life. faithful.

1. God is still God. He is still on His throne, unshaken by what happens. Nothing takes Him by surprise and nothing is out of His control. 2. Right and wrong aren't subjective. 3. No matter how dark it is, the darkness can never drive away the light. In fact, a tiny flame can more easily be seen when it is shining in the dark than in the light of day. 4. God still uses refining fires. It's the hard times that expose and burn off all the things we need to get rid of so we can better reflect God. 5. Lies don't have to be silenced because they will always be exposed. What people fight to silence is the inconvenient truth. 6. Eventually, God's patience ends. He is love and bears with us longer than we deserve, but there always comes a time of judgment. 7. "Praise the name of God forever and ever, for all wisdom and power belong to Him. He sets in motion the times and the ages; He deposes kings and installs others; He gives wisdom to the wise and grants knowledge to tho...

 War is raging all around us, and for far too long many of us have been too blind to see. Sure, we know the verses that talk about how our war isn't against flesh and blood... but when our flesh is comfortable it is so easy to think those verses apply to another time or another place. What we don't realize, though, is that comfort often leads to complacency, and complacency is a tactic of the enemy. If we're complacent, we aren't on guard. We aren't the watchmen we're called to be, working with one hand and carrying a sword in the other. When we are complacent, we start thinking that this physical world is the only thing that matters--we focus on making sure our flesh is comfortable and content and push down the urging of our spirit to stand up, to fight back, to do something.     We aren't called to comfort. We aren't called to a life of ease and quiet. In fact, Jesus warned multiple times that a life following Him would be a life of trials. '16  Li...

 Adrian Rogers once gave the following set of definitions in a sermon: Justice--getting what you deserve Mercy--not getting what you deserve Grace--getting what you don't deserve It presents a very clear picture of our relationship with God and how it changes. Right now, there's a huge focus on the idea of "justice" in society. People are demanding it at every turn, though when I listen to what they say they want, it sure doesn't sound like justice . When you look back into the Old Testament, the law was God's way of offering justice to His people. As a righteous Judge, God must deal in justice. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, justice essentially boils down to dealing with truth and fact with impartiality. Justice means that each person is dealt with exactly how they should be. I get what I deserve--no more, no less. If God's people lived faithfully under the Law, they got what they deserved. So justice isn't such a bad thing, right? I mea...

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20 Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23 Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, 31 Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23 Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22 Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20 Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20 Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20 Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23 Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25 Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22 Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20 Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak, 22   Never forget.

Cancelled. Banned. Censored. Deleted. Silenced. It's something I never imagined I would see in the United States, but it seems to have happened in an instant. Instead of promoting discussion and civil discourse, our government is working to silence anyone who dares speak against the accepted narrative.No matter your stance on anything else facing our nation, the fact that opposing views are being completely suppressed should infuriate you. Lies don't have to be silenced. The truth is much stronger than the lies, and even if truth is whispered while lies are shouted from the rooftops the truth will always win out in the end. I can't remember a time in history when those in power tried to silence lies. Instead, corrupt governments work hard to suppress the inconvenient truth that calls out their hypocrisy, their ineptitude, or their evil intentions.  “Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not intere...

 I know I should trust You. I know Your promises are true. I know You are ultimately in control of everything happening in this world. Sometimes, though, it's just so hard. Even though I know it never works out when I do, there's still a part of me that wants to try to control all the things. I look at the world around me and see it spinning out of control in a way I never would have imagined seeing just a few years ago. My nature is to try to reach out and stabilize everything I can, to attempt to keep "me and mine" from being thrown off-kilter. I start thinking that if I can just do enough, plan enough, and prepare enough, I'll be able to hold things in place for the people I love. It's not like I don't know better. I've watched some of my best laid plans go up in smoke. I've tried desperately to cling to things and had them slip through my fingers. I've begged and pleaded for You to just do things the way I expect only to sit back in disbel...

 The whole world is watching what is unfolding in Afghanistan right now--the chaos and heartbreak has caught so many of us off guard. With the Taliban taking complete control, the people are facing an unimaginable future. The reports coming out of the country are almost surreal, and definitely impossible for most of us in the United States to understand. What has hit me as the most spectacular, though, are the reports we are hearing from the followers of Christ who are in Afghanistan. They are fleeing their homes and trying to protect their families, but at the same time they are saying they plan to meet Jesus face to face within the next couple of weeks. Planning to meet Jesus. God, give them strength. Give them peace. Give them mercy. And give us a small fraction of their faith. 9  When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the heavenly altar the souls of those murdered for holding fast to the word of God and their testimony. 10  They cried out in a great, singul...