instead towards him. This all takes time and balance. Urban Meyer wisely realized how easy it was to start putting more emphasis on success at work to the detriment of his family, and the consequences that could come about as a result. Meyer wisely made sure that he stepped away from his responsibilities until he could find that balance. Ephesians 6:1-9, Matthew 5:14, Proverbs 22:6


3) Balance our knowledge. It is also important to make sure that we balance our knowledge when it comes to the word of God. It is important for us have knowledge of the world and in our specific profession in order to accomplish point # 2. However we must also make sure to not just know the things of the world but also the things of God. It will be impossible for us to accomplish point # 1 without knowledge of the word of God. It will be impossible to have growth as a Christian without Biblical knowledge. We must study to show ourselves approved spiritually and when it comes to our worldly Christian responsibilities. 2 Peter 3:18, 2 Timothy 2:15.

Hosea 7, in one of my favorite books of the Bible, we find that Ephraim was having trouble with balance when it came to mixing with the people of that time. Hosea said that "Ephraim [was] a cake not turned". Hosea was referring to the practice of making cakes during that time period when a rock would be heated up and the cake cooked on it. If the rock was not the right temperature and the cake was not flipped at the right time you would end up with a cake that was burnt on one side and raw on the other. Are you living your life in a way that is balanced spiritually with the things of the world  or are you living it in a way that Hosea would call a cake half baked?

Black Everyday!

Black Everyday?

By Michael Galloway

This Thanksgiving I made the trek home to Tupelo, MS where I grew up. I was grateful to be able to enjoy several days of family, and food. As I was there I also had some downtime and had the opportunity to read the paper and watch the news. I was amazed at the lengths that many went to in order to take advantage of Black Friday sales. I read and watched the stories of people who would stand and wait for hours upon hours for the items that they were wanting to purchase. I read of the skirmishes that took place among the dedicated shoppers as they were so committed to getting that item that they would literally fight for it. I read of a couple who decided to take advantage of Black Friday this year and one camped out at Best Buy, while the other camped out at the Ashley HomeStore. They started camping out at 3:30 P.M. on Wednesday, when the stores didn’t open till midnight on Friday. They were wanting to purchase a 42’ TV and a sofa. As I saw how committed the shoppers on Black Friday were I thought about what if Christians had the “Black Friday” mentality every day? How different would our world be? Think about it:

1) Christians would be doing whatever it took to achieve the purpose of Christianity of getting to Heaven and taking as many people with us. It wouldn’t matter to Christians what they had to go through to achieve their objectives. We would always put Christ first in our lives. Matthew 28:18-20, Hebrews 11:6

2) Christians would be “Hot” for Christ. There is absolutely no way that you could camp out overnight at a store for an item unless you had a great commitment to getting that item. When we become hot for Christ we will have actions that as a by-product show our commitment.  It is impossible to be hot if we don’t do anything. The church in Laodicea in Revelation 3, were lukewarm Christians and were described as neither hot nor cold. Christ said he would spit them out and said he wished that they would choose whether they were going to be cold or hot. Christ realized the harm to others that could come from someone who was living a lukewarm life.  What if we lived everyday like it was a Christian’s Black Friday, think about how hot we would be as Christians and the influence that we could have on our world.

3) Christians would be victorious. When it came to Black Friday those who got there first and camped out were the ones who were going to succeed in getting the deals. Why? Because they weren’t afraid of dedicating themselves to doing what was necessary no matter what others thought! That is the attitude that Paul had when he evangelized. What if we had that attitude? I guarantee there would be a great reward waiting in Heaven. Matthew 6:33.

Will you become a Black Friday Christian?

Counting Blessings!

Counting Blessings

By Michael Galloway

I saw a poem of late with an unknown author on a blog by Dale Jenkins that I thought was very thought provoking. The poem read:

“Today upon a bus, I saw a lovely girl with golden hair; I envied her — she seemed so happy, and how, I wished I were so fair; When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle; she had one foot and wore a crutch, but as she passed, a smile. Oh God, forgive me when I whine, I have two feet — the world is mine. And when I stopped to buy some sweets, the lad who served me had such charm; he seemed to radiate good cheer, his manner was so kind and warm; I said, “It’s nice to deal with you, such courtesy I seldom find”; he turned and said, “Oh, thank you sir.” And then I
saw that he was blind. Oh, God, forgive me when I whine, I have two eyes, the world is mine.
Then, when walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of blue; he stood and watched the others play, it seemed he knew not what to do; I stopped a moment, then I said, “Why don’t you join
the others, dear?” He looked ahead without a word, and then I knew he could not hear. Oh God, forgive me when I whine, I have two ears, the world is mine. With feet to take me where I’d go; with eyes to see the sunsets glow, with ears to hear what I would know. I am blessed indeed. The world is mine; oh, God, forgive me when I whine.”

Many times if you are like me you take things for granted and forget the everyday blessings that we have in life. We forget that:

·         We are blessed to have Jesus.

·         We are blessed to have a church in Elizabethtown that meets and uses the Bible as its basis.

