Whether or not we realize it, we all have been influenced by the entertainment industry more than we might think. When I was a young boy, about the most risqué thing I remember watching on television was miss kitty on Gunsmoke. Just a decade later, far more explicit and suggestive scenes were commonplace. Now, even watching the advertisements on television or viewing the trailers for movies is enough to make you blush.
The Scriptures tell us clearly why we have been created: “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). The Apostle Paul told the Galatians that he would labor with them until Christ was formed in them (Galatians 4:19). God’s purpose for us is nothing less than Christlikeness.
Franklin Graham: The Bible Clearly Describes Those Who Deny God
Jesus said, “Whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish” (Luke 14:27-30).
Have you ever felt torn between what is and what should have been, could have been or would have been if such-and-such had not taken place? Have you ever been plagued by the “if-onlys”?
“Let Your work appear to Your servants, And Your glory to their children” (Psalm 90:16, NKJV). It’s with good reason the order was this way. Work appeals to the mature—but it is so important that our children glimpse His glory.
Author Bodie Turner Theone shares about the eternal impact that the 1962 Billy Graham Fresno Crusade had on her mother's, and ultimately her own, life.
Steph Curry views basketball career as a chance to shine for Christ.
In his book Sky Pilot, Ralph Connor tells of a young man who wandered from a good home in Scotland to one of the ranches in the Wild West. One day, as the pilot was making his rounds and going from shack to shack, he heard someone singing Psalm 23.
Have you ever been consciously aware that you were being ministered to? As I look back on 2013, that’s one of the experiences that stands out.
As Christians, we should be able to say that we are resting on certainties, not on chance. We don’t know the day or the hour of Christ’s return, but we do know He is coming to take us to be with Him forever. That is a comfort and certainty we share. Through the Bible, God…
I remember it as if it were yesterday. I was 12 years old and was attending a Christian youth camp in the small Scottish village of Aboyne.
