salvation

Dr. Ray Pritchard Author, Speaker, President of Keep Believing Ministries Here is Day 8 of Letters to Our Grandchildren: “Will You Trust God?”  This letter goes to our four granddaughters: Penny, Violet, Zoe, Hannah. Check out this “Christmas Medley” by Anthem Lights. Enjoy! PS Click here sign up for the free email sermons.

In the business world, there is a clear understanding about the dynamic between acquisition vs. retention. Meaning the value of gaining new customers vs. keeping existing customers. Both, of course, are important.  What is clearly understood is that while it’s important to expand your customer base, it is imperative to keep your existing customers. Far too many businesses focus more energy on acquisition alone because… … getting a new customer is harder than keeping a current one, … getting a new customer is more expensive than keeping a current one, … and getting a new customer to the “place” of a current customer takes time. But keeping current customers and building loyalty is just as valuable. Think about someone who buys a car. Smart car dealers know that this is not the end of t...

  Why Worship? Why Give? Verse: Genesis 28:16-22 Author Mark Allan Powell addresses the fundamental principle behind Biblical giving: “The patriarch Jacob experiences God’s presence in a dream and, not knowing what else to do, sets up a stone and pours oil over the top of it (>Ge 28:16–18).” Powell points out that early Old Testament people “who had been touched by the goodness of God wanted to worship God, and they did that by taking something that belonged to them and giving it to God in the only way they knew how.” Later Powell discusses giving as it relates to those of us in the new covenant: God may be pleased, indeed delighted, with us even if we are giving the wrong amount, even if [we] are giving to unworthy or inappropriate causes. As we learn more about stewardship, ...

Dr. Ray Pritchard Author, Speaker, President of Keep Believing Ministries Here is Day 7 of Letters to Our Grandchildren: “The ABCs of Christmas.”  Knox and Violet join me for today’s video devotional! Jean Watson and Phil Keaggy have produced a beautiful arrangement of  “Do You Hear What I Hear?”  Enjoy! PS Click here sign up for the free email sermons.

THE LIVING GOD I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.  1 Timothy 3:15 When I was a kid growing up, my parents had my siblings and me in church every Sunday.  To be totally honest, the church I attended was BOOORRRIING (with a capital B – bold, italics, and underlined).  Minutes seemed like hours as we slugged through another service steeped with ritual, routine, and lifelessness. Does that sound familiar to anyone?  Can anyone relate to a boring church experience?  Can anyone relate to church being like bad tasting medicine you have to take in order to get well?  Is that what church is to be… an hour or so of bad medicine, bor...

Here is Day 6 of Letters to Our Grandchildren: “Waiting on the Lord.”  Waiting time is never wasted time if you waiting on the Lord. Check out Melanie Penn singing “Love’s Coming Down (Isaiah’s Song)”. Enjoy! PS Click here sign up for the free email sermons.

A Prayer to Find Your Mission at Home  By Jennifer Heeren “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’” (Mark 16:15) You could be called a missionary any time that you go into an area that is made up of mostly unbelievers. Your school, your workplace, your neighborhood—all of these places are filled with not-yet-believers. Basically, every place that you go has the potential to include at least one unbeliever. So, missionary type work needs to be carried out. Missionaries in foreign countries prepare by learning a new language, finding out about that country’s culture, and researching the physical needs of the area. You can do the same thing wherever you are. Immerse yourself into their culture. Unbelievers have a different way of living t...

Most churches will have an advent wreath, holding four candles on the outside, and a candle in the center. Churches will light a new candle each week, leading up to Christmas, and on Christmas or Christmas Eve, light the center candle. Each candle tends to represent something such as hope, joy, etc. This article will highlight the first candle of advent: the candle of hope. The History of the Advent Wreath The Catholic church adopted this tradition during the Middle Ages, as a way to prepare the hearts and minds for Christmas. The word advent itself comes from the Latin word “adventus” meaning “arrival.” We prepare for the arrival of Christ. The wreath itself represents eternity and everlasting life, a circle that never ends (John 3:16). Some have traced the origin of Advent as far ba...

If you feel like you blinked and another decade has come and gone, you’re not alone. It’s hard to believe that we have come to the end of the 2010s. As with all milestones, it’s important to assess what happened. Or, in our increasingly fast-paced world, what “just” happened, as seismic changes seem to happen in… well… a blink. The New York Times ran its own cultural assessment, listing 33 dynamics of the last 10 years. Nine stood out to me: 1. We Were Supersaturated with Superheroes. It seems like the Avengers have been around forever, but they only “assembled” in 2012. Throw in the DC Universe with Marvel and we’ve been a very spandex world. 2. Gay Culture Took Center Stage. “Moonlight” won the Oscar for best picture after “Carol” was a six-time nominee. “Will & Grace” came back and ...

Dr. Ray Pritchard Author, Speaker, President of Keep Believing Ministries Here is Day 5 of Letters to Our Grandchildren: “The Promise.”  Christmas reminds us that God always keeps his promises! Check out the Cradle Hymn by Elizabeth Mitchell and Friends. PS Click here sign up for the free email sermons.

A Prayer for Those Mourning A Loss this Winter By Meg Bucher It takes a strength that we don’t humanly possess to move through a season of sadness and despair. The Winter months can carry a blue perspective, especially when the snap of gray winter skies extends beyond our ability to cope without sun-light. God’s Spirit rests upon the frigid air, to comfort those saying earthly good-byes and facing the impossible return to life as usual without someone they held dear. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1 Refuge is a shelter or protection from danger, trouble. (dictionary.com) The original Hebrew root-word means to seek or flee for protection; to put confidence and trust in God. (Strongs 2620) God’s character assures us that though our lives bend...

The word “love” is a flexible term in the English language. A person can say, “I love tacos” in one sentence and, “I love my husband” in the next. It has several different meanings in our culture, but there are four unique words in ancient Greek that describe the range of meaning the English word love conveys. History and Origin Eros: Eros is the word often used to express sexual love or the feelings of arousal that are shared between people who are physically attracted to one another.  Storge: Storge refers to natural, familial love. Storge (a word not found in the Bible) refers to the type of love shown by a parent for a child. Agape: Agape is defined as a self-sacrificing love. It is the love that focuses on the will, not the emotions, experiences, or libido. It is the love God sho...