One of the strangest moments summarizing the lost state of unbelievers today occurred during recent US government proceedings. During those meetings, a person of great academic education and career success was asked to define what a woman is. The answer was unhelpful and downright a rejection of objective truth. The present value placed upon ambiguity, fluidity, and ever-shifting definitions is a recipe for disaster for individuals, families, communities, and whole nations. Rejection of truth is now often the barometer for trustworthiness and enlightenment. It is as though to appear to be a person who knows something nowadays, a person must demonstrate all of the intellectual permutations of what that person has gone through, what tribes that person represents, and what assumptions that person wants to avoid by giving anything close to a definitive statement. Decisions and definitions seem to be rooted and guided more by personal experiences and preferences than by any appeal to objectively observable principles.

The Bible, specifically Proverbs 31 truly reflects the dignity that God created the woman to have when He caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and formed his covenant ally from his rib.  On the sixth day, God created male and female in His image, Genesis 1:27. 

Trigger Warning This post Talks about Miscarriage 

There is something about being a mom that I never fully grasped until I was well, a mom. That was the idea of having joy and pain at the same time. I had often heard of this concept but never truly experienced it. The first time I experienced joy and pain was the moment after our first daughter was born. There was such joy in holding our slippery bundle of joy that we had prayed and waited for so long. And yet, among the joy was the physical pain from giving birth. I think this is a feeling that all mothers can understand—the feeling of joy and physical pain.

Summer is here once again, and kids are returning home from school. I have heard many times the fear in mothers voices as the wonder what they will do with their children all summer. This summer, I challenge you to Enjoy and Thrive with your children home.

When you sit down to read a passage in scripture, it’s good to have some questions floating in your mind. You can systematically work through these, or develop your own list of questions as you study God’s Word. Here is an example of an Interpretive discussion list for you to consider as you seek to grow in your relationship with God and his Word.

An AMAZING wholesome book for the entire family! Check out our review of this new family read-aloud.

God doesn't need to conform to our feelings, or our biological ability to mutilate our bodies. God has made and declared what is good. It is good for men to be manly, and good for women to be womanly. Each culture WILL look slightly different, but that doesn't change the created order of God, and sometimes even cultures (like Western hyper-sexuality culture) as a whole can reject these created distinctive - the fact that Androgynous is a description of a blurred attractiveness of a person, neither fully male or female is evidence of this present sad state. 

Waiting is an immense time of trial, whether waiting for something exciting or something that could be sad. Waiting on a diagnosis, waiting to hear if your child is healthy, waiting to find out if you need to move for a job, waiting to hear from the doctor, waiting and waiting. Waiting in itself can be a hardship, not to mention what the results of that waiting might be. Some things suggested to do while waiting are to keep busy, and not think about the topic. Some find that distraction through watching a show, talking to a friend, or reading a book can ease the suffering of the wait. None of these things are bad but as Christians, we should approach waiting differently than the world. Distraction is not our only weapon, nor is suffering in the midst of waiting for something beyond God’s use for growing or blessing us. Throughout scripture we find people waiting, and we are told to be still and wait patiently for the Lord.

The biggest thing I've learned since being married is that it's not about me. Being a mom is not about me. I quickly learned how selfish of a person I was for wanting my own time. I couldn't believe how much taking care of a family and a new baby took so much of my time.What people don't realize is that marriage, motherhood, and parenthood is one that requires us to be selfless. No, no one is calling us mothers to be martyrs but I truly believe that if people have the desire to be mothers or even parents, we're CALLED.

Among the many practices of the Christian life (such as gathering for worship, meditating on God’s Word, serving the needy, forgiving, and seeking forgiveness) There are two very basic practices in the Christian life; receiving God’s Word, and then speaking with God. Receiving God’s Word of course comes through reading, or hearing the scriptures. And speaking with God occurs in prayer. As soon as the topic of prayer comes up, questions are not far behind. Questions like “If God already knows, why pray?” or “What are the outcomes of prayer?”. It is appropriate to ask questions about prayer as we learn from Jesus' example in answering the first disciples about how to pray (Matthew 6:5-13). In today’s piece, we examine how prayer is linked to the work of Christ, and the role of the prophet. 

