RECAP How does freedom make you act and live? There are many definitions for freedom, but I’m interested in what we do with our freedom. When we hear the word freedom most of us instinctively think about our freedom as citizens of the United States. I’d bet most of us are thankful for our freedom and will update our Facebook status to say that we are. However, I feel like many of us, including me, feel inadequate living up to that freedom when we consider the cost it took to give it. I think the same can be said about the freedom God gives us. God has offered us incredible freedom as sons and daughters of the king and it took and an incredible price to offer that freedom. Yet, what happens when we still struggle with sin? In those moments our shame gets the best of us and we don’t feel like we are sons and daughters of God. But when Christ went to the cross he set us free from having to measure up. In the movie Saving Private Ryan, Captain John H. Miller goes on a mission with his troops through Nazi occupied France to find Private
Read more →RECAP There is an ancient story that has been retold several times. The general theme of the story goes like this: A child of royalty, power or wealth essentially has no rights under the guardianship of their parents and waits until he or she receives their inheritance at the proper time. Several modern movies are adaptations of this story. Indulge me a bit as I make my adaptation of this story. Let’s pretend for a second that I’m an alien observing your family, but I can’t hear anything. I can only see how your families interact from my spaceship. I notice that your parent’s clothe you, give you water to bathe with, give you a place to sleep, feed you, hug you, take you to sports for fun and exercise, get you haircuts and buy you toys. I also notice this fury little thing that looks nothing like you and yet your parents treat it the same way. This creature has fur so he doesn’t need clothes and yet your parents buy him sweaters. They groom him with exotic haircuts that cost more than yours. Your parent’s bathe this fury thing and give it a little house to sleep in.
Read more →‘ve been thinking a lot about the traditions and purposes of Christmas and even the “consumer drivenness” of Christmas a lot lately. I’ve had it on my heart for a few years about not giving gifts to each other as a family, but taking that money we could have spent and bless someone else. Maybe a homeless family, or just a neighbor in need. I found this article that really struck a chord in my heart and has a lot to do with this idea of not getting caught up in the new toys and massive money spending. What if we left the space under our Christmas trees empty? Instead, what if we helped children in need that are halfway around the globe? My husband and I do support a Compassion child, and I was in tears when I read a letter from her the other day. She said,” I thank you for the help and support you are giving me. I have never known anyone who has helped me to succeed the way that you do.” Her life is being changed because of a small monthly financial gift that we provide for her. It made me glad to know
Read more →Yes. River of Life Alliance Church now has a podcast on iTunes. For those already familiar with the iLingo, and podcasting/iTunes, feel free to jump on past this post and subscribe here. So for those who would like a brief tutorial into the world of podcasts and i-Devices read on. It’s not as “techy” as it sounds. Okay, maybe it’s a little “techy,” but it’s definitely easier than you think. After all, that’s Apple’s whole claim to fame, is making things simpler than we make it out to be. If you have an iPod or an iPhone or iTunes-compatible device and would like for the River of Life audio sermons to come to you instead of visiting the site and downloading them directly from there, just follow these basic instructions. (Notice I’ve added red comments on the screenshots to indicate important info) First. Get iTunes. Download that here. After Setup and Launching the program, you’ll see this: Finding the Podcast The top right has a search bar. To search the “Store” you must first click the panel on the left column that says “Store.” (See above screenshot) If you don’t click “iTunes Store,” you will merely be searching your local
Read more →RECAP If you take a piece of paper of any size and try to fold it in half 10 times you will be defeated. It is impossible. If I offered you an ipad and a new car it would make no difference. No matter what motivation you have, your hands do not have the strength to fold a piece of paper in half 10 times. I’ll wait 5 minutes while you go attempt to do this as you undoubtedly don’t believe me and want to prove me wrong. Do you give up? See, we do the same thing with the law of God. It is impossible to follow the laws of God. I don’t care how noble and pure your motivation is; you and I are unable to follow the commands of God. This isn’t really shocking. Most of us know that we cannot live out what God has called us to. However, scripture is shocking because it takes it a step further. Essentially, scripture says that when we fail to live out the commands of God then the law did it’s job. The commands of God are meant
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