The Afternoon of Life

Book Review "Zealous for Good Works" by Todd A. Wilson What a challenging read for the Christian with a heart to grow the Kingdom of God through obedience to the Scriptures.  Wilson has logically, spiritually and forcefully captured the spirit of the writings of Titus in this well-organized, enthusiastic and uplifting volume.  He asks the question, “Is your church transforming the community?” and from there builds on the steps needed to take the church all the way up to becoming a city on a hill! Chapter titles are intriguing and it’s hard not to take a shortcut through to those that look more interesting, but one will certainly lose out on the flow of this book by doing so.  He explains why he chose the book of Titus to help the church grow to become a serving church and not just a body of believers.  He asks another question:  “What Turns a Place Upside Down?” and goes on to illuminate the importance of excellent preaching in the church.  H...

Jonathan Cahn has a third home run in his writing of “The Paradigm”.  The book is a gateway book that actually helps to set the stage for his third book “The Harbinger”, which was also an out-of-the-park volume.  Both books are fictional, but there’s so much Scripture involved that they feel factual.  Most of the information shared in both books is factual and can be confirmed through reading of the Scriptures and through Internet searches.  It’s hard to call the historical fiction because the history shared in both books is less than fifty years old in many places…but history it is.  While “The Harbinger” refers to events around 9-11-2001, “The Paradigm” is going to take us back to the Old Testament reign of Ahab and Jezebel, comparing their governing to recent principles in our own immediate history…and it’s a fascinating comparison.  There is little to “contrast”…because Cahn has found the stories to be almost identical in scope, purpose and ending...

One of my children had a friend when they were in high school who has stayed in my life...popping in from obscurity every year or two.  Today I received a call from her and ma heartbroken to hear her life story in the past several months.  She is a young woman diagnosed with physical and mental disabilities... disabilities that did not show up till after she was out of school.  Dan and I attended her wedding several years ago...only to learn that within a year she and her husband were divorced (both of them had mental diagnoses). She was in a group home in Buffalo the next few times I talked to her but left that home last year and moved to a home with her "girlfriend's sister"...and the sister's boyfriend...and kids.  In October, she "had words" with the sister - who promptly kicked her and her friend out into the streets...of Buffalo...in October! Since then the girlfriend has left her life and she has "survived" alone on the streets under...

"Teach us to number our days,  that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12 NIV Pastor Al preached on Psalm 90 this past Sunday, December 30, 2018 and today, anuary 2, 2019, verse 12 is the “Verse of the Day” on Bible Gateway!  When God’s Word shows up in my life twice in such a short time, I take notice and pay attention.  There’s obviously something He’s trying to get through to me. “Teach” – when the writer asks God to teach him, he is expressing his willingness to learn.   Taken in context with the whole verse, he’s also declaring his willingness to be a lifelong learner at the feet of God.   I need to be the same – a student for my whole life!   No matter how much I know, there’s just so much more to learn!   I’ve learned in recent years that I LOVE learning…and learning more and more about my Father is good for my soul! “Us” – this verse is not all about me.   Lessons are to be shared, passed on, discussed an...

It wasn't until after I read the book I discovered it wasn't a current writing...it was written 20 years ago!  But you won't know that while reading it.  The culture described in the book is even more accurate as a description of today's "self"-minded society than it was then!  Alistair Begg challenges his readers to examine themselves and ensure that they are walking a true life in the Spirit.  He parallels our spiritual health with a physical check-up.  He compares marriage to a lengthy flight in an airliner.  His description of "sacrifice" flies in the face of a society that no longer knows the meaning of the word.  The book is a contrast between living in this world but choosing to live for the world to come.   As a longtime believer and ardent follower of Christ and the message of God's Word, I could not put this book down.  I will be reading it again...and probably again.  Because it is full of Scriptures...full of found...

It’s hard for someone who trusts the Lord to confess that she’s had the absolute worst year of her life! In my first two years of marriage long ago my husband was unemployed for six months and our marriage almost died.  I had a year where I lost a baby I was carrying…a baby I wanted and needed.  I had a year where one of my children was hurt in such an invasive and heart-wrenching way.  I’ve had a year where I sat with a friend as her CHILD experienced cancer.  I’ve had a year where I sat with a friend as her 2-yr-old daughter was BURIED.  At 40 I moved 1500 miles from home and friends and just a little later my marriage dissolved and ended in divorce. In the next year I faced eviction and possible homelessness with three pre-teens. There was the year my oldest son and I had surgery just two days apart…at Christmastime.  The next year I had Bell’s Palsy at Easter.  I had a year where a new pastor was verbally and psychologically abusive…not just w...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the  freedom  of speech, or of the  press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. www.heritage.org/constitution/amendments/1/.../freedom-of-speech-and-of-the-press Freedom of the press  is the right to circulate opinions in print without censorship by the government. Americans enjoy  freedom of the press  under the First Amendment to the Constitution, which states: 'Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.' https://study.com/.../what-is-freedom-of-the-press-definition-history-examples.html freedom  of the  press  - Legal  Definition . n. The right, guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution to publish and distribute information in books, magazines, and newspapers...