·         We are blessed to have the country that we live in and the freedoms that go along with living in the United States.

·         We are blessed to have our friends and families.

·         We are blessed to have life, and the health to do the things in life that we do.

·         We are blessed that even the poorest of the poor in our country have more than most.

We live in a country where we are blessed physically with wealth, with doctors who keep us healthy and treat us when we are ill, we live in a world where we are blessed spiritually because we have a God that has ensured we have the choice to live for him. What a wonderful life we have. When was the last time you thanked God for your life?

 “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

The Moral Tragedy at Penn State

The Moral Tragedy at Penn State

Penn State. Two weeks ago it would have been used as an example of an upstanding moral sports program. That is no longer true, I have watched with a sad heart the last two weeks as a gut-wrenching story has been revealed. In 2002 a graduate assistant told football coach Joe Paterno that he had witnessed former long time assistant Jerry Sandusky allegedly sexually abuse a young boy at the football facilities. It is now 2011, and a blind eye was turned to this tragedy for years. The graduate assistant told Paterno and then wiped his hands of it. Paterno told his superiors and then wiped his hands of it, until it was just ignored. Penn State has now fired Paterno, their head football coach of 46 years, their President, and several other high administrators at the school. As I have reflected on this story this past week it made me think about some things in regard to Christianity.

1) How many times do we do the minimum? The biggest story coming out of this scandal in the way it was reported by the news was not the sexual abuse that was allegedly committed. The biggest story was how Paterno did the minimum in handling this incident. All Paterno did was report it to his superiors. He never reported it the police, he never followed up to make sure it was handled; all he did was the minimum that he thought he could get away with. In the Bible the church at Laodicea just did the minimum, and it was just as bad as doing nothing. Jesus called them lukewarm, and said he would spit them out of his mouth. Rev.3:16

2) Influence takes a long times to build, and a short time to tear down. Joe Paterno was a legend at Penn State. He had built the school’s program on morality, academics, and winning. He had coached there for an unheard of 61 years. He will now be remembered through his failure to act. All of the success he had will now be tarnished by this one incident. As Christians, we can be a light to world and have our influence torn down by one incident. We have a great responsibility to always keep that in mind. Matthew 5:14

3) Failing to act can have lingering consequences. The failure of the institution of Penn State will have lingering consequences, in fact their program will never be the same . As children of God, failing to act can have devastating consequence as well. If we fail to act upon the word of God and become children of his, and if we fail to act and live faithfully according to his word the consequences will be eternal. Matthew 25:33-34.

The Saved Fight!

The Saved Fight!

By Michael Galloway

This past weekend the youth took a trip to Richmond, KY for their Commit Youth Rally. While there one of the speakers told a story that I took to use as the foundation for this article. I did change the story to add some things that I felt would make it work better for this particular purpose.

The speaker told about a Roman soldier he had heard about with a shield made out of tin with the number seventeen on it. The Romans Soldier was looking for someone to fight, however before he could have a match with an opponent he believed that it was important to have someone to keep score. He found someone to Mark the score, and instructed them that this fight was to have sixteen available points in each round and sixteen rounds. He then found an opponent whom he had a quarrel with and wanted to make repent. His opponent was Luke Skywalker from Star Wars. Luke brought 13 light sabers with him to this fight although he could only use three at a time. The Roman soldier had fought in ten fights in his career and had ten wins, but confessed that he couldn’t win unless there was a fair fight. When Luke brought so many light sabers to the match the soldier decided that a referee was essential. The referee had to be someone who was big and strong enough to enforce the rules. For this match they decided to get a big, burly lumberjack who carries an axe on his shoulder and two .38’s on his waist. The lumberjack decided that he would immerse the match in rules to make sure things went well, he realized that if the opponents didn’t like it forgiveness would be given when the match went well because the it had been immersed in rules. This big burly lumberjack saved the fight by making sure that it was fair. His name was Peter and he had been in three matches himself, and had refereed twenty-one others. He realized that a good referee can save a match from disaster. He said that his style of referring can be an example of that as put he put a notch on his axe for the eighth straight match that had gone successful because of the rules that he had made sure were followed.

Obviously this story never happened, however I hope that this story will be beneficial to you remembering some of the passages in the Bible which instruct us in regard to salvation. I hope that you can share this story with someone else.

My Love-Hate Relationship

My Love-Hate Relationship

By Michael Galloway

writer’s note: This is a bulletin article that will be in the church bulletin at the Elizabethtown Church of Christ this week. You may find that my article this week is an unusual article for me, however I hope that it will be beneficial to you.

I love technology, yet hate it at the same time. I hate that technology is many times confusing, difficult to use, and ever changing. I like habit and I don’t usually like change. Technology defies that. What is state of the art today may be outdated tomorrow. I have a love-hate relationship with technology because even though it goes completely against my “I want the simple way”, “I don’t want to change” habitual personality, I have learned the great benefits that I can receive because of new technology. This week I would like to share with you one relatively new thing in technology that helps me be encouraged spiritually and is one thing that I use to grow in knowledge.

