Daily Archives: May 4, 2017

BreakPoint

Opening Closed Minds the Chick-fil-A Way: Friendship, Not Confrontation

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BreakPoint.org

 

Some college students at Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University are claiming, like Chicken Little, that the sky is falling. Sadly, given these crazy times, that’s no longer really news. We’ve seen a steady stream of reports about scholars being driven off campus by mobs of triggered students, of speakers being disinvited or losing announced awards because of their Judeo-Christian beliefs—all in the name of tolerance, diversity, and “safe spaces”!

Truly, though, the kerfuffle at Duquesne shows what we’re up against. In March the university announced that the popular fast food chain Chick-fil-A would be opening in the Catholic school’s main food court.

Instead of cheers for a company that donates generously to charity and makes a great chicken sandwich, the decision brought jeers from some students, who claimed this would put their “safe place … at risk.” One leader of a gay student group said Chick-fil-A has “a questionable history on civil rights and human rights.” A petition that says bullying is a problem on campus demands that Chick-fil-A be banned, while Niko Martini, the president of the Lambda Gay-Straight Alliance, says that the school should, at the very least, “acknowledge there is still some tension.”

So, what has Chick-fil-A done? Well, Dan Cathy, son of Chick-fil-A’s founder, Truett Cathy, has publicly stated his support for the biblical definition of marriage. And the company’s foundation in the past has supported Christian organizations such as Exodus International and Focus on the Family that have taken faith-based stances on human sexuality. By that standard, lots of people of faith are “questionable” in the eyes of some campus groups.

But of course they’re wrong, and we’re not. Dan Cathy is a case in point. A few years ago, you may recall, Chick-fil-A’s president and COO reached out to Shane Windmeyer, who was organizing a national boycott of Chick-fil-A as the executive director of Campus Pride, an organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender college students. Before they met, Windmeyer thought Dan Cathy was a fiend. What he discovered after months of discussion was that Dan had become his friend. His mind began to open.

“Dan expressed a sincere interest in my life, wanting to get to know me on a personal level,” Windmeyer wrote in an eye-opening article in The Huffington Post. “He wanted to know about where I grew up, my faith, my family, even my husband, Tommy. In return, I learned about his wife and kids and gained an appreciation for his devout belief in Jesus Christ and his commitment to being ‘a follower of Christ’ more than a ‘Christian.’”

Continue reading Opening Closed Minds the Chick-fil-A Way: Friendship, Not Confrontation →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –The Power of Love

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1 Corinthians 13:4-6

Today’s verses teach that love “does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). This means believers aren’t to dwell on the harm others cause and write them off as hopeless, despicable criminals. Love enables us to hate the evil unjustly visited upon the innocent while valuing the one who committed the act. More simply, we hate the sin but love the sinner.

In spite of everything that seems apparent about someone who’s been driven to sinful actions, God has created him or her with the potential to be made into something good. Outwardly, it may seem as if a difficult upbringing, poor treatment, or negative influence has corrupted a person’s morality and worldview beyond repair. For such individuals, the capacity to love and rise above circumstances can get buried so deep that it may seem nonexistent.

God still considers the most evil and corrupt person worth saving. How do I know this is true? Because in John 3:16—one of the very first verses we teach children—He said that whoever believes in God’s Son will have eternal life. Many of us are guilty of thinking we deserve His love because we look good compared to those we deem unlovable. But God doesn’t work that way. He loves every single person, no matter how awful his or her sin may be.

God doesn’t want anyone to mistreat others; such sinful action will bring repercussions or discipline. But the Lord does extend His care, mercy, and salvation to anybody who wants it. He keeps no record of wrongs. He loves without conditions. And He wants us to love in the same way.

Bible in One Year: 1 Chronicles 10-12

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Five-Minute Rule

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Read: Psalm 102:1–17

Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 16–18; Luke 22:47–71

He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea.—Psalm 102:17

I read about a five-minute rule that a mother had for her children. They had to be ready for school and gather together five minutes before it was time to leave each day.

