Eph. 2:8,9 – For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

I have to laugh thinking back about the CD cover of one of our Victory Fellowship music projects called ON AND ON. It was a photograph of someone (actually it was Missionary James Widener) fully clothed and swimming in the bottomless ocean of God’s love. We were in an unusual season of outpouring at our church and it seemed as if we..

Merry Thursday by Parris
“For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God?

He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places” Ps. 18:31
Saint Augustine loved to speak on Christ being his holy joy. His taste changed when Christ stepped in. When he becomes our rock, Augustine says, “we are passing lightly through the thorny and shady incumbrance of this world.” Matthew Henry says the rock is “A fountain emitting continual supplies of grace and goodness”. Watch out..

2 Cor. 2:14-16 ¶ But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?

You ever wonder about this verse in the Bible, what is Paul talking about? Actually he is comparing Christ..

Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.

I read Job from a different perspective after Hurricane Katrina ravaged our city. I never dreamed in a million years that I would see such devastation. There were miles and miles of utter destruction, not a bird or animal or human would be anywhere in sight. It resembled a movie set, torn up infrastructure with no life. Many people committed suicide, many others had emotional breakdowns; many thousands l..

Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
“Do you know Jesus”? I remember being asked that awkward question by the Jesus Freaks so many times before I became one of them. I used to wonder what in the world they were talking about. Most people associate the answer to that question to praying the sinner’s prayer then learning all kinds of information about how to improve our lives with lessons from the Bible and the life and teaching of Jesus. Of ..

Matt. 9:2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven”.

I recently preached on the miracle Jesus performed on the paralytic that was let down through the roof. There is a lot about this story that is mind blowing but the most amazing to me is what Jesus said first, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven”. Jesus didn’t approach the problem like anyone else did becaus..

Matt. 9:2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”

This miracle stands out in the ministry of Jesus, it is classic. Peter’s house was packed that day, everyone from his mother in law, his fishing buddies, to the leading Pharisees were crammed into his house. What an awkward crowd, miracles seem to attract those awkward crowds. That’s when awkward turned bizarre; fi..

MERRY MONDAY BY PARRIS-

“For which is easier to say, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise and walk?” Luke 5:23
In a world that is falling apart all around us with rebellion and anger against authority being loudly demonstrated without the least embarrassment; forgiveness seems like a bygone era. Even churches are jeered at and many discourage attending what they call “organized religion”. Entitlement, victimizing, and casting blame make huge furrows all around us. But when you “see forg..

Mark 2:3,4 – And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.

I love the miracles of Jesus. We catch glimpses of His glory when we look again at His marvelous works. Today’s verse speaks about the paralyzed man who was carried by four friends to see Jesus. There were too many people crowding around Jesus ..

Phil. 2:5-7 – Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Once your eyes begin to open to Christ and His kingdom you begin to appreciate the things you took for granted. The glo..