God hasn’t given up on disobedient Jonah, who represents the people of God. The Lord’s message to Jonah begins, “Get up.” God’s messages to people often begin with those words “Get up.” [powerpress] Video and full text available on our Messages page.
In many ways, Jonah shows us how *not* to pray. Don’t focus so much on yourself and your needs. Pray focused on God and what God wants for your life. Don’t look down upon others in your prayers. Don’t make promises to God in order to get what you want. Jonah prays about being in…
Jonah, however, is upset with God’s command to go to preach to a people he dislikes because of their violence and their mistreatment of his nation. In Jonah’s mind, the Ninevites deserve to be punished and should get what’s coming to them, rather than receiving a second chance to turn their lives around. [powerpress] Video…
What a story. After reading a story like this, we need to ask ourselves a question. What does this story have to do with us today? What can we practically take from this biblical account of Daniel’s life to help us in our walk with God? I believe there are two big lessons we can…
The climate in our country is such that overt racism and anti-Semitism, and related attacks and violence are on the rise. This should be forcefully and clearly condemned by all of us. There is a lack of respect in public behavior and discourse; a disregard for truth, a lack of concern for the common good…
James illustrates the power of the tongue as he builds to his greatest concern: “With the same mouth we bless the Lord and Father, and we curse those who are made in the likeness of God…. This ought not to be so.” While most of us would agree with James, we’d also have to confess…
James emphasizes the importance of putting into practice what we hear from God’s Word so that we’re doers of the Word because faith without works is dead. James says true faith expresses itself in action, in deeds, particularly in acts of mercy to widows and orphans, to those who are poor and in need. Faith…
Mercy triumphs over judgment. You wouldn’t know that from a lot of Christian history, it might not be apparent from observing how many Christians live, speak and act toward other people, but God’s word says, more than once, that mercy triumphs over judgment. Too often Christians seem to be better at and more frequent practitioners…
Anger. The word itself has an ugly, unpleasant sound. Anger is a word we associate with screaming, yelling, things being broken, abuse, violence, and murder. Not all anger is sinful; in fact, focused and disciplined properly, anger can lead to positive action, protection, justice, or change. [powerpress] Video and full text available on our Messages…