Share the Good News of Christmas

I've been preparing Christmas sermons over the last week. One of our greatest opportunites to reach out with the story of Jesus and God's great love for us comes at Christmastime. Is there someone you could invite to Christmas worship at your church?

I love this video. There is power in a personal invitation.


Share the Good News of Christmas from Crossway on Vimeo.

Easy Bible Verses for Kids (and the rest of us)

Easy Bible Verses for Kids - Here are a few simple Bible verses ideal for memorizing with your children.

The Story of the T-Shirts

The Story of the T-Shirts - Here’s an interesting story from CNN. It tells why the Chilean miners were all rescued wearing t-shirts saying ‘Gracias Senor’ - ‘Thank you Lord.’

Jesus Isn't Your Homeboy

Mark Batterson posted a simple devotional thought challenging readers to respect the holiness of God. It's worth two minutes of reading time.

Weird Vending Machines from Around the World

There is no real value in reading this article from Yahoo travel. It’s just kind of interesting...in a weird way.

The Prayer Circle

When a group of people get together to pray there are certain dynamics you can count on in the prayer circle. Jon Acuff's article describes the variety of people you may find. My favorite is the "shot blocker" but the whole list is good.

 7. The Shot BlockerThis one is rare. Hearing this one in a group prayer is like seeing a unicorn. On the highway. With Gary Coleman riding it’s back in the breakdown lane. In basketball, when someone on the opposing team swats your shot with their hand, preventing you from scoring, this is called “shot blocking.” The same thing can happen in a prayer circle. It usually looks like this:

Person 1: “Lord, thank you for affirming my decision to take a new job.”
Shot blocker: “Lord please give Danielle more patience and discernment as she looks for a new job. Help her not rush into anything.”
This is the basketball equivalent of someone blocking your shot into another state. Just as you try to send up a prayer to God, they swoop in and contradict you. (Thanks LunarWorld for the idea.)

Even So, Come Lord Jesus...

I ran across this nice quote from Scotty Smith, "Life between the first and second comings of Jesus will be filled with rapture and rupture—encouragement and discouragement… gains and losses… beauty and brokenness. Though your kingdom has already arrived in Jesus, it has yet to fully come. And, by the way, that Day is looking better and better!"