The Plodding Preacher

Too often we only hear of negative news when it comes to the church. This article explains how the church is mobilizing to serve in Houston. From the Flooded Grounds of Houston J. A. Medders Houston, along with its connected neighborhoods, communities, and suburbs, is being pummeled by historic rain and unprecedented flooding. It’s a disaster here. My neighbors—all 6.5 million—are feeling the effects of Hurricane Harvey’s 500-year flooding event. So far 370 billion gallons of rain have hit our greater Houston area—and it has just started. The pictures are nothing short of stunning. Nearly every bayou and creek in the Bayou City has gone over its banks. Meteorologists expect the storm to linger, dragging its rain across our city throughout the coming week. First-responders are working nonstop, risking their lives to rescue others. More than 2,000 rescues have been performed, and with days of rain to come, countless more are in store. While the Federal Emergency Management

Thou needest to be saved from thyself, not by thyself. C.H. Spurgeon

The key to strong families is a strong marriage.   Ironically, after we wed, we often fail to do the things that strengthened our relationship as we courted.  Today's article is chock-full of inexpensive ideas to keep dating into our married life. 8 Ways to Date Your Spouse without Breaking the Budget Whitney Hopler Dating your spouse is vital to the health of your  marriage , since sharing experiences outside of your normal routines keeps your relationship fresh and strengthens your bond. But traditional dates are often so expensive that couples sometimes neglect dating rather than deal with the stress of paying for pricey dates, like dinner at a fancy restaurant followed by a movie. The good news is that by using your God-given creativity, you can create big romance on a small budget. Here are 8 types of dates you and your spouse can enjoy together for only about $10: Adventure dates.  Imagine that you and your spouse are tourists visiting your hometown, and enjoy t

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not breceive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. (Mar 10:13-16 ESV) This picture of Jesus is one that I particularly cherish.  While the disciples convey self-importance in rebuking parents who would think Jesus had time for their children, Jesus gently calls the children to himself.  The nature of the scene is even more precious when we consider a couple of factors.  First, the children involved are in all likelihood babes in arms.  They are young enough that the parents are bringing them and it was common practice in 1st century Judaism to ask prominent rabbis to bless infants.  Second, verse 16 does not q

In our scenario for consideration, Subject A punches Subject B. If Subject A is a white supremacist who punches Subject B because of his skin colour, then we have a despicable act of evil and Subject A is correctly brought under the full penalty of the law. If Subject A is an Antifa demonstrator who punches Subject B who is a white supremacist racist, what then?  As one watches the media, one might conclude that scenario 2 is justified violence and hence Subject A should bear no penalty for the violence. What would God say? Clearly racism is sin because every human being is made in the image of God and ought to be treated with the dignity and respect that fact deserves.  In Christ, every tribe and people group will be represented in heaven.  Therefore, Christians ought to live that brotherhood here and now. What about white supremacists?  Are they made in the image of God?  Should they not be treated with respect and dignity befitting every image of God?  Will there be former

Sometimes we do the things we hate. And sometimes we get confused and begin to hate ourselves for the things we’ve done. There is a world of difference between ‘walking in the light’ while confessing our sins ( 1 John 1.7-10 ) and letting our sins define our identity. While it is appropriate to mourn our sin ( Matthew 5.4 ), it is not appropriate to hate ourselves. In the heat of the moment of regret and shame, we can almost think that self-loathing is good and right and biblical (after all, we have offended a Holy God and become unclean!). But in truth, God never calls us to hate ourselves. The truth is that God loves us ( John 3.16 ,   1 John 4.10 ). And the only one who loves our self-loathing is Satan. Julian Freeman

NINE PROMISES OF GOD EVERY PARENT SHOULD CLING TO AND PRAY Mark Altrogge When my children were young I often told them I didn’t care if they were successful or rich when they grew up, but the only thing that really mattered to me was that they would live for Jesus. That’s the only thing that really matters, isn’t it? We long for our children to do well in life. And the key to doing well is knowing and loving Jesus. What would it matter if they became the next founder of a Facebook or YouTube if they weren’t saved? What good would it do if they became millionaires without Christ? But if our children know and love the Lord, he will establish and prosper them in ways that really matter. HERE are Mark's 9 Scriptures.

