What The Bible Says - Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

What The Bible Says Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

What The Bible Says Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

What The Bible Says Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

What The Bible Says Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

The man in our story led a group of rebels into an evangelical tent intending to bomb it, but he walked out a transformed man.

In 1962 in a country that was then called Rhodesia in southern Africa, black teenagers, weary of subjugation and poverty, joined a ...

As a physician, I witness countless first and last breaths. As a Christian, I am constantly reminded of how God breathes life into us through his Spirit.The scalpel sliced through the uterine wall. The amniotic sac ruptured, and fluid flowed across the blue surgical drapery toward me. The obstetrician’s fingers curled around the baby’s head while my gloved hands pressed firmly against the mother’s abdomen. The baby was larger than we had expected. I shifted my full body weight against the mother’s belly, and, at last, the newborn’s head slipped through. Her shoulders quickly followed, and there she lay, eyes taking in the bright world for the first time.Before she could cry, she took her first breath. Air rushed in, pushing aside fluid that had filled her lungs from six weeks of gestation. The oxygen diffused through the blood vessels of the alveoli, tiny air sacs within her lungs, relaxing the pulmonary arteries and allowing blood to course through her lungs for the first time. The short vessel connecting her lung arteries and heart began to close. Pressure built in her heart, causing the tiny hole between its chambers to snap shut.She breathed more vigorously than anyone else in the operating room, her purple hue softening to a rich pink. Squinting against the glaring light above, she cried again. What a foreign world this is—where air becomes breath, and then breath returns to air.Ruach is a Hebrew word meaning breath, wind, or spirit. (In the Septuagint, an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, it is rendered as pneuma or pneumon, the roots from which we get many English words pertaining to lungs.)In Genesis, ruach is both the Spirit of God bringing light and order into an unordered world (1:1–4) and the breath of life that God breathes into Adam (2:7). Psalm 33:6 says, “By the word of ...Continue reading...

Tuberous sclerosis complex. Most people have never heard of this rare medical condition. Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), also known as tuberous sclerosis, is a rare genetic disease that causes non-cancerous (benign) tumors to grow in the brain and several areas of the body, including the spinal cord, nerves, eyes, lung, heart, kidneys, and skin. The […]The post Couple Refuses Doctor's Suggestion to Have Abortion Just Because Their Son Had a Rare Diagnosis appeared first on LifeNews.com.

Actor and comedian Russell Brand announced Friday that he is going to be baptized on Sunday, following the culmination of a months-long public wrestling with the tenets of Christianity.

Fractured TrustDr. John GoetschThu, 04/11/2024 - 00:10 Every relationship is formed and perpetuated by an invisible link called trust. That binding link is forged through loving communication, meticulous integrity, and honest transparent motives.Trust is defined as “confidence, faith, belief, sureness, reliance, certitude, and conviction.” By its very nature, trust is generally built over time, yet it can be fractured instantaneously by a single word, action, or attitude. Though it's not impossible to rebuild trust, once it has been fractured, it's like a fractured bone—it doesn't heal immediately, and it has a huge impact on every aspect of one's life.? Our relationship with Jesus Christ is built on this trust factor. Most of us did not get saved the moment we first heard the gospel. It took some time for the Holy Spirit to gently draw us to the honest truths of God's Word as they were preached or shared with us. We listened to others share their testimonies of their confidence in God and eagerness to grow in their relationship with Him. We realized something was missing in our life, but we wanted to be certain that our faith was based on something concrete, real, and trustworthy. We recall the overwhelming assurance we received from God the moment our sins were forgiven and we became a child of God. Our trust then grew as we worshiped Him, obeyed Him, and served? Him.? Satan knows that the only way we can truly please God is with this whole-hearted trust and unwavering faith. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews? 11:6). Because Satan knows this, he is wholly and completely set on fracturing our trust in God. Note that he is not content with a slight stress fracture of your spiritual pinky finger. He has a sledgehammer, and he wields it with every intent to break every bone in your spiritual being. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).How exactly does Satan go about fracturing our trust? Let's go back to the beginning. God provided a beautiful place called the Garden of Eden for the first man and woman to live. After placing them there, He gave them a commandment: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). This was a simple command, and in it God emphasized the freedom He was giving man: of all these trees “thou mayest freely eat.” God was in no way prohibiting man, but rather protecting him through His guidance and instruction.? When Satan enters the Garden in Genesis chapter 3 his strategy is quickly seen. He begins by planting a doubt in Adam's and Eve's minds about God. “. . . Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1). He plants the thought in their minds that God is not trustworthy—that He is perhaps withholding something good from them and that He really does not have their best interest in mind. Satan then proceeds to suggest the opposite of God's words: “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). He is slandering the very character of God by challenging His holy integrity and the trustworthiness of His Word. Adam and Eve took the bait, and the entire human race plunged into sin. All because of a fractured trust!Now let's be honest: we are not looking at a myriad of trees in a garden trying to figure out what we can eat and what we cannot. But the subtle strategy of Satan never changes, and we must likewise guard against a fractured trust.? We clearly read in God's Word that God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), but we entertain thoughts of perhaps other possibilities based on scientific theories.? We read that God made two genders—male and female (Genesis 1:27)—and we look in the mirror and know that we are one or the other yet wonder if perhaps we should choose the opposite.? We read that “marriage is honorable” and sanctioned by God (Hebrews 13:4), but we imagine we might be missing out on something by remaining faithful to our spouse.? We read that God founded, empowers, and protects the local church (Matthew 16:18), but we think we might be happier with less involvement or commitment.? Once we allow ourselves that sliver of doubt, uncertainty, question, fear, suspicion, or distrust—we are in trouble. We then begin to look at everything in God's Word through that lens of uncertainty.? So, what do we do when we have allowed Satan to fracture our trust in God? What do we do when we find ourselves with doubts that are subtly displacing the solid trust we had in? God?The answer is simple: we go back to the truth. We remind ourselves that it is never God who fractures our trust. “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). Indeed, we serve a God who “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2).? Jesus Himself is the truth: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Rebuilding trust in God is a matter of turning to Him in faith and getting to know Him as He is. “And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee” (Psalm 9:10).Just as it would be nearly impossible to walk a mile with two broken legs or to carry a heavy object with two broken arms, it is impossible to love God and live wholeheartedly for Him with a fractured trust. But when we turn in trust to God, we are blessed. “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him” (Psalm 34:8).? ? Category Christian Living Tags Faith Christian Living

A man who set the Guinness World Record for living the longest time in an iron lung spoke about the love of God his family showed him before his death on Monday at 78.