They would gather around Mom, and she would pray for each one by name, asking for the Lord’s blessing on their day. Then she’d give them a kiss and off they’d run. Even neighborhood kids would be included in the prayer circle if they happened to stop by. One of the children said many years later that she learned from this experience how crucial prayer is to her day.

The writer of Psalm 102 knew the importance of prayer. This psalm is labeled, “A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the Lord.” He cried out, “Hear my prayer, Lord; . . . when I call, answer me quickly” (vv. 1-2). God looks down “from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he [views] the earth” (v. 19).

God cares for you and wants to hear from you. Whether you follow the five-minute rule asking for blessings on the day, or need to spend more time crying out to Him in deep distress, talk to the Lord each day. Your example may have a big impact on your family or someone close to you. —Anne Cetas

Teach me to be aware of Your presence, Lord, and to talk to You freely and often.

Prayer is an acknowledgment of our need for God.

INSIGHT: Our Father welcomes us into His presence in prayer, but we also have the encouraging record of Jesus Himself praying for us! As the Teacher moved ever closer to the cross, Jesus prayed for His followers who walked with Him and all (including us) who would later come to Him (John 17:20). And when we pray, the Holy Spirit helps us align our prayers with the Father’s purposes (Rom. 8:26-27).   Bill Crowder

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – A Time to Grieve

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Recently, a colleague sought an explanation regarding the untimely death of a friend. It was one of those questions that exposes the vulnerability of a confident apologist. How one wishes that the dots could be connected, the blanks filled, and a satisfying response proffered. But lo and behold, that is not to be. In some questions, an agnostic stance appears more honest and reasonable. It’s no wonder Job’s friends made more sense in their silence than in their speeches. In that ancient story of a life whose struggles are articulated exhaustively, Job’s pain is something we still grapple with millennia later.

In her book When Life Takes What Matters, author Susan Lenzkes suggests that this posture of grappling with uncertainty, even angered grappling, can be kindly held by the Christian God: “It’s all right—question, pain, and stabbing anger can be poured out to the Infinite One and God will not be damaged….For we beat on his chest from within the circle of his arms.”(1)

For Job, something similar is true. Somehow his own questioning appears to lose its sting when he sees how wide this circle really is. In the glimpse God offers him from the very foundations of the world, Job’s despair is somehow quieted within a story so much bigger than his pain can comprehend.

In the story of Job, questions of theodicy, as valid as they are, are shown to be premature. While God does open a new chapter in Job’s life, the recompense to Job during his later years is not to be mistaken with the final package. God’s complete solution would be unpacked on the other side of time. In an atheistic framework, by contrast, where there is no possibility of life after death, the question of suffering and injustice is hard and strong, for any hope dies at death.

Thankfully and mercifully, for Job’s sake and ours, the gospel further counters this framework in flesh and blood. The New Testament boldly tells the story of Jesus Christ as one of passion, crucifixion, and resurrection. For those who want to dismiss the Old Testament as imaging a violent God, there is death and gore in the heart of the gospel as well. But here, the question coming forth from a hurting soul like Job’s is, in fact, the cry of Jesus himself on the cross: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – A Time to Grieve →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Help of the Holy Spirit

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For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. —Romans 8:5 KJV

Romans 8:5 teaches us that if we “mind” the flesh, we will walk in the flesh. But if we “mind” the things of the Spirit, we will walk in the Spirit. Our actions follow our thoughts!

Let me put it another way: If we think fleshly thoughts, wrong thoughts, and negative thoughts, we cannot walk in the Spirit. It seems as if renewed, godlike thinking is a vital necessity to a successful Christian life.

Your life may be in a state of chaos because of years of wrong thinking. If so, it is important for you to come to grips with the fact that your life will not get straightened out until your mind does. You should consider this area one of vital necessity.

Ask God to help you learn to think thoughts that He would have you think. You cannot overcome any problem by determination alone. It is important to be determined, but determined in the Holy Spirit, not in the effort of your own flesh. The Holy Spirit is close to you. He is your Helper—seek His help. Lean on Him. You can make it with His help.

