Hope & Faith

I met a guy at McDonald's who really impacted me, and I'm super thankful the Lord placed me there at that time.

No Other Gospel

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:6-10NIV

Whatever you are fasting, if you mope around and feel sorry for your deprivation then you have lost the significance of the fast.

Your focus, in that case, will be on the circumstances and not on Jesus.
If, however, you do not allow whatever you fast to affect you then you have effectively shut off, or at least tuned out, the distractions that are siphoning your attention away from the Lord.

Show 13 close from 2016 Lindner's Angling Edge TV

Show 11 close from 2016 Lindner's Angling Edge TV

Show 12 close from 2016 Lindner's Angling Edge TV

Show 9 close from 2016 Lindner's Angling Edge TV

Iron Michael Chandler, Lightweight Champion of Bellator MMA and former Missouri Tiger, inspires others.

Here's some things to remember if you broke up after being engaged. Also, some thoughts about planning marriage in your mind before it's a reality.

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Except for those times when the Spirit of God fell on them, God lived with the men and women under the old covenant differently than He lives with us. He was external to them, but He is internal to those of us who are born again through Christ.
We have a new heart and a new spirit within us. But what exactly does this mean?
Jesus basically fulfilled everything that needed to be fulfilled when He said, “It is finished.” How He did all this, including the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, is beyond the scope of my brain. But I do know that Jesus is both the beginning and the completion all things (see Revelation 22:33).
Our heart has been transformed by Christ and now has the capacity to contain Him fully through the presence of the Holy Spirit within us. In other words, when we have Jesus within us we effectively have Jesus' fulfillment of the law and the prophets (see Matthew 5:17).
So as a born‐again believer, it is just as impossible for me to fast like they did under the old covenant as it is for me to practice the law like they did under the old covenant. Oh, I can do it, all right, but to do so would be to reject what Jesus did on the Cross. If I were to try to live under the law like they did back in the old days, then I would completely abandon the grace of God.
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit

In Shakespeare's play, “Hamlet,” Queen Gertrude makes the comment, “The lady protests too much, methinks.” This famous line has become a modern‐day response to those who make such a big deal out of something that their big deal comes off as suspicious, at best. People frequently have religious practices that come off as suspicious. And the fast is certainly one of them.
Beware of anyone who wants to let you know, by the look on his or her face, that he or she is fasting. Jesus warns against this behavior.
“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” (Matthew 6:16‐18 NKJV)
So many of our religious traditions are for the sake of appearances—meant to elevate us in the eyes of others rather than to elevate God in our own eyes. But if, for example, we fast to impress other people with our spirituality, whatever applause we get from them is the only benefit we will see. We will certainly have no meaningful exchange with God.
Fasting to impress others is on the same level as praying to impress others—which Jesus also warns against.
“When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street cor

We can't all share in Dennis' breakdancing skills but we can all share in his desire for recognition

Gavin has an incredible story to share which we condensed to an impactful two minute film. He has a lot to say especially for people caught up in gangs. Since this film he has pioneered a training company called reach every generation to help those working with young people.

​Dr. Dobson discusses the painful (but necessary) process of grieving, and vividly recalls how his mother died of a broken heart following the death of his father.

Could you forgive someone who has killed your family? Could you forgive someone who betrayed your family to their death? Corrie Ten Boom shares how being a follower of Jesus that forgiveness is possible and required for us. She shares how God taught her forgiveness.

Fasting can easily become a meaningless tradition—its significance lost in the ritual. We make the fast or any other principle of God of none effect by religious traditions that have lost their connection with God.
The Greek word translated as “of none effect” means to render void, deprive of force and authority. That's quite a charge against teaching and following the commandments of men rather than teaching and following the principles of Scripture.
To take the fast from being a meaningful interaction with God to becoming a meaningless ritual doesn't require much effort. It's very easy to gut the fast of its significance—just make it a ritual about your performance.

Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don't cheat, I don't sin, and I don't commit adultery. I'm certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those

Watch full episodes at www.mitchkruse.com

Could fasting be a way of getting into God's presence? Well, what is it that can separate us from the love of God (the presence of God)? The Bible teaches us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:35 NKJV)
So if we “feel” like we have been separated from God's love, what (or who) has separated us? If no third party can separate me from the love of Christ, then I can think of only one other source that could possibly be the culprit. And that culprit is me! I am the only one who can separate me from the love of Christ. Or, rather, my human nature (my flesh) is the only thing that can keep me from experiencing God's presence.
My human nature lives by its senses. My human nature continually tells me that God is nowhere to be found.
I can't see God.
I can't smell God.
I can't touch God.
I can't hear God.
I can't taste God.
My human nature (my flesh) continually tells me that I can't count on God—that God is not who He says He is, and does not do what He promises in His Word.
Doesn't this sound a lot like unbelief?
Maybe the fast is meant to attack unbelief by taking a stand against my human nature. What better way to take a stand against my flesh than to say “No!” to what it wants. What better way to bring my human nature and all its appetites under control than by refusing to give it what it want

This is an inspirational encouragement to young people and people in general to have hope in God, through a reflective letter to my 18 year old self.

America's first sustaining settlers came aboard the Mayflower, and as stated in their compact, sought to undertake this endeavor "for ye glorie of God and advancement of ye Christian faith." (Direct quote from the Mayflower Compact, signed in the cabin of the Mayflower in 1620).

Some History and Background:

One place we visited was in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where the Pilgrims from the Mayflower ship landed in 1620 and started the first sustaining colony in the New World.

A couple of other colonies had been attempted, one in Jamestown that ended with most of the colonists starving or freezing to death and the colony folding. There was also another attempt at a colony by the French actually, at a Protestant colony called Fort Caroline in what would later become the area of Florida.

That French colony was planted and financed by an influential French Protestant Huguenot sympathizer. However, rabid Spanish Catholic fanatics got wind of it, and led by Don Pedro Menendez De Aviles, they went in and put to the sword and massacred every last person, including women and children.

So, one was facing some pretty stiff odds to attempt another colony: possible starvation, death by freezing, or massacre, none being attractive prospects. To continue reading, click on the link:
http://gwmgracenotes.blogspot.com/2015/11/plymouths-pilgrims-and-their-christian.html