Blogging

I believe that blogging is underrated. Please, let me explain. Less than a year ago when people talked about blogging, I was about as uninterested as I could be! However in recent months I have realized that blogging is different than I thought, and in my personal opinion very useful. I used to think that blogging was just about people putting their “personal diary” on the internet. My thoughts were I don’t want to read their diary, and thus I don’t want to read or write a blog! I have recently discovered that most people don’t blog about their personal life, but instead about their professional lives or about things that they have great expertise in. There is blog after blog that has great spiritual content on it that I have discovered. I have my own blog that I keep up and I use the blog to follow some of my “favorite” blogs that are spiritually beneficial. Whenever one of these blogs posts something, my own blog alerts me so I know to read it! The best thing about these blogs is that they are free. Here are three blogs that I would highly recommend for you to check out (There are many other good blogs that I follow as well that I don’t have the space to recommend)!

1)      www.preachinghelp.org This is the blog of Steve Higginbotham, who is a gospel preacher in Knoxville, TN. His blog contains a spiritual perspective on the current events going in our world as well as audio sermons.

2)      www.thejenkinsinstitute.com/ This is the website of the sons of the late Jerry Jenkins; Dale, and Jeff. They have both of their blogs contained on this site as well as a downloadable new publication that they publish called Hope and Expectation that I would recommend.

3)      http://commonsenseprovidence.com/ This is the blog of a guy by the name of Daniel Dalp who attends the Washington Avenue Congregation in Evansville, IN who always has some great things to say!

How to Be Successful

How to Be Successful

By Michael Galloway

In the past several weeks the name Steve Jobs has been on the news quite a bit. Steve Jobs was the Apple Founder, and CEO that was largely responsible for a great deal of the technology that we have today. Steve Jobs has been idolized by the media because he was very successful in what he did. It has also been interesting to me that at the same time that the media has sensationalized the death of Steve Jobs they have also given a large amount of attention to the protests on Wall Street. At the same moment that they have been memorializing Steve Jobs, a very successful entrepreneur, they have been encouraging the protests on Wall Street that would like to punish success, and be given something for nothing. This has brought the question into my mind. How can we become successful in life? The Bible tells us how to be successful. Many organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous use Biblical principles as they instruct individuals on how to be successful. I believe that many of the financial problems in our world today could have been averted if the principles found in the Bible had been applied. Notice several principles of success that God’s word tells us (this is by no means an exhaustive list).

1)      If you do not work, you will not eat! 2 Thessalonians 3:10. Think about how different our world would be if this principle was engrained in people’s minds!

2)      Don’t be lazy! Proverbs 13:4, Matthew 25:26.

3)      Be Honest!  Proverbs 11:1, Revelation 21:8, Luke 16:1-8

4)      Have Self-Control! Galatians 5:22-23

5)      Be a good steward with your money! Matthew 25:14-30

6)      Don’t oppress the poor! Proverbs 22:16

7)      Don’t muzzle the ox! The worker deserves his wages. 1 Timothy 5:18

8)      Realize that money isn’t everything! Matthew 6:19-21, 1 Timothy 6:8-10

The ultimate measure of success will not be judged by the amount of money that you have accumulated but instead by the life that you have lived. Everyone will face death at some point, it doesn’t matter if you are a Steve Jobs, a President of the United States, a “normal” citizen, we will all face death. When death comes the only thing that will matter is have I been successful spiritually? The ultimate success will be living your life to where one day you will have a home in Heaven!

Gospel Meeting? Part 2

Gospel Meeting?

Continued from last week….In several weeks we will be having a gospel meeting here in Elizabethtown. The dates for the gospel meeting will be from Sunday, October 23^rd- Wednesday, October 25^th. Our guest speaker will be Mel Futrell. I can remember that a man who is now a gospel preacher told me that he wouldn’t be a Christian if it wasn’t for gospel meetings. He tells the story that he was invited to a gospel meeting and it changed his life. As we look at the attitude that we should have towards our upcoming meeting I believe this story bears keeping in mind. Last week we looked at the importance of attending our gospel meeting because of the knowledge that would be presented. This week I would like to present some more attitudes that we should have in regard to the gospel meeting.

Evangelism: Matthew 28:18-20

The second reason I hope that you will be excited about our upcoming gospel meeting is the evangelism opportunities that are there. You might be thinking…”but gospel meeting don’t work anymore, nobody gets converted from them.” If that is your attitude about the upcoming gospel meeting, I would encourage you to ask yourself this question: Why? I believe part of the reason is that we don’t invite others like in years past. I would encourage you to meet this challenge: Ask one person to come for each night that we have the gospel meeting. Note that my challenge is not to bring one person but to ask them. After all we must ask them before we can expect them to come. If everybody asks the individuals from our community, there will be some who don’t want to come, but there will also be those who do come. If we can get those from the community to our meetings I believe that they will have the opportunity to hear the gospel proclaimed, and then we can see the fruits evangelistically of a gospel meeting.

