One day a man came to Jesus to receive healing for his son who was tormented with a demonic spirit. This man had already gone to Jesus’ disciples to get prayer, but there were no results. Let’s read the story found in Mark 9:17-23.

Romans 15:13 says, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

As we approach the celebration of the greatest event that has ever taken place, the resurrection of Jesus, perhaps we need to examine our hearts to make sure that we have not allowed this focal point of the Christian faith to simply be noted as another holiday. The resurrection of Jesus is the message of the New Testament church. It is what we are to proclaim to the world until He comes. It was the message of the church of Acts that God confirmed with great signs and wonders. Mark 16:20 says, “And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.” It is the same message that He still confirms today.

Proverbs 13:12 in the New King James version of the Bible says “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.” I love the Message Bible’s version of this scripture. It says “unrelenting disappointment makes you heartsick.” We have all had them. Things that we thought would happen that never happened. In fact, the greatest source of pain in our life comes from expectations that we have that we never see come to pass.

Our family loves to get together on Sunday evenings and watch the popular television show “Extreme Home Makeover.” There’s no greater thing than to see love in action and people’s lives being changed by kindness.

A couple of years ago our church began to work with a ministry that came in and helped us to strengthen our leadership and clearly define our mission and core values. This ministry was headed up by a passionate minister of the gospel named Larry Easton. Larry and I had many discussions about what church is really about. It’s a subject that I believe many people wonder about. Why go to church? What is it really all about? Is it simply tradition that has been passed down by our forefathers, or is it something that is designed by God? If it is designed by God, then it should take top priority in our much too busy lives.

I’ve heard it as long as I can remember. “God is in control!” The phrase is usually used when one has come to the end of their understanding and they just can’t figure things out. Sometimes it is used in a good way, like when someone is genuinely putting their faith in God to take care of an important matter in their life. Other times it is used by people to humbly hide behind God, putting all of the responsibility for a matter on Him, and shunning any responsibility that they should be taking. So let’s examine this from the scriptures. After all, everything we believe should be scriptural, and if you want your beliefs to be scriptural, there is one thing you must have ... scripture.

The subject of healing in the Bible is one that many have quarreled over for centuries. It’s always amazed me how people will fight and argue to stay sick.

Many of the questions and arguments have arisen as a result of people failing to receive healing from God. If God wanted people healed, wouldn’t He just heal them? If it were God’s will to heal everyone, then why do good Christian people die of sickness? Doesn’t God sometimes use sickness to get our attention and teach us valuable lessons? One thing is for sure, there are answers to all of these questions, and the answer is always found in the Word of God.

According to a survey done by the Barna Research group, only about eight percent of born again Christians tithe. If that’s true, and other studies reveal the same thing, then less than 10 percent of Christians are financing the impact that the church is having on the world today.

Enoch lived thousands of years ago during a time when the knowledge of God was very limited. There were no churches, no bibles, no radios or other forms of media that we are blessed with today. No one in his day was born again because Jesus had yet to be raised from the dead, yet Genesis 5:24 tells us that he was famous for “walking with God.”

Desperate situations come to all people. Most people, when faced with a desperate situation turn to prayer. Prayer seems to be the most important thing to do when in desperation, but is it always the right thing to do?

I recently bought my wife, Lisa, a GPS device for her car. We hooked it up, typed in the destination of our first trip, and off we went. Amazing! It began to direct each turn we needed to make. “In 200 yards, turn left ... Exit left, and then turn right.”