We are living in a world that is increasingly isolated fractured and lonely And the church can feel the same On this Building Relationships with Dr Gary Chapman pastor and author Vermon Pierre says when you know you are dearly loved by God you can love him and others from the overflow How do you live that out every day Don't Building Relationships with Dr Gary Chapman Featured resource DEARLY BELOVED HOW GOD'S LOVE FOR HIS CHURCH DEEPENS OUR LOVE FOR EACH OTHERSee omnystudio com listener for privacy information [... more]

What would it be like to walk in the shoes of royalty Angela Kelly the daughter of a dockworker and nurse knows She was also the official dresser for the late Queen Elizabeth for the last two decades of the monarch rsquo s life One of her responsibilities was to break in the aging queen rsquo s new shoes by walking in them around the palace grounds There was a reason for it compassion for an elderly woman who sometimes was required to stand for extended periods at ceremonies Because they wore the same shoe size Kelly was able to [... more]

ldquo I rsquo m not who I once was I rsquo m a new person rdquo Those simple words from my son spoken to students at a school assembly describe the change God made in his life Once addicted to heroin Geoffrey previously saw himself through his sins and mistakes But now he sees himself as a child of God The Bible encourages us with this promise ldquo If anyone is in Christ the new creation has come The old has gone the new is here rdquo Corinthians No matter who we rsquo ve been or what we rsquo ve [... more]

Caesar Augustus BC ndash AD the first emperor of Rome wanted to be known as a law-and-order ruler Even though he built his empire on the back of slave labor military conquest and financial bribery he restored a measure of legal due process and gave his citizens Iustitia a goddess our justice system today refers to as Lady Justice He also called for a census that brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem for the birth of a long-awaited ruler whose greatness would reach to the ends of the earth Micah ndash nbsp nbsp nbsp What neither Augustus nor the rest [... more]

New Years Jokes [... more]

Diet Eman was an ordinary shy young woman in the Netherlands mdash in love working and enjoying time with family and friends mdash when the Germans invaded in As Diet pronounced Deet later wrote ldquo When there is danger on your doorstep you want to act almost like an ostrich burying its head in the sand rdquo Yet Diet felt God calling her to resist the German oppressors which included risking her life to find hiding places for Jews and other pursued people This unassuming young woman became a warrior for God nbsp We find many stories in the Bible [... more]

I once spoke at a secular conference for childless couples Heartbroken over their infertility many attendees despaired at their future Having walked the childless path too I tried to encourage them ldquo You can have a meaningful identity without becoming parents rdquo I said ldquo I believe you are fearfully and wonderfully made and there rsquo s new purpose for you to find rdquo A woman later approached me in tears ldquo Thank you rdquo she said ldquo I rsquo ve felt worthless being childless and needed to hear that I rsquo m fearfully and wonderfully made rdquo I asked [... more]

When Rebecca rsquo s brother and sister-in-law started having marriage problems Rebecca prayed earnestly for their reconciliation But they divorced Then her sister-in-law took the children out of state and their dad didn rsquo t protest Rebecca never again saw the nieces she dearly loved Years later she said ldquo Because of trying to handle this sadness on my own I let a root of bitterness start in my heart and it began to spread to my family and friends rdquo The book of Ruth tells about a woman named Naomi who struggled with a heart of grief that grew [... more]