Elders: Hebrews 13:17

The third reason I would urge you to have an excited attitude about our upcoming meeting is the elders have decided this will be a beneficial thing for this congregation. Hebrews 13:17 tells us that we should have confidence in our Elder’s decisions and submit to them. We have wonderful elders here in the church at Elizabethtown, and we should submit to them and support the wonderful programs that they set up for the benefit of the congregation.

To be continued….

The Steve Jobs Mentality

The Steve Jobs Mentality

One thing that has absolutely amazed me over the past several years is how far technology has come along. We have gone in just the last decade to PC laptops and desktops to the rise of Apple where they have put out iEverything (which include iPads, iPhone's, iPod's, iMacs, and probably more that I am not thinking of). It is absolutely amazing the fun, useful, and sometimes not so useful things that can be done with this technology. As I have read several articles in the past day, I have realized that these things would not have been possibly without the dedication and commitment of Steve Jobs to the company he created. I believe there are some lessons that we can learn from Steve Jobs:

1) Success takes Work. If Steve Jobs had been lazy and never worked, I don't believe Apple would be what it is today, or really the world of technology. What about Christians? What if we never worked? What would the church be like? Or maybe the better question what would happen if we truly went to work. I believe the possiblilites would be limitless, just as Apple proves to us quite frequently. 2 Thessalonians 3:10

2) Success takes Time. Steve Jobs didn't build the iPod, iPhone or any of the other i's in a day. In fact he didn't even build Apple in a day to what it is now. Success takes time. As children of God we won't convert an entire community within a day. Yet one individual at a time can build the church very well. Matthew 28:18-20.


3) Success takes Commitment. In the 1970's and early 80's, Steve Jobs helped found Apple. Jobs along with several other came out with the old Macintosh computers, as they marketed one of the first successful personal computers. I think it is interesting that from the mid-80's until 1997, Steve Jobs wasn't a part of Apple and it didn't do very well. However, once Jobs came back and joined Apple it flourished. It needed commitment and ideas from Jobs to be successful again. When we think of Christianity the church will not successful be able to function as well as it can until there is commitment from the people that make up the church. Can the church function without everyone committed? Yes! However imagine the possibilities if the church was completely committed as Jobs was towards the end of his life. Imagine everything that could be accomplished! Matthew 6:33


Steve Jobs left every organization several lessons on how to be successful. I sincerely hope that those of us in the church we learn lessons from the success of this man, and remember the same principles that Jesus taught us as he encouraged us to committed, to evangelize, and to not be lazy.

Gospel Meeting?

Gospel Meeting?

editors note: This is the first of three articles that will lead up to our upcoming gospel meeting in Elizabethtown.

In several weeks we will be having a gospel meeting here in Elizabethtown. The dates for the gospel meeting will be from Sunday, October 23^rd- Wednesday, October 25^th. Our guest speaker will be Mel Futrell. I can remember when I was but a little child being told by my parents that we were having a gospel meeting. I can remember that I was so excited about this meeting that I went and invited people. I even invited my favorite teacher at school, my gym teacher (and he came). I can also remember several years later when I wondered “why do I have to go to a gospel meeting every day this week and miss my normal activities?” I wish I had realized at that time the things that I know now. Which attitude describes your attitude about our upcoming gospel meeting? Is it the attitude that I displayed as a little child, or the attitude that I displayed as an early teen? For the next several weeks I would like to look at the reasons we should be excited and come to the gospel meeting.

Knowledge:

The first reason that we should be excited about our upcoming gospel meeting is the knowledge that will be presented. I am so thankful for the eldership here at Elizabethtown and the great leadership that they provide, part of this leadership is selecting preachers to come who know the scripture. I am excited about our upcoming gospel meeting because knowledge will be presented to those in the audience who don’t know the scripture as well as they should, to those who have never heard the gospel, and it will be a great reminder to those whom know the scripture well. I am reminded in 2 Timothy 2:15 the responsibility that we have to “study to show ourselves approved unto God”! I have always been amazed at what happened in Jeremiah’s day under King Josiah. The people of that time had become so worldly that they had forgotten the law. The book of the Law was found when King Josiah restored the temple and when he read it he tore his clothes because they had been living so sinfully. We are in danger of letting history repeat itself if we fail to have a understanding of the Law of God. Gospel meetings are a great way of learning the knowledge that is in the scripture and using that newly learned knowledge as a motivation to go and study diligently and live for Him. Will you come learn at the gospel meeting?

To be continued…..

