Our lives are like those who lived in ancient times. Our lives are journeys. Our lives are spent on their way towards the place of eternity. Either our destination is an eternity in God's presence, or an eternity apart from God's presence.

We as parents are consumed with mixed feelings of missing our children, and anticipation at finally having our homes back. We live in a sinful world where parents can't wait to send their children away. Children are being sent away to be taught about the world by someone other than their parents. But is it their responsibility? Who's job is it to teach and train our children about this world? Whether your children attend public, private, or homeschool, the training of our children to know the Lord is the job of the parents.

Board Games are great for date nights at home.

Each week we recommend some songs, a prayer focus topic, and roughly 5-6 chapters of reading. This week we've been reading through 2nd Samuel and I noticed something I had never seen before.

While much of the church through history has debated the various interpretive approaches to Revelation, in the United States today the most popular and "mainstream of consciousness" interpretative approach is the futurist dispensational approach.

Many people today focus on the impact that men have had in the Christian Culture. Sometimes we forget that there are women who have done amazing things with the help of God. Some of these have stood in the shadows of their husbands, and others have gone off on their own. Women of the Faith is a monthly column that shares the stories of these strong women. These articles are written by our oldest daughter. Today's Woman of Faith is Lillian Trasher.

First, I'm going to show you the Greek text alongside three English translations of a passage and their distinguishing features rendered in English. Second, I'm going to quote several different perspectives on this passage to give you a sense for both the general consensus believed among Christians regarding this passage, and the general points of distinction between interpretations.

While Christmas and Easter get by far the most contemporary "press" and "headlines", the ascension is another "pillar" in understanding who Jesus is and why he matters. The Apostle's Creed is a unifying summary of beliefs among many Christians since as early as the 5th century.

When I ask kids about the story of Noah's Ark, most answer with Noah made an ark and the animals were on it while it flooded. When teaching these stories to our children are we showing them God, or are we simply giving the most basic explanation we can?

John looked and saw a throne. Thrones are inherently seats of power. A throne without power is simply a decorative chair. Yet this throne is occupied. This throne's location is heaven. What references should be in our mind as we read John's vision of this throne?

Hearing comes first, then our minds begin to comprehend, and make assessments of what we are hearing and how it impacts us. When we hear something, we begin to make sense of the sounds (or words) we hear. Once a determination is made, we begin to act in accordance with our assessment of what we've heard. It is only after we've heard something that we can assess it, and it is only after we've assessed something that we can act in response.

In worship we've been opening up God's Word in Revelation. In Revelation 1:11 we're told of 7 historic churches in the Roman province of Asia (modern day western Turkey). These 7 churches each received personal messages from Jesus as transcribed by the Apostle John in Revelation chapters 2 & 3. In this discussion I wanted to give a brief recap of some things we should as Christians today take away from these messages.

There are lots of things that could be said about this number within Revelation. First, we must remind one another of the foundational principles when reading Revelation, the Revelation was written to make something known (1:1). Therefore, we ought to be on guard and skeptical towards any interpretations of Revelation which would make sense to us today, but zero sense to the first century recipients of Revelation.

The study of theology for all members of the household including men, women and children, is not just a side issue of the Christian faith but is a central necessity. Theology is the building block of our faith. How can we follow a God that we do not take the time to know? Our God has given us His infallible Word to study to learn more about him.

We've already read that Peter used the term "shepherd" when speaking of elders (1 Peter 5:2). Paul also included shepherding language when addressing the elders in Ephesus (Acts 20). The term "flock" is used to describe the church in relationship to the elders. This informs us of something of the nature of the relationship of the community of believers (the church) and Christian elders.

Today we will consider the first of the synonyms for Christian elders in the New Testament (there are more than this one, but in attempting to keep this a more digestible read I'm limiting today's discussion to one): Overseer. In future discussions we will examine other synonymous words and concepts for the elder (such as shepherd, and pastor). 

Today, our discussion moves from the mostly narrative driven accounts of the Gospel and Acts, to the letters written by various Apostles to individuals, and churches in the rest of the New Testament. I'll continue with the "survey" format, simply citing a passage and giving a brief statement.