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Suppressing the truth incites the wrath of God, but embracing the truth invites the righteousness of God. Tune in to hear Pastor Chuck Swindoll teach on the idolatry, immorality, and iniquity of the early church as seen in Romans 1.

From the Series: Romans: The Christian’s Constitution

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Dr. Heather Holleman examines different components of conversation—from casual and emotional to sharing the way we think and believe to unlock connection with others. She offers tools to effectively communicate and spread God’s love with those you encounter. You’ll learn how to add graciousness to your conversation so you can have stronger, warmer connections.

Get a copy of The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting in an Age of Isolation and Incivility, for a gift of any amount.

Buy your copy of Jim Daly’s book, ReFOCUS! He shares how believers can engage others in the culture with the love of Christ and reveal the heart of God.

Sign Up for the Premiere of Truth Rising, a new documentary from Focus on the Family and the Colson Center.

Join renowned teacher and Bible scholar Ray Vander Laan as he examines what it means to be a follower of Christ through the cultural, historical, and otherwise contextual lens of Scripture.

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There's a 7-Eleven store owner in Texas who won my respect some years ago. Never met the man, but I really respect his creativity. He had this particular problem every night in his parking lot. A bunch of teenagers would gather there and their rock music would blare from their cars and then they kind of took over their neighborhood with decibels. And when they left, they'd leave a trail of litter and broken bottles.

Now, he could have gone out in the parking lot and yelled and screamed, and said, "You crazy kids, get out of here!" But he was much more creative and effective than that. He installed his own speakers on the roof of his store and started playing Mozart in the parking lot at night. His speakers were so big he was drowning out their speakers. I'll bet you could guess and guess correctly what happened! No more teenagers in the parking lot! They're not going to go near that Mozart stuff. His music cleared the parking lot. Now, that's a great way to win.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Drowning Out the Disturbing Music."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Deuteronomy 6. It is addressed to parents who have just moved out of the wilderness. They're moving into the Promised Land of Canaan, but it's a pagan place. They've been raising their children around people who believe what they believe. Now, they're going to have to raise their children in a pagan culture, a pleasure-mad, godless environment. There's going to be a lot of temptation for their kids, and the children will be hearing the siren song of Canaan blasting through the neighborhood.

How do parents deal with all these pagan influences? It sounds like the atmosphere in which we're raising our kids, doesn't it? Do you go out and yell and scream against all the sin? That might not be the best approach. Deuteronomy 6, beginning with verse 6: "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

Seems like the strategy that God suggests here is to drown out the music of a godless earth with the music of a Christ-centered home. You can create in your family an island of sanity in an otherwise insane world. We hear all the appealing voices and temptations of a sinful culture, and oftentimes we act like we're afraid of that as if they really have something to offer. We cloister our kids; we try to pretend there is no other music. But God says in essence, "You can't stop the world from playing its alluring attractions for your children, but you can play the music of Jesus louder. How do you do that? Impress His teachings on your children. It doesn't just say tell them or teach them. It says to impress them.

Now, if you want to make an impression on something physically, you've got to be right next to it, in touch with it. That's how you impress something. Well, see, this is close-up time! It's not just teaching Christian answers; it's spending lots of that close-up time with them. It's interweaving God talk and God values into their everyday activities. Wrapping them in your God stories. The best place to learn about Him, to see the reality of your faith is in the classroom of everyday life. It's debriefing your child daily from their venture into the world. The greater impression is when they see you loving Jesus, enjoying Jesus, meeting with Jesus yourself. Not so much pushing Jesus - enjoying Him; a spontaneous faith treats Jesus like the unseen member of our family; the decisive person in all the things that matter to you.

The world can't play music like that, so don't was

During a heated game between two long-standing local high school soccer rivals, the Eagles and the Pioneers, the Eagles kicked the ball into the goal. The ball went into the net but exited the back of the net through a hole. The referee didn’t see the ball enter the goal, and seeing the ball outside the net ruled it was not a score. The Pioneers’ coach saw the goal and voluntarily confirmed the Eagles coach’s claim, even though he could have remained silent. The referee counted the goal. The Pioneers lost the game 3–2.

While it’s easy to speak up when it’s for our benefit, the Bible encourages Christians to “always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else” (1 Thessalonians 5:15). Going beyond our normal inclination to do good for our friends, the difficult aspect of this command is working to do good for even our rivals without benefiting from our actions or expecting anything back in return (Luke 6:35). 

Doing good for a rival or competitor may mean speaking up for a coworker’s effort to complete a sale even if that means she might get the bigger bonus. Doing good might mean raking a neighbor’s leaves even if he is unlikely to say thank you.

As we actively make an effort to do good toward others, we demonstrate that God’s love extends to everyone.

The post Rev. Art Larson – Freedom From Fear – True Freedom appeared first on MGO Radio/Canada's National Bible Hour.

It’s easy to confuse Elisha with his mentor Elijah. Not only do their names sound similar but they also performed similar miracles. Come along with us to explore how Elisha and Elijah were similar, how they were different, and how they both represented God’s nature. Discover how Elisha went on to do even greater things than Elijah and how through their story we find out what God can do for us!

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The unassuming violinist, donning a baseball cap and T-shirt, set up near Washington D.C.’s L’Enfant Plaza subway station. He moved the bow across the strings, making melodious tunes. But commuters rushed past, oblivious. He played an entire music program with only a handful of people stopping to listen. If the crowd had only known they were rushing past Joshua Bell, one of the greatest virtuosos of our generation who the night before played at the Library of Congress. Bell played several of the most difficult, mesmerizing violin pieces in the world, all on a 1713 Stradivarius worth roughly $3.5 million.

It’s easy to be unaware, to miss wonders right in front of us. This was Jacob’s experience as he journeyed to Haran (Genesis 28:10). He stopped and set up camp in a simple spot that seemed like any other, just a place to lay his head for the night. God appeared to him in a midnight dream, however, telling him that his numerous descendants would bless “all peoples on earth” (v. 14). He also assured Jacob that He would “watch over [him] wherever [he] would go” (v. 15). When he awoke, Jacob said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it” (v. 16).

God is everywhere, “[filling] heaven and earth” (Jeremiah 23:24). He’s present in the most ordinary places. Our invitation is to keep our eyes and ears open, to watch and listen for God.

In this special Labor Day episode, follow the residents of an apartment building as they wrestle with pain, debt, and despair, searching for an answer to their weariness. Could the simple faith of a young girl’s song be the beginning of hope in the face of their heaviest burdens. Find out on the next Unshackled!