The FlashForward of a Christian

ABC recently had a TV show called FlashForward as one of its regular programs. The show started off with everyone on the earth blacking out. During this global blackout each person had a FlashForward six months into their future. In the FlashForwards that people had they either saw nothing (meaning that they wouldn’t be alive), saw things they didn’t like, or things that they did like. Throughout the rest of the show we find that people are trying to either stop their FlashForwards’ from coming true, or doing everything possible to make them happen. In Philippians 3:13-14, the Bible tells us to “strain forward to what lies ahead”. As Christians we must concentrate on the future.  What does your future hold? Where will you be in 20 years? What will your Christian life be like? What are you doing to get it to that point? Philippians 3 tells us that if we want to make our “citizenship in Heaven” we must :

1.       Press on towards the Goal (v.14).

2.       Imitate other faithful Christians (v. 17).

3.       Don’t imitate those walking as enemies of Christ (v.18).

4.       Keep our minds off earthly things (v.18).

The Ultimate FlashForward will take everyone to one of two places; Heaven or Hell. The Bible describes Heaven as a beautiful place.

1.       The Bible tells us that Heaven will have no wickedness (Rev. 21:8,27).

2.       The Bible tells us that Heaven will have no death, sorrow, crying, or pain (Rev. 21:4).

3.       The Bible tells us that Heaven will be a beautiful place that is built out of pure gold (Rev. 21:18), will have the “glory of God, and its radiance will be like a most rare jewel “(Rev. 21:11), a place that has beautiful jewels all around it (Rev.21:18-21).

4.       The Bible tells us that Heaven  will have no temple because the Lord God is the Temple (Rev. 21:22).

The Bible also gives us a description of Hell:

1.       The Bible tells us that Hell will be hot (Rev. 21:8).

2.       The Bible tells us that Hell will be a place of torment (Rev 21:8, 2 Thessalonians 1:6, Luke 16:22-24).

3.       The Bible tells us that Hell will be a place you don’t want your family to go (Luke 16:28).

4.       The Bible tells us that Hell is a place that will be away from the presence of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

We have seen where you will be if you get to Heaven, and we have seen a description that the Bible gives us of Hell. You have thought about what you want your life to be like in the future but what are you going to do about it? You have seen it! It is not too late to change. How can you get to Heaven or Hell?  

How to get to Hell:

1.       To get to Hell you MUST disobey God’s commandments. After all this is what Satan wants (1 Peter 5:8).

2.       To get to Hell you MUST never become a Christian. (2 Thessalonians 1:8)

3.       To get to Hell you MUST disregard those around us. (2 Thessalonians 1:6)

·   Forget Kindness (Gal 5)

·   Forget Service (John 13)

·   Forget Love-( 1 Cor. 13:13)

4.       To get to Hell you MUST ignore Evangelism.

5.       To get to Hell you MUST just do the minimum. (Rev. 3:15-16)

Obviously I would hope that nobody would want to go to Hell, and that all would want to go to Heaven instead. If want to get to Heaven we must do they opposite of what it takes to get to Hell. C. S. Lewis was told about a gravestone inscription that read; “Here lies an atheist – all dressed up and no-where to go.” Lewis quietly replied, “I bet he wishes that were so.” Heaven and Hell are real places. The question is:

Where will your Ultimate FlashForward take you?

Wine is a Mocker

It was a normal church event for those involved. In my work I have taken many a group of youth on a trip just like this. The youth group had decided to take a trip to King’s Island and had taken the church bus which was actually a school bus. I can imagine the group having a blast of fun at the amusement park until it was time to come home. The kids on the bus were probably tired, maybe a little cranky; after all it was 11:00 PM by this point. I can imagine that the chaperones on that bus were anxious to get back and be with their families and sleep in their own bed. Sadly for many that would never happen. It wasn’t because their families didn’t want them to be home with them again, it was because they weren’t given the opportunity. At around 11 PM on May 14, 1988 a drunk driver collided with this church bus filled with husbands, wives, children, siblings, friends, relatives. When everything was said and done 24 youth, and 3 adults had tragically passed away. Ten other individuals suffered disfiguring burns, hearts were broken; divorces resulted, a child’s foot had to be amputated, hundreds suffered. It is impossible to tell the contribution to our world that those 24 youth might have made. They might have been doctors who would have saved lives, researchers who could have had the cure for cancer, soldiers to protect our freedom. Instead they didn’t have the chance. Alcohol made sure of that. In the ten years since 9/11 we have had as many people in the state of Kentucky die from alcohol related crashes alone as in 9/11. How tragic life can be. Abe Lincoln said that alcohol has many defenders, but has no defense I believe that his words ring so true. There are several reasons why I will never take a sip of alcohol; I will like to share some of these reasons:

Fact # 1: Alcohol doesn’t glorify God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

            I realize that there are other things that you can drink besides alcohol that doesn’t glorify God. There is not one thing that I know about alcohol that glorifies God. In fact, I would venture to say most by-products of alcohol do the exact opposite they deglorify God. Alcohol use is said to be involved in 50% of all murders, accidental deaths, and suicides. It is said to be involved in 33% of all drowning, boating, and aviation deaths. It is involved in 50% of all crimes (drug-rehabs.org). That doesn’t sound like things that glorify God to me.

Fact # 2: Drinking Leads to Drunkenness. Ephesians 5:18, Galatians 5:21, 1 Corinthians 6:10

            I don’t think anyone would argue that drunkenness is shown to be sinful by God’s holy word. An individual that never drinks will never have to worry about getting drunk. The point at which an individual gets drunk is different for everyone. The only way to know how much alcohol must be consumed by an individual to get drunk is to actually get drunk. Thus, the only way to be certain that we will not get drunk is to not drink.

