The following is taken from Dr. Bill Bright, former Campus Crusade leader, who has fasted for 40 days or more: How you begin and conduct your fast will largely determine your success. By following these seven basic steps to fasting, you will make your time with the Lord more meaningful and spiritually rewarding. STEP 1: […]
When Jesus was asked a question on the subject of fasting as recorded in Matthew 9, he answered in a way that God’s people should well understand. He used a wedding metaphor: Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, ‘Why do we […]
Genesis 22:9 “When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there; then he laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar on the wood.” Oswald Chambers: This event is a picture of the mistake we make in thinking that the […]
Just wanted to update our Bethany Church Family that Kristy Whittington’s Surgery went well. She is resting at her house with her Dad, and step Mom, while Lauren nurtures her back to health. Thank you for praying! Just got an update on Kim Kiker. She is out of surgery and recovering. The Doctor said, She […]
In 2005 John Mark McMillan wrote and released the song, “How He Loves” and thousands were divided over one verse in the song: “So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,..” Awakening imaginations to the idea of kissing Jesus. How wrong and weird is that? Yet it shines light on something lurking just beneath […]
Has Everyone Made a Reminder Card Like This?
I trust that following last Sunday’s message everyone has had the opportunity to edit and rewrite their personal testimony. Until this week our challenges have been to see people the way God sees them, loving them from an eternal perspective. The other was to seek to obey the Lord in the area of sharing your […]
The Third commandment: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember the days of “Your Mama” jokes? Yo mama’s so stupid…She stared at a cup of orange juice for 12 hours because it said “concentrate.” Yo mama’s so ugly…She threw a boomerang and it refused to come back. Yo mama’s so fat…When […]
Pastor Chuck Smith: Life exists on two planes: the vertical and the horizontal. The vertical axis on which your life revolves is your relationship with God. The horizontal is your relationship with others. There is a fixed center point so that if the vertical axis is out of line, your life is doomed to become […]
There was an old song from the band Chicago Transit Authority back in 1969 titled, “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” There’s a line in the lyrics that says: “People runnin’ everywhere, Don’t know where to go, Don’t know where I am, Can’t see past the next step, Don’t have time to think […]
It is my great pleasure to introduce a new staff member to Bethany Church: Lincoln Lawing has accepted an invitation to work with our youth part-time beginning September 5. His efforts will be focused primarily on Wednesday evening ministry with youth until the new year when he completes a prior ministry commitment with another church. Please be in prayer […]
Colossians 2:6-7 “So then just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness.” Today Jackie’s heart and mine overflow with thankfulness as we think on how God has blessed us with the staff, […]
1 Timothy 2:8 I desire therefore that in every place men should pray, ….without anger or quarreling or resentment or doubt [in their minds], ….lifting up holy hands. People are having face lifts, neck lifts, chin lifts, forehead lifts, mid-face lifts, eye lid lifts, lower face lifts, mini face lifts, to their bodies. But what about […]
Do you know God’s phone number? Missionary to America, Zac Lyons, challenged us this Sunday to know God’s 411. There was a time before google that if we didn’t know the phone number for someone or a place of business that we called 411 information, and they would tell us what we needed to know. […]
This morning while reviewing my emails I saw one that I thought I should share with you. During the service the Lord released a word of knowledge that someone’s lower back was in need of healing. I asked if anyone in the service was having lower back pain and several hands shot up. The challenge […]
1 Chronicles 29:17 I know also, my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things. And now I have seen with joy Your people who are present here offer voluntarily and freely to You. As summer time is in full swing […]
“How often do you get a chance to reach deep into history and bring something back?” –Rick Brown “Raise the Roof” was a PBS documentary regarding the reconstruction of an 18th century, Polish wooden synagogue by acclaimed artists/educators Rick and Laura Brown, in the country of Poland. After working for ten years with hundreds of students, educators, […]
I don’t know if you’ve noticed the landscaping that has been done around the church lately – but it’s looking pretty good. This did not happen by itself. Last Friday Kent Lee, Vic Medlin, and Jake Donofrio mowed grass and edged for several hours to achieve a look exemplifying our care for God and His […]
Back in the “eighties” a pop rock group called the Alan Parsons Project released a song titled, “Where Do We Go From Here?” It’s lyrics were: “Where do we go from here now that all other children are growin’ up And how do we spend our lives if there’s no one to lend us a […]
Yesterday for the National Day of Prayer Robert Russell and I joined Ron and Lisa Drogan at Red Classic Transportation for the National Day of Prayer. We had a great time of prayer and intercession.
Is it enough to “be saved?” Is there something deeper we are all called to? Do you only see what Jesus has done for you; what He can do for you? How big is your God? Is He big enough; bigger than your circumstances? John 15:1 “I AM the True Vine…” Vine in the Greek […]
Could you forward this to those you know aren’t necessarily reading the blogs or signed-up to receive them? What were the results of our Transformation Discovery Meeting? What are some ideas that I have regarding how to “flesh” these out over the next several months and year? Following our Transformation Discovery Meeting with Dr. Bob […]
Lisa Drogan will be in the “Prayer Works” Room to pray with anyone who wants to join her for National Day of Prayer. Please send her an email to let her know that you are planning on attending. Her e-mail address is: lisadrogan@gmail.com. National Day of Prayer Suggests the Following Prayer Topics: Corporate Prayer Dear […]
What do you do when you try to hear from God and hear nothing but your own thoughts bouncing around in your head? How is it that we believe more in the power of the devil to deceive us than in the power of God to lead us? Why is it that we believe the […]
How is it that an individual can read, and study the Bible and not hear God speak? How is it that they can know about God but not recognize the various ways He communicates personally? Why do millions of church attenders rarely, if ever, compare and contrast their life to the lives of Biblical characters […]
Other than losing their “lodging” in the Garden what was the primary thing Adam and Eve lost in the Garden of Eden? Was it that they were going to be slaves of satan and sin? Read on to find out. 1 Corinthians 15:45 Thus it is written, The first man Adam became a living being (an […]
In 1981 the British rock band “Police” produced an album titled “Ghost in the Machine.” One of it’s songs “Spirits in the Material World” states the very thing Jesus was seeking to awaken us to. The French philosopher Rene’ Descartes proposed a similar idea when he coined the phrase: “cogito ergo sum” (English: “I […]
John 20:25 AMP “So the other disciples kept telling him, We have seen the Lord! But he said to them, Unless I see in His hands the marks made by the nails and put my finger into the nail prints, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe [it].” We’ve been exploring the […]
John 15:7 AMP If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. In the 2016 movie “Copying Beethoven” a fictionalized account is made of the last years of Beethoven’s life depicting his struggle with not being able to hear his own music. In […]
