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Brandi Wilson shares the grief, anger, and loneliness of an unwanted divorce. She shares compassionate, practical insight for single parents. You’ll be encouraged in the incredible hope we have in Christ –to heal families, even when a marriage ends.
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When our oldest child was born, they didn't even let fathers go into the labor room. That was nice. Then when our second one was born, fathers must have gotten a little smarter. They let us go into the labor room, but not the delivery room. And by the time our third one was born, hey, fathers had really gotten smart! I was actively involved with the doctor in the delivery. But, of course, I couldn't just walk right into the delivery room. No! First, I had to do what the doctor and nurse had to do - scrub up! Oh yeah, they made sure I washed thoroughly with disinfectant. Then they covered every part of me but my hands and my eyes and my nose - and they put a mask over my mouth, a thoroughly ugly cap on my head and this goofy smock over my clothes. My only consolation was the doctor looked as geeky as I did. They gave me paper booties, oh that was cool, but I understood. They can't allow any dirt to infect that environment. You've got to be clean to get in.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Dirt Allowed."
It seems like more people are thinking more these days about spiritual issues. That's a good thing, including what happens after we take our last breath. One area of curiosity is heaven - which we can guess about if we want, or we can get our information from the One who made heaven, who lives there, who sets the standards for going there. Of course, that would be God. Who, in the Bible, describes heaven, not as a state of mind, but as a very real, very mind-blowing place.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Revelation 21:4. It is a partial description of heaven. "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain." Later it says, "The great street of the city was of pure gold." Imagine! This is what we consider the most precious substance on earth. We'll be walking on it in heaven! It's pavement. We can't begin to imagine the glory of this eternal destination.
Then in that same passage, here's something very disturbing, "Nothing impure will ever enter it," He says, "nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life" (Revelation 21:27). God says heaven is a lot like that delivery room; no one is allowed in there who isn't clean. They would infect an environment that has to be pure. God's saying here that He can't allow anyone with sin into heaven or it won't be heaven any more.
But here's why that's so disturbing. Romans 3:10 in the Bible says, "There is no one righteous, not even one." Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Well, if sinners can't get into heaven, then you and I have no chance no matter how religious we are. No matter how much good we do, it doesn't remove any of the dirt of a lifetime of choices that were "my way" instead of God's way, that defied what God wanted. The scriptures show us that there will be a lot of surprised people in hell; people who thought they could get to heaven by being good enough. But their good didn't remove the sin that keeps people out of heaven.
But this verse mentions those who will enter heaven - those in the Lamb's Book of Life. Your name goes there when you get every sin of your life erased from God's book. Here's the only disinfectant that can do that. 1 John 1:7 says, "The blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin." Our only hope of being clean enough to enter heaven is what Jesus did when He died on the cross to take the death penalty that we deserved to pay for our sin. The question is, has there ever been a time when, in your heart, you've stood at Jesus' cross and basically said, "Lord, I'm putting my total trust in you to forgive me, to erase my sins from your book? You're my only hope."
If you've never done that, if yo
When you think about organized religion what comes to mind? In this message, Chip explains what God intended the Church to be - a place of authenticity and love, in order to teach His children to live lives of integrity.
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America is dealing with a major pandemic – and it has nothing to do with a virus from China. We are in the midst of a mental health crisis costing us billions of dollars in lost productivity. How do we, as a nation, tackle this growing problem impacting millions of people? Join us as we visit Dr. John Delony, who will help us walk through ‘the tough stuff’ of life and will share how the workplace has an impact on mental health and offer solutions for real change.
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There are a lot of things in the Bible that are hard to understand. In this introduction to the “Love Incorruptible” series from Ephesians, Pastor J.D. explains predestination and helps us see that while some things are not meant to be understood, we can know this: we were chosen for the glory of God. When we embrace that truth, it gives us the power to persist in trials as God works out his good plan in us.
God wants us to grow into responsibility, not avoid it. Dr. Tony Evans explains how maturity and obedience are key steps toward experiencing true freedom.
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