Valentine’s Day affords another opportunity to express our love to those we hold dear. There are many ways to show love and appreciation to your sweetheart. But the important thing is that love be expressed in a language that speaks to their heart. After all, God expressed His love for us in a language understood by all mankind. “But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 NKJV). That’s love in any language. In his book The Five Love Languages Dr. Gary Chapman writes about the importance of expressing

As we continue to focus on renewal, strive to turn your heart so that the Lord comes to have first place in everything. Paul presents this powerfully in Colossians 1:18, “He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.” There it is: “first place in everything.” Jesus Christ is the preeminent Person in the universe: He is the Person who came to earth to suffer and die. He is One who has loved and given Himself for the body. He is the One who died to establish the church.

These days, we seem to be inundated by immorality, with rampant violence, sexually explicit material, and selfish lifestyles blatantly confronting us through our media (television to video games to internet). It is easy to complain about the lack of manners in young people, the rudeness of drivers, or some slipup we observe in a Christian person we respect.

It is easy to let the ways of this world get us down, but, even though it might be more difficult, we can find greatness in small things that sometimes take a bit of observation.

Depression is not a paper tiger – it is real and can be deadly. I have battled bouts of depression through various seasons of my life. If you are facing depression, you are not alone. Great and godly men and women have battled and defeated depression by the grace of God. In the Bible we see Moses, Job, Naomi, Elijah, David, and Solomon along with a host of saints down through history who succumbed to depression. The good news is – you can defeat depression. I’ve noticed that one of the first steps to defeat depression is to identify its cause. Here are some common causes of depression identified by psychologists.

Political ads and commercials ad nauseam will continue to bombard us until elections in November. I’m undecided as to whom I will vote for. I was impressed with the Christmas ads from Senator John McCain. In it we see a young John McCain beaten, bruised, and tied to a cot in a dingy, dark cell as a POW in Vietnam. Senator McCain recounts how a guard came into his cell, untied him, and helped him out into the sunlight. The guard then took a stick and drew a cross in the dirt. That powerful vignette is the gospel of the cross.

While sitting in a waiting room I picked up a copy of Newsweek. On the cover was a haunting picture of sad and depressed teenagers. The featured article described an almost epidemic proportion of teens in America suffering from depression. It seemed that the sole answer offered for this malady was to prescribe an assortment of drugs.

Millions of people in the United States are plagued by depression and a sense of hopelessness. When we lose hope despondency, depression, despair, and desolation can hunt us down.

A sage once said that those who have two or three good friends are fortunate. He or she who has one true, close friend is fortunate indeed.

Since moving into a new neighborhood a little over a year ago, we have only seen our neighbor lady a couple of times. An upward mobile executive, she leaves her home before sun-up for her commute to work and returns home late in the evening. My wife happened to meet her at a neighbor’s moving sale one Saturday. Our neighbor sadly remarked that even though she had a good job and had lived in the neighborhood for about 10 years, she had no friends.

Have you ever wondered where you fit in society? Where you fit in amongst your peers? Perhaps you have felt like a round peg being forced into a square hole. Culture tends to categorize individuals into homogenized groups. Do you identify with any of the following groups?

GAMERS: I recently read a news article concerning a popular young person who described himself as a “gamer”. I’m not quite sure, but possibly a gamer is someone who is an avid video game player. Many people spend hours playing and watching virtual reality games. But no matter how realistic these games may appear, they are not real.

Q: When thinking about fasting, what kinds of people come to mind?
-John the Baptist, legalists, health nuts
-Q: What about Jesus? He practiced and taught fasting!

Q: How many people do you know who practice fasting regularly?
Q: How many sermons have you heard on it?
-In most religious circles it’s hardly mentioned.
-Yet in scripture it’s mentioned more than baptism (77 to 75)

Israel was chosen and blessed by God. After coming into the Promised Land they decided they wanted a king like all the other nations had. They weren’t satisfied that God himself was their Sovereign protector and provider. He redeemed them from slavery and dwelt among them. They were actually rejecting God as their Sovereign Lord and Father.

God let them have a king to rule over them. He sent the prophet Samuel to anoint the one that He had chosen. Saul was not from a great or renown family but notice what God said about him, “This is the man the Lord has chosen as your king. No one in all of Israel is his equal!” (I Samuel 10:24 NLT)

In the Book of John 8:3-11, we read: “The scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say?’”

“This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’”

Christianity is unique because Christ is unique. No other religion’s god gave their life as a sacrifice for their people in fulfillment of prophecy. No other god died and arose from the dead as the Son of God did. Good Friday and Easter (Resurrection Sunday) are the most holy days of the Christian calendar. Just as the Day of Atonement and Passover are in the Jewish calendar.

The sufferings and passion of Christ were prophesied (foretold) centuries before Jesus Christ was born in fulfillment of scripture. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). What a breath taking declaration.

It seems that the storms and stresses of life throughout the world have increased exponentially sense that dreadful day of 9/11. In fact Jesus said that in the end times, “men’s hearts would fail them for fear of those things that are coming upon the earth” (Luke 21:26). In Matthew 24 Jesus gave some future signs that would point to and precede His return to earth. He referred to this time as “the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:8). He described it as being like a woman in labor pains. Could we be in “the beginning of sorrows” that will usher in the triumphant return of Jesus Christ to planet earth? How can we weather the onslaught of the storms and stresses of life that seems to be increasing in intensity and in number throughout the world?

Do you want to succeed and prosper in whatever you do? Only a fool doesn’t want to succeed in life. The Word of God provides us with the wisdom we need to succeed and be a winner. Jesus said when he was tempted by the devil, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). As you study and apply the inspired Word of God to your life you can be assured of success God’s way. (Joshua 1; II Timothy 2:15, 3:16)

The book of Proverbs is called the book of Wisdom. If you want to succeed and prosper, read, study, and apply God’s words of wisdom. “Whoever walks with the wise will become wise; whoever walks with fools will suffer harm” (Proverbs 13:20 NLT).

A bridge can be a lifeline. Battles have been fought over bridges. Those who have control or access to a bridge can move to safety or bring across needed forces for victory. History, books, and movies have commemorated strategic bridges. Some bridges, like the covered bridge, have been romanticized, immortalized, and enrolled as historic landmarks.

A world relief organization built a bridge over a high and dangerous gorge. For years the village women and children would have to walk four hours to obtain water and carry

Do you want to succeed and prosper in whatever you do? Only a fool doesn’t want to succeed in life. The Word of God provides us with the wisdom we need to succeed and be a winner. Jesus said when he was tempted by the devil, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). As you study and apply the inspired Word of God to your life you can be assured of success God’s way. (Joshua 1; II Timothy 2:15, 3:16).

The book of Proverbs is called the book of Wisdom. If you want to succeed and prosper, read, study, and apply God’s words of wisdom.

When asked who in the history of the United States the greatest president was, most would say George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. There have been a lot of good presidents but perhaps fewer great presidents. Greatness is usually determined by how one handles great adversity. Certainly both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln persevered under extreme adversity and guided our nation through a dangerous juncture to make it what it is today.

Both Washington and Lincoln believed in the power of prayer. Both prayed for wisdom and strength to lead the nation.