The fastest growing segment of the U. S. population are people who do not affiliate or attend church. They are called the “Nones”. The number has grown from 14 million in 1990 to almost one fourth of the U.S. population in 2014. If they were a denomination they would be second largest behind the Evangelicals which are made up of several groups. Catholics would be third and Baptist fourth.
Read MoreThis might have been a very nice way of saying, “Keep it simple stupid.” How could anyone get that out of “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God?” Believe me I did not intend to come up with that concept. I was primed and ready to talk about pure intentions, no ulterior motives and utilize my rarely used devotional side. The old preacher that still lurks inside of me in spite of major efforts to kill him off wanted to talk about hard hearts, selfish hearts, and black hearts full of sin, but I got the old concordance down. The huge blue one…
Read MoreYears ago I stayed awake driving at night by listening to a preacher who was on a nationwide radio broadcast almost every night. He would come on singing a song about there being only one way to God and then say, “If you ain’t got it like I got it, you ain’t got it.” I would laugh, never stopping to think that I could sing the same song and say the same statement, because that is how I saw salvation at that time. I was raised with a set plan of salvation that included well-defined steps one must take to establish a relationship with God.
Read MoreSomeone wrote “if the meek are going to inherit the earth they must get much more aggressive. Usually, when we are studying this beatitude, we spend most of our time trying to define what Jesus meant by the word meek. Most of our definitions try to figure out how to be meek without being meek. The Greek word means humble but even that does not clear up the whole issue because the meaning of words changes over time. When Sir Christopher Wren dedicated a Cathedral many years ago he was told his work was Awful and Artificial and he took that as a complement.
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