The Secret to Finding and Keeping Friends

“Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them!” (Luke 6:31)
Okay, here it is—this is the secret to finding and keeping lasting friendships: become women who want to see the women around them flourish. They have a word for that in Hebrew—it’s shalom. But not shalom like you might think. Not the overused, under-appreciated translation that we’re so used to throwin..

God’s Love Is Deep Enough

By Rick Warren
— March 20, 2017

“The Lord reached down from above and took hold of me; he pulled me out of the deep waters” (Psalm 18:16 TEV)

There are times when we all think, “I’m going under for the last time! I’m about to sink!” But no matter how deep you are, God’s love is deeper than your problem.

Corrie ten Boom and Betsy ten Boom were Christians who lived in the Netherlands during Word War II. They hid Jews in their home to protect them from the Nazis. ..

The Length of God’s Love

By Rick Warren
— March 18, 2017

“I know that your love will last for all time, that your faithfulness is as permanent as the sky” (Psalm 89:2 TEV).

There’s a limit to human love. It wears out. It dries up.

That’s why you have to have God’s love in all your relationships if they are going to last. God’s love never wears out. God’s love is patient, persistent, and persevering.

Isn’t it good news to know that God never gives up on you? No matter what you do, his ..

Two volunteers at the 40 Days for Life vigil in Pensacola spoke to a deeply troubled young woman who had conceived a child as the result of a sexual assault.

“She was hurting and felt that abortion was her only solution to the recent trauma she had experienced,” said Ernie, the local coordinator.

Counselors offered encouragement, assistance, prayers and tears. But still, she believed abortion was her only option … and she went inside the abortion center. The volunteers kept praying – and trust..

1 TIMOTHY 2:1-2 NASB
1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers,
petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,
2 for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may
lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

Praying for our leaders is not a useless ritual. God would not
tell us to do something in His Word, unless it would make a
difference.

Sometimes, when bad things happen, people ask why God allowed
them to happen. But we should be ask..

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..

Why Your House Needs Hospitality

There’s a tradition around our house. It’s been in place for a while now. We serve dinner on paper plates. Actually, we usually just do this when we don’t want to do the dishes. When we do, someone will get the “star plate.” That’s the plate that has a small star drawn on the bottom of it. We shuffle the plates like a deck of cards so no one knows who’s getting the star plate. Getting this plate is a big deal, because whoever ends up with it gets to pick what we..

Sailing through the Democrat-controlled senate on a 22-3 tally, a Hawaiian bill that would force the state’s five pro-life pregnancy centers to advertise taxpayer-funded abortions was sent along to the house Tuesday in Honolulu.

Patterned along similar lines with a 2015 law in California that is likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court as soon as this year, the Hawaiian senate bill (SB 501) was originally introduced with a parallel house bill, which was on hold as the senate bill went through.

..

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..

How Do I Know I’m Saved?

By Rick Warren
— March 7, 2017

“It is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).

In Luke 23:42, one of the criminals hanging next to Jesus on the cross prayed, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (NIV).

Notice that he didn’t ask Jesus to stop his pain, although he would have been in excruciating pain on the cross. By that tim..