The wise men still sought Jesus even after all the angels and shepherds had gone home. They could have discarded and put away their enthusiasm regarding this journey. They did not and they continued until they found Him. Let’s follow the wise men’s example and seek, follow, and worship Him year round through our daily normal activities.
There is a more subtle form of abuse of women and children that occurs everyday and receives little to no attention. As a matter of fact it is encouraged, promoted and millions of dollars are spent marketing it.
A paradox is a statement, proposition, or situation that seems to be absurd or contradictory, but in fact is or may be true. The heading of the article above contains some paradoxical phrases. “Wedding brawl in the city of brotherly love” appears a tad bit absurd or contradictory. The wedding feast is one where love, commitment and dedication are the primary themes and not tasers, batons, chaos and violence. It was not clear what started this brawl but it was apparent that the over usage of alcohol was a primary and contributing factor.
As the new Director for Restoration Path, I wanted to take a few moments of your time to introduce myself. I would love to have an opportunity to talk with each and every one of you and would be glad to answer any questions you have about me.
Andy and Tammy Reid faced the greatest terror that a parent could ever experience. All parents, from the moment the child is conceived, want to protect their children from all harm, injury, and most importantly death. We want to protect them from external and internal forces that could harm them. The Reid family battled with both of these forces regarding their son’s drug addiction. The external temptation of drug usage as a means of coping with and escaping the difficulties of life can be tremendous. The internal lies we tell ourselves keep us walled off from the people close to us and lead us into isolation, despair and self destruction. When the external temptations line up with our internal lies then the ending result can be deadly. Andy and Tammy Reid loved their son and battled with all their strength to save him.
Freedom is not free is a bumper sticker that commanded much attention after 9-11. This was a statement that many people understood as we were at war. And whether you agreed with the war or not the statement makes since. Freedom is not free not even for our salvation. Somebody had to die for our sin and that was Jesus. We can accept that gift gracefully but now what? How are we supposed to live as Christians in a culture that is sexually promiscuous? How are we to make decisions when we don’t know exactly what truth means? Part of this struggle as a Christ follower is to identify how we are to let go of past behavior if we are going to let God minister to our hearts. God, as a gentleman, doesn’t always break down all our defenses to get us to see something we should change. Many times it’s the still small voice that nudges us in our consciences that what we are doing is wrong. It’s our choices, the free will we have, that needs to be exercised here for His purposes.
The term father is defined: ‘To be the creator, founder, or author of; originate.’ (dictionary. reference.com/browser/father).
Many people struggle with sexual sin because of an absent or abusive father. Therefore, it would only make good sense that a remedy, not an instant cure, for that pain is to call on your true Father.
Our sinful nature tells us that it is all about me and serving my own self interest. This nature promotes our desire to be god without any boundaries or limits upon my behavior. This approach feeds the attitude of “Hey, it’s my body; I can do with it what I want.” In turn the world system consistently feeds us the message that it is more important how we appear on the outside rather than how we are doing on the inside. This culture and mindset encourages and reinforces an “image management” system.