Give the Holy Spirit control of your life. He will lead you into the perfect will of God for you, which includes exceeding, abundant blessings, peace, and joy.

From the book Closer to God Each Day by Joyce Meyer

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Ways That Are Right and Best

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“He will teach the ways that are right and best to those who humbly turn to Him” (Psalm 25:9).

A guide, taking some tourists through Mammoth Cave, reached a place called “The Cathedral.”

Mounting a rock called “The Pulpit,” he said he wanted to preach a sermon, and it would be short.

“Keep close to your guide,” he said.

The tourists soon found it was a good sermon. If they did not keep close to the guide, they would be lost in the midst of pits, precipices and caverns.

It is hard to find one’s way through Mammoth Cave without a guide. It is harder to find one’s way through the world without the lamp of God’s Word.

“Keep your eye on the Light of the World (Jesus) and use the Lamp of God’s Word” is a good motto for the Christian to follow.

Humbly turning to God is one of the most meaningful exercises a person can take. We come in touch with divine sovereignty, and we become instant candidates to discern God’s will for our lives.

Humbling ourselves is clearly in line with God’s formula for revival:

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14, KJV).

Bible Reading: Psalm 25:1-8

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: With the enabling of the Holy Spirit, I will fix my heart and mind on Jesus first and others second, which is true humility.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – God’s Patience

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Maybe no one has told you about God’s patience and willingness to put up with you! The Bible says, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (Psalm 103:8 NIV).

Stare at the proof of God’s patience! Those thousand sunsets you never thanked him for? Those times you used his name only when you cussed? And oh my, those promises: “Get me out of this, and I’ll never tell another lie.” If broken promises were lumber, we could build a subdivision.

Doesn’t God have ample reason to walk out on us? But he doesn’t. Why? Because “God is being patient with you” (2 Peter 3:9). Patience isn’t naïve. It doesn’t ignore misbehavior. It’s slow to boil. This is how God treats us. Patience is the red carpet upon which God’s grace approaches us!

From A Love Worth Giving

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Student ordered to leave class for reading Bible

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I am writing this morning from the Sea of Galilee. This small lake, only fourteen miles long by seven-and-a-half miles wide, is one of the most strategic bodies of water on Earth.

Jesus performed ten of his thirty-three miracles on this lake. He preached the most famous sermon in history on its northern shore. He performed three-quarters of his public ministry on lands I can see from my hotel balcony.

A movement that began with twelve men now comprises 2.2 billion followers. As one small example, this Daily Article is going to 112,000 subscribers in 203 countries. Christianity’s global reach was inconceivable when it began here twenty centuries ago.

God so often uses small places for big purposes. He used a bush in the wilderness to call Moses; he used a slingshot to defeat a giant and elevate a king; he used a cave on a prison island to give the world his Revelation.

First Corinthians 1 comes to mind: “Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (vv. 26–29).

As Paul later noted, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

These are challenging times for followers of Jesus. An Arizona college student was ordered by his professor to leave the classroom because he was reading the Bible before class began. A recent survey shows that most Americans have read little or none of the Bible. In the midst of genocide, 16,000 South Sudanese Christians have sought refuge at a cathedral compound. A priest explained: “People said if they were going to be killed, they preferred to be killed in the church because this is the place where Jesus is present. They wanted to die in the church rather than die in their homes.”

When our faith is challenged, it is important to remember that God measures success not by circumstances but by obedience.

The Lord said to Baruch, the servant of the prophet Jeremiah: “Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go” (Jeremiah 45:5). Rather than seeking “great things” for ourselves, we should seek God’s will for today, secure in the knowledge that his will for us is better than our dreams for ourselves.

  1. S. Lewis notes that our culture sees us as individuals of infinite value for whom God serves as a kind of employment committee working to find the best “job” for us. In fact, the reverse is true: God has a purpose for our lives, then he creates us to fulfill that purpose. Only our Creator knows why he made us and what purpose most fulfills his will for us.

I am at the Sea of Galilee today because of what Jesus did here twenty centuries ago. God is able to use your life for future purposes you cannot imagine today. Will you let him?

 

Denison Forum