WORLD—In a statement that surprised nearly no one, Satan, the accuser and enemy of God and His people, paused briefly from roaming the earth seeking someone to devour Wednesday to confirm to reporters that he is responsible for the entire white supremacist movement worldwide. “Oh yeah, that’s all me. For sure,” said the wicked one Lucifer, adding that he’s “really been on a roll lately with this particular gig.” “I’m quite proud of this hell-filling racket. It’s as anti-biblical as anything can be, causing human beings made in the image of God to be seen as subhuman and expendable, but do you see how tons of them even invoke the name of God as justification for hating everyone who isn’t white? Purely satanic. Some of my best work, honestly.” The devil then ended his interview abruptly, explaining that he has “a lot of work to do today on this front.” http://babylonbee.com/news/satan-officially-claims-responsibility-white-supremacist-movement/

CBS News triumphantly declared on its Twitter account:  "Iceland is on pace to virtually eliminate Down syndrome through abortion. #CBSNOA learns more, tonight at 10pm ET/PT." Actress Patricia Heaton absolutely nailed it with her response Tweet: Iceland isn't actually eliminating Down Syndrome. They're just killing everybody that has it. Big difference. # Downsyndrome # abortion Abortion is not a cure for Down's Syndrome, it just murders those that might have it. 

It is not so much what is said that makes the heretic.   It is what is not said. A heretic is someone who does not wish to embrace all that one is given to embrace. They are “choosy”. Literally, a heresy means to “pick and choose”. Nathan Rinne

Tolerance is the favourite word of all things progressive.  We are supposed to support diversity in all forms whether we are talking of race, creed, sexual orientation or gender.  After all we live in a pluralistic society where multiple cultures, religions and morals co-exist. It is a lie.  The progressives do not want tolerance.  They want a totalitarianism of thought.  Anyone who does not agree with the party line must be silenced or browbeaten into submission.  This week Google fired an engineer who had the audacity to suggest that men and women are not the same - that there are biological differences between the genders.  As well, he accused the corporation of slanting its search results towards all things progressive.  For deviating from the google dogma, his livelihood was taken away. This should shock no one.  The ruling party in the Canadian Parliament has refused to allow anyone who does not agree with abortion on demand to be democratically chosen by a riding associati

Joni has now spent fifty years in a wheelchair.  This fine article speaks to her hope. Why Joni Eareckson Tada Wants a Glorified Body by Jordan Standridge "It is so easy to be self-centered in this life, and this self-centeredness is easily brought into our relationship with Christ. There is so much we want from Him, there is so much temptation to complain and to expect things from our Savior. Joni reminds us to have the right perspective of Heaven. Of course, Heaven will be an eternity of pleasure. There will be no more tears or pain. But the greatest joy of all is the fact that we will no longer sin against our sweet Savior."

“You just need to believe in yourself!” How many times have we been told this statement as a pep talk? Culture tells us this is a great attribute to possess—the ability to take matters into your own hands, to be the determiner of your own destiny and the captain of your own ship. You can do anything that you set your mind to. Believe and achieve! And pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. There are whole sections of the bookstore devoted to helping you think like this, to have self-confidence above all else, and to rely on yourself and yourself alone. This kind of advice resonates with our human nature because at the end of the day we all love taking matters into our own hands. We’d rather trust in ourselves because it makes us feel “in control.” However, sadly, deep down in the true essence of who we are, in our soul and spirit, we know it’s a lie. No one has misled you more than you’ve misled yourself. No one has lied to you more than you’ve lied to yourself. No one has hurt, dist