Every Christian has the opportunity to do something bold for Christ. As sojourners in a fallen world, we are surrounded with endless opportunities to impact those around us with the Gospel. Christ’s Great Commission challenges us to make disciples of the nations and proclaim the name of the Lord to all. Rebecca Fuller and Jessica […]
Project HOPE Art
The term “Art” can be a very broad term open to interpretation. The picture that may first come to mind would be paintings or sculptures cordoned off by glass and velvet ropes, viewable only to a select few that have paid for the opportunity to view them. Upon looking on them, it’s easy to imagine […]
OLD HABITS DIE HARD
How to grow in Christlikeness and be truly changed
“As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15). As believers, we often misread this verse. We replace the word ‘holy’ with the word ‘perfect’ and throw our hands up in defeat. C.S. Lewis says “Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose […]
Music of the Heart
Worshiping God in melody and mundaneness
I have been playing the bass guitar for nearly a decade. I began when I was a teenager and over time have learned to play from the different styles and techniques of musicians I admire. It took a few years and a lot of practice to get where I am and stay focused on where […]
A DIFFERENT KIND OF NEIGHBOR
Living and loving without going out of your way
They say good fences make good neighbors, but I say that all depends on your definition of neighbor. My childhood neighbors consisted of a gossip and the crabby couple in the houses behind mine, and a troubled five-year-old boy across the street. There was also my Barbie-playing-buddy next door. We had a give-and-take relationship—she took […]
Lord of All
The 1st Commandment contains a full life in God's community
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” The first commandment in Exodus 20 establishes for the people of Israel, who are newly without certain governance, having been successfully and miraculously led out of […]
ABIDE
A dictionary of Christian jargon for the ordinary person
What does it mean to abide? The dictionary defines abiding as staying, living, or dwelling. When the Bible speaks of abiding it usually speaks of abiding in someone rather than something. It usually speaks of abiding in Christ. And totally boggles the mind. Our minds can comprehend staying with someone or near someone. When it […]
RELATIONSHIP REBOOT
What does it mean to be born again?
I gave my life to Christ on Christmas Eve, 1994 in Riverside, California at Harvest Church. Harvest Church is better known statewide for its “Harvest Crusade” festivals every year that pack the Anaheim Angels baseball stadium. The senior pastor, Greg Laurie, leads the meetings every year by bringing the same “why we’re in need of […]
In a Field Longing to Be Fed
A look at the parable of the prodigal son
The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10), and at nineteen, I was utterly lost. Jesus found me on Friday, March 12, 2004 at 4:10 PM. I encountered him face to face in a vision. Shortly after I became a Christian I moved to California to grow in my […]
RECOVERING EDEN
Growth abounds from the ground up in the community garden
The first earthly paradise, according to Genesis, was a garden. Chapter 2 of the first book of the Bible tells us that after God created his perfect universe “and saw that it was good,” he made the pinnacle of his creation–human beings. God then “planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the […]