Is it possible that the church has wandered away from it's primary objective, loving God and loving our neighbor, and fallen into the dreadful pit of tradition? So many today that name the name of Christ live a life of legalistic, judgmental ugliness that in no way mirrors the life of Christ. Serving the Lord is more than refraining from sin, it is also heading into the darkened world as He did and sharing the good news of the love and power of God to save and deliver. 

Paul tells us two absolute truths in Romans 3.23-24; the first is that all of us have sinned and are guilty of causing the death of Christ. Second, God loves us so much He was willing to offer His Son as our sacrifice. Often we focus on one of the other. We are either so focused on sin that we beat ourselves up and are hyper judgmental of our neighbor. We can also be so swept up in our flesh that we begin to justify sin by claiming we are loved by God so we do not need to correct any bad behavior. Both are applicable. God loves us so He corrects us, He corrects us because He wants us to experience His peace and joy. My sin required the blood of Jesus be shed, but it was God's love that sent Him to suffer and die. Join us as we discuss this today.

There will be times in all of our lives when we ask the question "why". God why did this happen? God why are you letting me go through this? God why won't you answer my prayer? God why are you silent? In today's message we discuss how there are things that happen to us in life that do not make sense in the moment, but that God has a plan and in hindsight we can see how God can work out even the most horrible experiences and turn them around for good.  

The church is not made up of super saints that have illustrious reputations and super human skill. It is made up of normal, everyday people who let the Lord use them in supernatural ways to do the extraordinary work He calls them to. On today's podcast we study Romans 16.5-15 as Paul tells of some very important people that had made incredible impressions in his life and who had been very impactful in his faith and his ministry. He doesn't list the rich and famous influencers of the world at that time. These are normal folks, the salt of the earth. It is the same type of people that God is using today.  

What does it mean to be submitted to God? Many claim to be followers of God but their lives are lived in opposition to His Word and His will. On today's podcast we discuss James 4:6-7, and how James explains what true submission to the Lord means. It is not what we do or do not do in terms of opinion or tradition, but rather obedience to the Lord that determines submersion

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In Genesis 18:9-18, Sarah laughs privately at the promise of the Lord to give her a child. Her thought was, "howwer you going to do that for an old woman like me?". Often we become content in the place we are in life, just accepting it as the norm. We begin to look at the obstacles in our life and simply quit expecting any other outcome than disappointment. We begin to look at how things are and feel it is too much to expect anything to change.  God is able to make a way where there doesn't appear to be one. Stop laughing at the Word of the Lord. Accept it as fact. He will keep His promises. 

We all go through times as believers where we wonder when God is going to work out the situation we are dealing with. We know He is faithful, but in the process of time we will feel the weight of the stress of waiting and as any child will do, we ask God how much longer will this take. "When are you going to resolve this?", or as we hear in the South, "whenner you going to resolve this?'. It isn't that we are questioning God, it is simply our heart crying out in the anguish we are experiencing and asking for reassurance. Is He faithful? Of course. Does that take away the pain we feel in the process. No. We are human. He knows that. He loves us. And He understands our eagerness to get out of the struggle we are in. David asks some strong questions in Psalm 13. He also gives strong answers. David knew the pain, but he also knew the faithfulness of the promise of the Lord. 

On today's podcast we continue our series on adoption. Jo Carole Ellis joins us to discuss the experience that she and her husband Paul had in adopting their son, Brady. She shares with us how an overseas adoption works, the ups and downs of the process, the worries and concerns, and the ultimate joy of getting to bring their little boy home. 

Jesus has called the called to exhibit His love in action, to be light in darkness, to be order in chaos. Paul makes reference to this in Philippians 2:1-2. There is no greater witness to the love of Jesus than His body, the family, the Church being one with each other. Unity is the precious blessing of the working of the Holy Spirit within the Church. Our enemy, the devil, seeks to destroy the unity of the Church, for the purpose of debilitating it and leaving it dysfunctional. If unity is Jesus' desire, then disunity is the goal of the enemy. May the Church reject the attempts to breed disunity and may we live in "thisunity". 

Romans 16:1-2