Χριστός Ανέστη!

For those of you who don’t understand the Greek language, the title of this podcast reads, in English: Christ has risen!


I heard this phrase proclaimed in Greece when I enjoyed the celebration of Easter in that wonderful country.  Granted, half the folks making this proclamation were drunk… but that does not change the truth of this simple phrase.

Christ is risen.  Jesus is alive!

As you celebrate the Christmas holiday season, our focus may be on the baby in the manger (as depicted in the graphic above).  But remember what that baby did:

• He proclaimed the gospel (good news) to those who were oppressed
• He healed the sick
• He raised the dead
• He took your sins upon Himself on the cross
• He rose from the dead (Χριστός Ανέστη!)
• He ascended into heaven to sit at God’s right hand
• He is coming back to judge the quick (living) and the dead
• He loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life

As you celebrate friends, family, food and gifts… remember the Reason for the season.

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Meditations on Love, Part 10: From Jihad to Jesus

In the final segment of this ten-part series, our brother Joel Rosenberg related an experience meeting a former terrorist leader who in the past would have murdered Joel in cold blood.

Instead of doing that during this particular encounter, the former terrorist embraced Joel as a brother.

Why?

Because of an act of love.

Someone sowed seeds.  The seeds were Bibles.  The harvest of just one of those seeds was a life changed from murder and terror to compassion and love:

Jesus explains it this way:

³Give attention to this! Behold, a sower went out to sow.

⁴And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

⁵Other seed [of the same kind] fell on ground full of rocks, where it had not much soil; and at once it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil;

⁶And when the sun came up, it was scorched, and because it had not taken root, it withered away.

⁷Other seed [of the same kind] fell among thorn plants, and the thistles grew and pressed together and utterly choked and suffocated it, and it yielded no grain.

⁸And other seed [of the same kind] fell into good (well-adapted) soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing, and yielded up to thirty times as much, and sixty times as much, and even a hundred times as much as had been sown.

⁹And He said, He who has ears to hear, let him be hearing [and let him consider, and comprehend].

Mark 4:3-9 [AMP]

Somebody sowed the word (we explain in this podcast). And while most of the seeds sown were destroyed by the Islamic men who had intercepted them, one seed got through and changed a life for eternity... impacting who knows how many lives?


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Meditations on Love, Part 9: Walk in Love, Avoid Strife, God Defends You!

Referencing our audio teaching entitled Defender, we know that people are often used by satan to cause problems for us.

We also know that God is a mighty Defender Who will fight battles on our behalf with power and might exponentionally greater than we could ever imagine. .

The next important point is to remember that when we walk in love and avoid strife, we may with confidence leave all conflicts in God's hands... where they will be far better dealt with than by your own strength or schemes.

Walk in love towards those who offend...

The power of God will always defend...



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Meditations on Love, Part 8: More Love... More Power!

Our goal is to live a life that exemplifies unselfish love for others.  Even when people act ugly and contrary... we want to obey Jesus’ commandment to forgive them and to show them unconditional (agape) love.

And so faith, hope, love abide [faith--conviction and belief respecting man's relation to God and divine things; hope--joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love--true affection for God and man, growing out of God's love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 [AMP]

The more love you have (and exercise)... the more power you will have.

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