The Message of the CROSS

  Character Building "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. Now everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall." ( Matthew 7:24-27 ) The above text presents every person in one of two classes: wise or foolish builders. In it, Jesus is encouraging those who had heard His teachings in the Sermon on the Mount to apply them in their lives -- not to be "forgetful hearers" ( Jas. 1:22 ). Each of us is to be involved in that building process by applying the principles of Scripture to our thoughts and conduct, conforming to the will of God in a...

The Fall Feasts Of Israel The fall is arguably the most important time of the year in Judaism. Three of Israel’s holiest days are celebrated then, and all in the space of 3 weeks. They are  Yom Teruah, also called the Feast of Trumpets, followed 10 days later by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and 5 days after that by Sukkot, the week long Feast of Tabernacles.  They all have both historical and prophetic fulfillment and, following the pattern of the spring feasts, the prophetic fulfillment will occur during the time of each feast. Therefore, Christians study them for glimpses into the future as well as to gain a better understanding of Jewish history and culture. This year they occur on Sept. 24-26 (Feast of Trumpets), October 3-4 (Yom Kippur) and October 8-15 (Feast of Tabernacles). Happy New Year Gentiles are sometimes confused in their studies of these holy days by the fact that the Lord changed the Hebrew calendar at the time of the first Passover ( Ex...

The Blessings of Prayer   One of the greatest blessings a child of God has is prayer, the right to communicate with God. Anyone who is striving to do the will of the Lord will have an active prayer life. Give Yourself to Prayer In several New Testament passages the Christian is urged to give time, to prayer. In Luke 18, Jesus taught a parable to demonstrate that people "always ought to pray and not lose heart" ( Luke 18:1 ). The apostle Paul, in 1 Timothy 2:8 , encouraged men in every place to pray. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Christians are commanded to "Pray without ceasing." To "pray without ceasing" is not to have some incessant babbling on your lips but to have the attitude of mind to regularly and frequently pray. It means to have a willingness to talk to God -- to share burdens, to confess sins and to pray for strength and courage. Many Neglect to Pray Even though many commands and encouragements to pray are contained in Scri...