Fact # 3: Consequences can be Detrimental

When I was a sophomore in college, I worked as a volunteer firefighter for the city of Henderson, TN. I can remember one morning about 12:15 A.M. I received a page, and was paged out to the Highway 45 in Henderson. I will never forget the devastation that I would see that morning. I can remember seeing smoke coming out of a car that no longer looked like a car. I remember seeing a semi-truck turned over in a ditch, children toys and debris lining the road. I saw a body that no longer had life in it sprawled out in the road. I found out later that the car had been traveling at over 90 miles an hour the wrong way down the highway when it hit the semi-truck. When I was informed of this I thought why in the world would someone do that? I was then told that the teenage boy had been drinking. I will never forget what I saw that morning, I will also never forget the heartache that I felt at around 2:45 A.M. I was getting ready to leave the scene, when a voice started calling out to us. I looked over and a lady and several children were standing at a fence, looking at us with confused and teary eyes. The lady asked if the boy had survived and we didn’t say anything which told her everything that she needed to know, and she burst out in tears crying, “Why?” The boy was related to the woman and children. 

In 2007, 14,406 individuals died from alcohol related liver disease. In this same year 23,199 people died from alcohol related instances and this number excludes accidents and homicides (cdc.gov). In the United States 50,000 individuals get alcohol poisoning every week. Over 14 million people in the United States are addicted to alcohol. That statistic averages out to one in every thirteen adult. 65 people die every day on the U.S. Highways because of alcohol. Alcoholics spend on average four times the amount of time in the hospital during a lifetime than a non-alcoholic. The cost of untreated alcohol and drug abuse costs our country over 265 billion dollars every year in law enforcement costs, health care, welfare, and lost productivity. Drunk Drivers cause half of all highway fatalities. Alcohol is a factor in nearly half of all accidents, suicides, and murders (alcohol-information.com).  The consequences of alcohol are deadly, and cause so much harm in our country each and every day.

Fact # 4: Alcohol is Addictive. 1 Corinthians 6:12

It is said that more individuals are addicted to alcohol than any other substance. Yet Paul tells us that he will not be enslaved by anything. When we are dealing with a substance as addictive as alcohol, it cannot be guaranteed when the first sip is taken that we will not become addicted. We cannot guarantee that if we drink alcohol our influence will not cause someone else to drink, become addicted, and have major problems come about as a result of the addiction.

Fact # 5: Alcohol is not beneficial. 1 Corinthians 10:23

            Alcohol is not something that builds others up. As this article has shown through the many statistics that have been given, alcohol can cause quite a bit of heartache in the life of those who have abused it. As we ponder this subject, and think about the harm that alcohol can cause, the words of Paul ring loudly in my ears, “All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up”. Even if alcohol was allowed by the word of God, which this writer believes that it is not, this principle alone should keep us from using it and supporting it. After all alcohol is a substance that tears lives down, not builds them up.

Alcohol made sure the kids in that bus crash, and many other crashes never had the chance to live their lives, history tends to repeat itself if we give it the chance. Let us do all that we can to stop alcohol and its deadly path. “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” (Proverbs 20:1).

The Ugly Duckling

Once upon a time there was a story told of a mother duck. The mother was sitting on her eggs waiting for them to hatch. The day finally came when these eggs hatched, and out came several beautiful young ducklings. The mother realized there was one large egg left. The egg finally hatched and out came what the mother thought was a large ugly duckling. This “ugly duckling” was made fun of by the ducks and animals that he came across. Finally after he could take it no more he decided to go try to hang out with the swans as a last ditch effort. When the “ugly duckling” got close to the swans he was amazed by their reactions, until he looked down into the water and realized that he was no longer “ugly” but had grown into a beautiful swan. As I read this fable I couldn’t help but realize the great lessons that it holds for children of God.

1)    Realize the Potential! In the story of the “ugly duckling” the “duckling” was ugly on the outside yet would turn into something beautiful. As Christians if we just look at what someone is now we will miss out on opportunities to evangelize. We must look at the potential that individuals hold to become children of God. The Bible says in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” If you remember the story of Saul of Tarsus the individuals in his day didn’t believe that he had the potential to become a child of God’s, yet Jesus did. Saul went from being on the fast track to becoming a powerful Pharisee, and being one of the worst persecutors of his time to being one of the most persecuted Christians of his time. Saul went from being an “ugly duckling” to a beautiful swan (Christian).

2)     Nurture the Potential! In the story of the “ugly duckling” the “duckling” wasn’t nurtured and helped, instead the “duckling” was made fun of and treated horribly. As a Christian when we see those that have potential we must not just realize the potential that they hold yet do something about it. We must teach the gospel, and encourage them. The Bible says, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

Everyone has the potential to become a child of God. The gospel is for all. What are you doing to help turn the “ugly ducklings” into “beautiful swan”?

