Genesis 12:2 - "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] and make your name famous {and} distinguished, and you will be a blessing [dispensing good to others]." If you haven't already, you have got to hear this story about Nate Boyer. He describes himself in his earlier years as very average, non-descript, "rudderless", without direction. Then, as a young man just out of high school, while sitting on his couch in his living room, he saw a program on TV about...
Read MoreThe Honeymoon is Never Over
Romans 5:8-9: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” For those of you who are married, remember how wonderful your honeymoon was? I hope so! You and your spouse...
Read MoreSchool's Out for Summer
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) – “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”. My favorite moment of the school year was the minute the last exam was finished and I heard...
Read MoreThe New Adams Family
Colossians 3:3 – “For you died, and your new life is hidden with Christ in God”. Some of you might be old enough to remember the 1964 TV series, The Addams Family, about a rather different, shall we say, type of family...
Read MoreJust Bring Yourself
Hebrews 8:10 - "I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people". When I was single, I got a lot of dinner invitations to people's homes, and I would always ask them, "What can I bring?". Being that I wasn't the most domesticated bachelor, I couldn't bake, and I couldn't cook very well, they would always answer...
Read MoreError Message
Romans 2:4 – “…the goodness of God leads you to repentance”. For so long, Satan has trapped people into a sin consciousness, always thinking about what’s “wrong”, a performance based system of measuring our worth, accusing us of every little thing. That’s a lousy way to live, but so clever on his part. Why? He knows if he can...
Read MoreSuperman
2 Corinthians 5:17 “So then if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new.” Did you know that the comic book character Superman was born on the planet “Krypton”, then rocketed to earth by his scientist father as an infant, just moments before Krypton’s destruction? The story goes on to say...
Read MoreWhat's In YOUR Attic?
Hebrews 11:15 – “And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.” There are two really cool things that I remember about the house that I grew up in. First...
Read MoreAdding Fuel to the Fire
1 Corinthians 15:56 – “The strength of sin is the law”. Recently in the news was a story of a man that accidentally set fire to three cars while trying to get rid of bed bugs! The New Yorker was hospitalized after dousing the interior of his rental car with...
Read MoreA Living Legacy
Hebrews 9:17 – “For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.” The late great North Carolina Men’s Basketball coach, Dean Smith, who passed away this past February at age 83, was one of the most successful college coaches in history. Smith was called a...
Read MoreI Don't Own a White Flag
Hebrews 12:3 - "Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds". Did you know that the state of New Jersey has established what is called a "safe surrender" program offering persons wanted by the police for non-violent crimes to turn themselves in...
Read MoreWho's Your Daddy?
John 17:25-26 – “O righteous Father, indeed the world has not known You; but I have known You, and these have known that You have sent me. And I made known to them Your name, and will make it known, so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” In the movie Taken, Liam Neeson plays a character named Bryan, the father of a young adult girl abducted in Paris by a human trafficking ring. The outlook is not good as the daughter...
Read MoreC.S.I. - Christ Scene Investigation
John 20:6-7 (21st Century King James Version) "Then came Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulcher and saw the linen cloths as they lay and the napkin that had been about His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but wrapped together in a place by itself." The hit show C.S.I. has been around for a long time, and although I am not a fan, I am fascinated by...
Read MoreRun Under His Wings
Psalm 91:4 - "He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust". When you picture a magnificent flying bird, it won't be a chicken that comes to mind. I've never seen a chicken fly, eagle yes, chickens no...
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Once Shaved, Always Shaved
1 Corinthians 1:8-9 – “Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” I know that beards are making quite the comeback these days, but every day, no matter what, like most men, I shave...
Read MoreBobo's Back!
Matthew 6:9 “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed by thy name”. Some of you may remember me talking about Bobo in recent years, a dog in my neighborhood where I grew up. He was chained up in the yard at his house, all day long, rain or shine, near the softball field where we played. Bobo was a huge black dog with matted fur and very large teeth, and barked nonstop. Unfortunately...
Read MoreTake What's Yours
Matthew 6:11 – “Give us this day our daily bread”. Some of my favorite memories are of dinner time as a young boy in the Fortunato household. Imagine five kids, mom, dad, around the kitchen table…a lot could, and often would happen. People talked over one another, lots of hijinks, questions were asked that you were supposed to answer, it was really interesting. But there’s one thing that none of us ever did...
Read MoreThe Naughty and Nice List
Romans 4:4 “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt". Christmas brings back some really great memories for me from my childhood. How about the lyrics to the song “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”? We used to sing that song all the time, loved it. But as I got older and really listened to the lyrics...
Read MoreAbsalomic Vinegar
2 Samuel 15:2 – “And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so , that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.” I really enjoy a nice salad with my dinner…and my dressing of choice – balsamic vinaigrette! Did you know that the name balsamic comes from...
Read More"Thanks-given"
2 Peter 1:3 "According as his divine power has "given" unto us all things..." My favorite holiday to celebrate has always been Thanksgiving. As a child, I have great memories of our family going to the big rivalry football game on Thanksgiving morning and then...
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