NCarolinian

          Unity is so important. "Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, 'Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.' " (Matthew 12:25)          I feel like there are too many designations, divisions and classifications in our society that continually fight against - we the people.  America has definitely moved away from being one nation under God to one nation under many gods and/or distractions. The color of your skin and one's gender have not only distracted us from moving forward and progressing as a leading nation, but set the spirit of confusion over the country as well.            Unfortunately, that same strife infected The Church many years ago, about the time America was being born.  Christians have branches called Denominations (i.e. Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc...) because of disagreemen...

                    In case  you did not know, faith is a struggle, it is a fight! Paul writes to his protégé, Timothy, saying - "Fight the good fight of faith." (1 Tim. 6:12)           However, Paul does not simply stop there, he continues with the admonishment to -  "Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (1 Tim. 6:12)          There seems to be two levels of action implied here - striving (fighting) and seizing (taking hold). These descriptive words do not have anything to do with the initial Salvation of an individual. The Holy Spirit makes this point clear through Paul to the believers in Ephesus -  "For 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) ...

                              The idea of walking around naked everywhere as the norm, like Adam and Eve experienced before The Fall, is hard to imagine now-a-days, but not impossible. Clothing is essential - mentally, spiritually and physically.          Clothing has gone a lot of different directions since God clothed Adam and Eve with garments of skin (Genesis 3:21). Besides the fact that clothing is used as a sanitary function and cultural expectation, we observe clothing used for status, protection, making a statement, as a disguise and simply as a comfortable covering.          We have certain, one-time outfits or at least far-and-few-between apparel in our closet. There are clothes that show we are in mourning. There are clothes that display we a part of a wedding party. There are clothes that hint at a Prom nearby. There are clothes we wear ...

          I would venture to say that many people are scared of responsibility and especially that of another person. Early on in the Genesis account we read about Cain sassing back to God about his brother Abel, declaring - "I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:9)           However, humanity and especially Christians should be stewards of each other. When God created the human being, the man was alone in kind of creatures. God walked with Adam and spoke with him but it was not the same as having a similar partner/friend. In addition, Adam had been given the responsibility of tending to all the animals of creation and naming them - he needed a helper. God created Eve out from Adam to be Adam's help mate (Genesis 2:18-25) .           Fast forward to when Jesus was hanging on The Cross and He spells out a relationship of stewardship between two people right there -  "When Jesus sa...

          Terms and phrases like "hero" in "He/she is my hero" occur so much now-a-days that I question the value many times. The plethora of use tends to desensitize the influence of the word, idea or thing. I would encourage all of us to keep sacred those words and ideas that hold special value in order to preserve the true definition and nature of things like hero.           What we place value on in this world is amazing. Value and/or meaning is what drives the purpose of our lives. Our decisions on everything - the things we choose to think about, speak out loud and perform are rooted in what we deem as the most meaningful or hold most value in our lives. Who or what we deem as special or sacred should be treasured and shared.           My concern is I don't want us to overuse the word and concept of Hero or Superhero. These words and ideas are super-saturated within our culture and dr...

                    The Holy Spirit instructs Christians through Paul -  "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers ." (Galatians 6:9-10)           The use of the word "especially" is no accident. Applying especially in any sentence brings a special focus to whatever person, place or thing that comes afterward. In this case, "those who belong to the family of believers" or Christians are challenged to be particularly good to each other. Believers in Christ are to favor, support, encourage, pray for and help one another.           However, before Christians make good, dependable servants for each other, they need to pay attention to their development as a member of their own b...

                    The bottom line is we all have a spiritual self that needs to be attended properly and regularly.            Athletes train their bodies and minds for their sport, usually for a competition of a season of games. They make a deliberate decision to go through all the necessary preliminaries in order to play in the actual game and be a part of the winning team.            Many people have the drive to to keep themselves physically healthy and/or have this chance of victory and team comradery. Other people train in some part of education or the arts to fulfill that development need and desire to reach personal goals.            The businessman or woman will take classes to be aware of how the business world works. The musician or painter will take classes to perfect their craft as well as to understand t...