All Blog Posts (1,144)

We celebrated our wedding anniversary last week and were reminded that our wedding prayer of commitment was sung, not spoken, and one word was changed: “My heart, my life, my all I bring to Christ who loves me so; He is my Master, Lord, and King, wherever He leads I'll  we’ll go.” We began as a team and have remained that way all these years. Need proof? We’ve lived in eight cities in two states, including thirteen addresses. We’ve traveled…

A few thoughts from Chuck Proudfit with the Marketplace Minute™ . . .

God sometimes uses the desert experience to get our undivided attention.  It’s a good thing, too, because most of us have a lot of trouble paying attention.

We don’t need sand and camels to find ourselves in a desert season at work.  It could be a time when we find ourselves unemployed, or seemingly trapped in a dead-end job.

Hosea 2:14 says “I will lead her into the desert and…

If you keep still, deliverance and rescue for the Jews will originate from some other quarter,

while you and your family shall be destroyed.

And who knows but you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Esther 4:14 NLT

I am the Master…

“Love . . . is not easily angered . . .” (1 Corinthians 13:5b NIV).

Potentially the most impulsive—and most destructive—weakness in your life and mine is poorly controlled anger. We are inundated with angry incidents that—if we are not careful—can lead us to give ourselves “permission” to imitate those lapses of control: fiery dialogue in politics,…

One of the ways I am processing the unexpected death of my brother is by remembering the fun times of our youth. The memory verse at one year’s Vacation Bible School was Ephesians 4:32, “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you (KJV),” and Bob had committed it to memory from the King James Version of the Bible – which is mostly what we had back then. There were a few other translations, but our Southern Baptist…

O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack…

A few thoughts from Chuck Proudfit with the Marketplace Minute™ . . .

“The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.”  This scripture in Exodus 20:21 paints a powerful picture of the hunger Moses had to know God personally, even when it meant overcoming the fear of the unknown.

How many times have you held back from a divine encounter?  It can seem unbelievable that God would want to spend time with each one of us,…

Do you really think you can stand against the kingdom of the Lord led by the descendants of David?

Your army is vast indeed, but with you are those gold calves Jeroboam made as your…

When Rehoboam was firmly established and strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord.

2 Chronicles 12:1 NLT

Rehoboam’s reign mirrors your…

“Love . . . does not boast; it is not arrogant. . . .” (1 Corinthians 13:4b ESV).

As we continue our journey of discovery into what matters most to God, there is a fourth quality that God seeks in the hearts of His followers. It is a quality that we all wish other people would show toward us, but that we sometimes only grudgingly show toward others:…

As much as we would like to change things, some things are just unchangeably real, and there’s not much we can do about it. To say that in a popular way, “It is what it is.” Jesus does not change. The writer of Hebrews proclaims, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Even while society changes, human nature does not change. Reality is real. Hanging on my wall as I grew through my teen-age years, was a plaque containing the words of American theologian…

When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s reputation, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions.

2 Chronicles 9:1 NLT

Conduct a self-test to see if you have been accepted…

Rembrandt -  Jesus Calming the Storm

 They were in absolute awe, staggered. “Who is this, anyway?” they asked.…

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned this year is that God can work either suddenly or slowly. I’m incredibly glad the Bible calls Him “the Lord of Breakthroughs” (1 Chronicles 14:10-11 NLT), because we all need a sudden breakthrough of His miraculous power at one time or another.

But God also presents Himself as “the Lord of the harvest” (Luke 10:2). While some harvests occur more quickly than others, this word picture is quite different than for a…

A few thoughts from Chuck Proudfit with the Marketplace Minute™ . . .

It’s hard to discern God’s will for our work when we aren’t tuned in to his direction.  When we get discouraged or distracted, we can tune God out.  This is the absolute worst thing to do!

God’s voice is never more important to hear than when we have a pressing need to hear it.  We’re limited in our ability to communicate, but God isn’t. 

As scripture reminds us in John 8:47 .…

High school has got to be the most stressful period in a student’s life. In high school, there are so many things you have to worry about. You worry about being popular, getting good grades, wearing the right clothes and hanging out with the right group among other things. However, college is different and they are a number of things you shouldn’t lose sleep over when you get to college. Here are a number of things college students never worry…

Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is useless.

Psalm 127:1 NLT

I am the Builder of your home.

My power is the…

Those who become Christians become new persons.

They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

Believe in Christ…

“. . . I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” (Philippians 4:11b ESV).

If you just joined our journey of discovery into what matters most to God, we are taking a reflective walk through 1 Corinthians 13:4. The third quality that people see in followers who reflect Christlike love is the absence of…

“What’s the difference?” It’s the question of a learner, a thinker, a person who’s comparing two not-quite-the-same concepts.

When I taught English in Asia I realized that motivated students have lots of these questions. I remember being asked, “What’s the difference between ‘affect’ and ‘effect’? Or between ‘than’ and ‘then’? Or ‘farther’ and ‘further’?” Most of the time I knew, but occasionally the question itself caused me, the teacher, to realize that I didn’t understand clearly.…