prosperity

A while back, when the economy was robust, I got sidetracked. It wasn’t drugs, it wasn’t sex, but it was money. I fell in love with a yellow cottage in an upscale development surrounded by a white picket fence. This development beat anything in the area, with a sparkling pool in the middle of a beautiful patio from which you could gaze at boats passing to and fro in the channel on their way to Lake Michigan. I didn’t buy it to live in but as an investment. I figured I could rent it out on a weekly basis in the summer, helping to pay the mortgage. The stock market had been a treacherous environment for some years. Why not diversify and put some money into real estate? So I did. This decision wouldn’t have been so bad except that I did it even though I had a check in ...

Encountering God through Thanksgiving Weekly Overview: Having consistent and transformational encounters with God while on earth is meant to be foundational to the Christian life. Our God has not left us. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we’ve been filled with the very Spirit of God who longs to reveal to us daily the nearness and love of our heavenly Father. We are never alone. There is nowhere we can flee from the presence of our God. May this week be filled with transformational encounters with the living God as we learn what it is to seek the face of the one who has formed us, knows us, and loves us unconditionally. Scripture: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” Psalm 100:4 Devotional: Thanksgiving is a gif...

“The millennials and Generation Z have the Peter Pan syndrome; they don’t ever want to grow up.” To which Millennials and Gen Zers reply, “OK, boomer.” Welcome to the new standard retort to the problem of older people who just don’t get it, coming from those fed up with them not getting it. “The older generations grew up with a certain mindset, and we have a different perspective,” said 19-year-old Shannon O’Connor, who designed a T-shirt and hoodie with the phrase. “A lot of them don’t believe in climate change or don’t believe people can get jobs with dyed hair, and a lot of them are stubborn in that view. Teenagers just respond, ‘OK, boomer.’ It’s like, we’ll prove you wrong, we’re still going to be successful because the world is changing.” Nina Kasman, an 18-year-old college student w...

Fix Your Eyes on Jesus By: Tiffany Thibault Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12:2 One warm summer day, my husband and I rented a 22-foot sailboat for a couple of hours to enjoy some time together in the San Diego Bay. He took his spot at the stern of the boat to steer the rudder, and I took my place up toward the middle so that I could manage the two sails. We enjoyed turning our boat and allowing the sails to catch the breeze to move us along at a dead run. Partway through our time, we switched positions. I put my right hand on the rudder and my eyes on a point ahead in the distance. It was at this point it became ...

A Child’s Thanksgiving by Katherine Britton “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” – John 10:10  Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.” – 1 Chronicles 29:13  Sometimes it takes a children’s sermon to remind me what’s important. Thanksgiving should be a simple affair, but my adult brain had overcomplicated this heart attitude without much effort. The past few months had been filled with many moments where I had said, “So far, so good” but doubted the future. The provision at hand was enough, to be sure. Yet I wondered if what looked like adequate provision today would diminish over time. I doubted God’s intention to replenish what I used up.&nbs...

A Prayer of Praise for the Cross By Mark Altrogge “If there is a dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty, then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to his offense. Forty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.” (Deuteronomy 25:1-3) How merciful God was in dealing with Israel. A convicted man was to be whipped in the presence of the judge. But he was only to be given a number of strokes in proportion to his crime. The maximum he could receive was 40 stripes, so that he would not be...

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: “You do not have because you do not ask God.” – James 4:2 What We Can Learn From Nebuchadnezzar’s Restless Night By Douglas Connelly According to Daniel 2:29, Nebuchadnezzar went to bed one night thinking about the future. He had seen the great Assyrian Empire fall and he had seen the Babylonian Empire rise in its place. The king woke up deeply troubled. He had a dream that was too important to pass over lightly. Nebuchadnezzar had a simple request of all his counselors and learned men who claimed to speak with spiritual power—tell me the dream and its interpretation and I will lavish you with riches; fail to give me the information and you will die. But in the end they had to face the truth (and admit to the king) that they had no re...

What Is the Difference between All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints Day and All Souls Day? Once Fall is the air across the U.S., department stores will entice consumers with discounts on costumes and candy. There will be carved pumpkins and bobbing for apples at holiday parties. There will be hayrides, hot apple cider, gathering around bonfires with friends. Then, on the 31st of October, kids dressed in costumes will go door-to-door to trick-or-treat for candy. Some churches also participate in what is known as “trunk-or-treat,” where children visit the church parking lot in their costumes to get candy and perhaps learn about the church. For some churches, the celebration doesn’t stop there. October 31 actually begins a three-day observance and celebration of Allhallowtide,...

Does it really matter if we think of God as our mother rather than our father? After all, the Bible does say that God is “spirit” (John 4:24). The problem with that sort of thinking is it is only connected to human logic, which can be inconsistent. Words have meaning, and we must respond to what the Bible says, not what we want it to say. So, we are better off asking: “What does the Bible consistently teach about God?” God the Father in the Bible In the Old Testament, God is referenced as the Father of Israel or of a specific person 15 times, according to Baker’s research. Fatherhood imagery is used for God elsewhere in the Old Testament, but not very often. However, in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), Jesus calls God “Father” 65 times and more than 1...

“When did everybody become a witch?” No, this wasn’t asked at a Halloween party in regard to a proliferation of witch costumes. It was raised by the New York Times in an article charting the explosion of witches (or those dabbling in witchcraft) in our day: “Witches are your millennial coworkers doing tarot card readings on their lunch breaks, and professional colleagues encouraging you to join them for a New Moon ceremony aimed at ‘career success’…. Witches are influencers who use the hashtag #witchesofinstagram to share horoscopes, spells and witchy memes, and they are anti-Trump resistance activists carrying signs that say ‘Hex the Patriarchy’ (also the title of a new book of spells) and ‘We are the granddaughters of the witches you weren’t able to burn.’ Witches are panelists, the...

Peter huddled with the other disciples behind the door bolted hard against their fear, all of them wondering whether the religious leaders who had crucified Jesus might soon be coming for them. But instead of the terror and despair that had filled him for the last two days, he felt a growing sense of calm in the midst of a new excitement. He had been to the tomb that morning and had seen the strips of linen lying on the ground. He had encountered the risen Lord. Now men had just come from Emmaus claiming they too had met the Lord. Suddenly, Jesus appeared, a smile lighting his face as though he had just returned from a short trip. “Peace be with you,” he said (John 20:19). Then he held out his hands, inviting Peter and the other disciples to examine his wounds. Finally he asked...

A Prayer for the Work Day Ahead By Renee Davis And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. – Colossians 3:23-24 Things (and people!) would be so much easier to deal with if we could stay home every day. Close the drapes, lock the doors, and shut out the rest of the world. You’re nodding your head, aren’t you? But most of us need to pay off our mortgages and eat something besides Ramen. That means we’ve got to work. And that means there’s a good chance we’re going to be hit by some things during the day that will push us to our limits, make us feel stressed, hopeless, and even angry. Thankfully, we followers of Christ have help, to prepare us for ...