Winning the Race

Winning the Race

The story was told of a hare and a tortoise; the hare was boasting of his speed and how nobody could beat him in a race. The tortoise accepted his challenge. The hare raced ahead and decided because he was so far ahead that he would take a nap, and lie down and show up the tortoise. The tortoise kept up the pace and by the time the hare woke up the tortoise was nearing the finish line. It was too late for the hare to catch up. I believe as children of God there are lessons that can be learned from this fable. As Christians we are running a race as well. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 9:24-25, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we are imperishable”. Here are several things for us to keep in mind as we run the Christian race.

1)      Steady wins the race. In the fable the hare was very quick compared to the slow tortoise. However although the tortoise was slow, he was steady. In order to win a race a good pace is essential. If a runner tries to run too fast they will likely run out of steam before the finish line. If they run too slow they will never get there. In the Christian life if you run too fast you may make a decision that God would not want you to make, after all the devil is out there  “seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The Proverbs writer said, “Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way”.

2)      Take a break, and it may be too late. In the fable, the hare thought that he was doing well and decided to take a break. This break ended up being his demise. As Christians we must not take breaks from the Christian way because we never know when it might be too late. We must be wary of those trying to lead us off the path of righteousness. The devil will try to get us to stray off the path just a little bit just like the hare did, however we must resist. In reference to the devil,  1 Peter 5:9 says, “resist him, firm in your faith…” We must do our best to continually stay on the path to righteousness.

3)      Have endurance, keep goal in sight. In Hebrews 12:1 the bible says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…” There will be times in the race that we will get tired. However when that happens we must endure. We must use the cloud of witnesses. We must look to Jesus, as our motivation. It is essential that in order to not get burdened down on the race path we lay aside the weight of the sin slowing us down and making us tired! In order for us to do this we must keep the finish line in sight that was made possible for us by Christ. There will come a time in which this world will end and there will be a judgment day (2 Corinthians 5:10). Our life on this earth is like the fog in the morning it is only here for a short time (James 4:14). We must stay on the path.

How are you doing in your race? Are you like the tortoise or the hare? Will you be able to say what Paul did in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing”.

“Not by the Hair of my Chinny Chin Chin”

“Not by the Hair of my Chinny Chin Chin”

Once upon a time…there were three little pigs. The pigs went out into the world to seek their fortunes. The first pig decided to build a house out of straw. A wolf came along and huffed and puffed and blew the house down. The second pig decided to build his house out of sticks. Once again the wolf came along and huffed and puffed and blew the pig’s house down. The third pig built his house out of bricks. The wolf came along and huffed and puffed but couldn’t blow the house down. The house was built too well. Jesus talks about the importance of a great foundation in Matthew 7:24-27. Jesus describes a wise man and a foolish man. The wise man built his house on the rock. The foolish man built his on sand, and “it fell, and great was the fall of it.” What kind of foundation do you have in your Christian life? Is it a foundation that will stand strong and the wolf will have trouble blowing down? Here are some things for us to keep in mind about our foundation.

1)    It must be built out of the correct materials.  In the story of the three little pigs, the first two pigs had trouble because their house wasn’t built very strongly. In the story of the wise man and foolish man, the foolish man’s house fell down because it was build out of sand. In order for us to have a strong foundation we must build a solid foundation like the third pig, and the wise man. We must build our foundation on Jesus, the chief cornerstone (Luke 20:7) and his words that are found in the Bible.

2)    It must be maintained.  If the foundation of a house is not maintained, the house will develop major problems. The same is true with the foundation of a Christian. If we neglect to pay attention to our foundation it will become weak. If the chief cornerstone aka Jesus is taken out then the foundation will be destroyed. We must remember to continue to study, and reason through scriptures, and keep the foundation of our faith strong. We must not forget the importance of being around the Church which Jesus died for, nor forget the importance of attending worship and Bible class and committing our life to him.

If the wolf came and huffed and puffed at your foundation would it fall down or stand firm? Would your foundation live happily ever after….?

Little Red Christian

Little Red Christian

By Michael Galloway

Once upon a time…we find a girl who was trying to take food to her grandmother. As she is taking this food she comes across a wolf. The wolf acted like he was looking after her best interests however in reality he was trying to eat Little Red Riding Hood. The wolf finds out that the innocent girl is going to her grandmother’s house. I think we all remember the ending of this story. The wolf gets to the grandmother’s house before Little Red Riding Hood and eats her grandmother and then proceeds to eat Little Red Riding Hood. Little Red Riding Hood was so oblivious of the evil in the world that the wolf tricked her and it ultimately led to her being eaten by the wolf. I believe that there are some spiritual applications that we can make to this classic fable.

1)      Beware. There are wolfs out there in the world. The Bible warns us of these wolves. Matthew 7:15 says, "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves”. There are people in the world who are trying to “eat us up” spiritually. We must beware of these individuals and organizations and stay away from falling into the false doctrine that they teach.