This week is Holy Week and we wanted to share with you some of the sermons and posts we have done in the past for this time. As Christians, we celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection every Sunday, but also know that many like the reminders and celebration of Holy Week. We hope that each of you will take time this week to read your scriptures. pray and be in worship with others. Happy Holy Week.

From the writer of Galatian's understanding (Paul the Apostle) Jesus Christ is not only a man, but is someone and something more than just a man. It doesn't take long, just a few verses in Galatians to see how Paul understood and believed that Christ Jesus was divinely God. In Galatians 1:1, at the very beginning of the letter Paul writes "Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father".

7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.1 Peter 4:7-11 NIV

At one point the question was very directly, boldly, and pointedly asked by the father of the home who was not a believer: “So why Christianity? Why not some other belief? Why not Buddhism, or Islam? Why did you decide ‘this must be true for me’?” 

Today we’re going to be looking at what is called the Triumphal Entry. It is called Triumphal because Jesus was declaring himself to be a king, almost as a victorious general or athlete who would ride back into his hometown from battle or a championship to a parade. It is called an Entry not only because it is the way Jesus approached the city of Jerusalem, the capital city of Judea, and the center of Jewish worship, but also the moment that he fully entered into our world. He became a political figure. 

Through His resurrection and exaltation/coronation at the Father’s right hand. He is the Risen King, His victory secured, and now the restoration of the Kingdom is at hand. How will this Kingdom be restored? Through living witnesses of the victory of Jesus in the resurrection. That won’t come without opposition though, this world is the kingdom of darkness, and they hate the light (John 3:20), persecution will come (John 15:20). What in the beginning seemed like a great victory for the Gospel, now seems to be defeat, they are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. How then can the people of the Victorious Christ share in that victory in the kingdom of darkness that hates the light that they represent? That’s what Acts 7 is all about. 

The Ark Encounter has been on our list of places to visit since it opened. We have planned to go a few times, but it never worked out. We are so thankful that God’s time is the best, and we were able to visit when we did. It ended up being the best time of year, and the best time for our family. At the time of our visit, our children were ages 12, 8.5, 6 and 3.5.

As I strolled freely through the Ark exhibit with my wife and children, I saw all of these wonderful answers to secular challenges of God's Word and I felt a freedom that can only be described as a freedom from disinformation. For a brief time we spent at the Ark, our family was removed from secular advertisements that abuse and extort women and enslave men, we were able to speak openly about our faith without worry that we would be the target of those with "alternative lifestyles", and we were able to speak about God's work Going to the Ark was a brief reminder that this world, even in the freedom-ringing United States, is not our home. I'm reminded of Jesus' words that the world will hate us, and when that happens for the sake of Christ, that is a blessed position to be in. 

In this article we will give three tools to understand Ecclesiastes and aid in comprehending this OT sermon as you study and read it: 1.) How the Preacher combines multiple word meanings into a single word to craft a relevant theological truth about common ordinary life, 2.) We will then show how the Preacher utilizes the common (in the ancient world) metaphor of “shepherd” to expose a deeper truth about our inability to find meaning in this life “under the sun”. Lastly, 3.) We will show why our search for meaning in life “under the sun” is utter futility and blinds us to the good and ordinary gifts of God, which include eating, drinking, and being merry when it is done apart from the one good shepherd. Plus a guide for Family Worship.

Is the grace of God in Christ paramount for our faith? When we read the Old Testament do we see a need for God’s grace in Christ? When we read the New Testament do we see the beauty of God’s grace on display in the person and work of Jesus? In our daily aspirations, habits, and thoughts, do we cling to and long to grow closer to God by the grace of Christ?