Building on the Foundation

  In 1 Corinthians 10:12, the Apostle Paul warned, “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” In other words, stay alert. Don’t get complacent. Don’t think you’ve already got it made. Proverbs 16:18 tells us, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” The moment we get complacent, the moment we think we've got it made, we've already stumbled. We’ve already let the sin of pride, like an open sore, ooze into our lives. In essence, we’ve deceived ourselves. We’ve forgotten Paul’s warning, “Let no man deceive himself” (1 Cor. 3:18). Satan doesn’t even have to deceive us; we can do it to ourselves! How easy it is, then, for us to be deceived if we can do it to our own selves. No wonder the Bible warns us so often about being deceived. As Jer. 17:9 tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” But it gets worse! Not only can we deceive ourselves, but deep down inside us, we often want to be deceived

Guest blog post by Richard Gray   An angel announces, “…Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen…For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance [1411, (miraculous) power, might, strength ] of her delicacies [4764, self-indulgent luxury ]” (Rev. 18:2, 3). Babylon is the world’s corrupt hierarchical one world religious/political system that will bring untold destruction and death on the world. “For  in  those days shall be affliction [2347, oppression, affliction, tribulation, distress ], such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved : but for the elect's sake, whom He hath chosen, He hath shortened the days” (Mk. 13:19, 20). The Great Trumpet will announce the return of the Messiah and His br

  Not That Four Letter Word Why do we date? What drives us to seek out someone of the opposite sex and spend exorbitant amounts of our time, emotions, and money getting to know them? Different people will have different answers to these questions, but there should really only be one answer. Some people seek out dating just to be in a relationship with someone. They yearn for a deep connection but don’t want the commitment that goes with a truly deep connection, so instead, they settle for a cheap imitation. Sometimes this dating relationship leads to living together without being married. Still unable to make the commitment that leads to true oneness, they will always have an essential part missing. There will always be a hollow part in their relationship that they won’t be able to fill. So if the reason we date is not just for the dating relationship, why then do we date? Dating is supposed to be a necessary evil on the path to marriage. It is not supposed to be the goal. We date then

Honor has played an important role in mankind’s relationship with his fellow man since the beginning of time. It is a fundamental principle that every civilized society has been built on in order to work and cohabitate together.  God, Himself, also places great importance on honor; His word tells us to: •     Honor our father and mother (Ex. 20:12) •     Honor our spouse (1 Pet. 3:7) •     Honor our brethren (Rom. 12:10) •     Have our conduct honorable among the Gentiles (1 Pet. 2:12) •     Honor all people (1 Pet. 2:17) These are just a few of many examples we can find in scripture. God also says: “ … [F]or those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed” (1 Sam. 2:30). Since God places such high value on honor (to the point that He promises to honor those who honor Him), let’s ask ourselves–are we truly honoring our God?  What about honoring our fellow man since His word tells us to? In order to honestly look at ourselves and answer these question

  The world bulges at the seams with liars, con-artists, and crooks, and the religious world is no exception. In fact, the religious can be some of the worst offenders. So when it comes to pastors and preachers, how do we avoid getting swindled and deceived? How do we determine which ones are Godly, and which are not? 1 John 4:1 cautions us, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 Thes. 5:21 adds, “Test [prove, scrutinize, examine] all things; hold fast what is good.” Our Savior Jesus Christ warned: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit” (Mat. 7:15-18). “You will know them by the