1)      Study. The problem with Little Red Riding Hood was that she was so oblivious that she didn’t understand what was going on. I could easily see that happening to children of God if they lack the Biblical knowledge necessary to distinguish between false doctrine and the true doctrine of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Are you doing your best in your study of God’s word?

1)      Fight. Little Red Riding Hood was so oblivious that she was eaten without even a fight. As Christians we must fight to defeat the false doctrine of the world, and to prevent others from being “eaten” by this false doctrine.

Are you a modern day Little Red Riding Hood? Are you oblivious of what is sound doctrine and what is false doctrine? Let me encourage you to study God’s word and not get eaten by the wolves of the world and live happily ever after in Heaven with God.

Youth Event Ideas

One of the purposes I have for this blog is to not only share articles I have written but also to share youth event ideas that I have done with the youth at the Elizabethtown Church of Christ.

This past Friday night I had a TnT for my kids here. TnT stands for Teen Night Together. The purpose of this event is to give the kids something to do that is fun and a venue to bond. We also have a devo thought at the event where we discuss cultural things that they have to face. This past friday I set my projector up in our fellowship hall and showed the movie ELF. I cooked dinner for the kids and made spaghetti and meat sauce along with Texas Toast. I also had toppings so they could make spaghetti elf style.The kids loved it!

The Family of God

The Family of God

By Michael Galloway

            It was in the television show, M*A*S*H that it was said, "I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family he is rich." This statement has so much truth in it; if we have family we are so rich. It is wonderful that God gave us a family; not just an immediate family, but also a spiritual family. Why is the spiritual family so important?

            First, the spiritual family is important because we can suffer together. The church, our spiritual family, is supposed to "bear one another’s burdens." It is our brothers and sisters in Christ who can help us get through trials together. Although the church can help us when we are weak, it is also our obligation to help others when they are weak (Romans 15:1-3). The church works both ways after all Christ didn't just come to be served but to serve. As members of the family of God we must have the exact same attitude, we must not just be served, but we must also serve others.

            Second, the family of God is so important because we can help each other get to heaven. As Christians we can help our fellow Christians from falling into apostasy. We can encourage our family when our brothers and sisters need that extra boost (1 Thessalonians 5:11). When members of the spiritual family are falling, we can be like Paul (Galatians 2:11) when he corrected Peter because "he stood condemned." Our job as members of the family of God is to first and foremost serve God. The second great commandment is to love one another, which is essential to help each other get to heaven. If we love God we will encourage and correct one another with love, because love should cause us to want each other to get to heaven.

            Last, we should rejoice together (3 John 1:3-4). If we are doing everything possible to serve God, and to help our fellow Christians get to heaven we should be rejoicing with one another. Many times Christianity is looked at as a religion that takes all the joy out of life. In reality, Christianity does the exact opposite and puts joy into life. If you want happiness, you must have a purpose in life. Christianity has that purpose, which is to serve God, and get to heaven. As the family of God we can rejoice because we can realize that one-day it will all be over and we can be with each other in heaven.

            The family of God, the church has such great riches for us as Christians trying to follow God's will on earth. It is a church that can lead us to even greater riches, on that beautiful day when we get to heaven.

Debt Ceiling of a Christian

For the past several weeks one of the top news stories has been whether or not a debt ceiling deal will get accomplished in time for the United States to avoid defaulting on its payments.  As I have read about the ongoing debt crisis in Washington D.C. I have not been able to help but make spiritual applications.

1)    How many times do we have to raise the “debt ceiling” in our personal spiritual lives? Every time that we fall short of the glory of God and sin (Romans 3:23) we are indebted to Jesus Christ. We are able to receive the forgiveness of sins once we have become children of God (Acts 2:38).

2)    What are we doing to keep our “debt ceiling” from rising? I am so thankful for what Jesus has done for me in my life; however because of our thankfulness to Jesus Christ we should be working hard to stop falling more in his “debt” or sinning. We should be working to do our very best to follow him and his word. What are you doing to keep your debt to Christ from rising? Are you reading the word of God on a consistent basis (2 Timothy 2:15)? Are you praying without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)?

3)    In order to keep the “debt ceiling” from rising tough choices have to be made! In the United States tough choices are going to have to be made to balance the budget and cut the federal deficit. In our spiritual lives it takes tough choices to resist the temptations of the devil (1 Peter 5:8). As Christians we have to be making the tough decisions in order to live in the world but not of the world and to live for Christ (James 4:4, John 15:19). Are you making those tough choices for Christ and avoiding sin?

4)    How thankful are we for the “debt ceiling” that Christ has given us? If Christ had not given us a “debt ceiling” it would be tough if not impossible for us to live with him someday in Heaven. Christ died for us on the cross and shed his blood in order that we could have the forgiveness of sins. How thankful I am that Christ died for me and for you. As Christians we all have sinned (1 John 1:8), and without the blood of Christ we would have no hope. I am thankful for the “debt ceiling” and hope that Christ gives us.

Romans 6:23 tells us “For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (ESV). God loves us so much that he sent his son to die for us (John 3:16). How does your life reflect your love for him?