INTRODUCTION Homelessness is a miserable experience. We see it in our big cities especially: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, etc. But we also see it closer to home at with homeless beggars at many Grand Rapids traffic stops, and tent encampments along the banks of the Grand River. Who cannot feel sorry for the people in these awful circumstances. To be homeless is to be uncomfortable, cold, wet, vulnerable, lonely, insecure, hungry, pitiable, unhealthy, and afraid. But the Bible teaches us that homelessness is much closer to home than the big cities, and even Grand Rapids. It’s ..read more

INTRODUCTION “I feel so dead….spiritually.” Is that you? You used to be so spiritually alive, but now you feel so spiritually dead. You still go through the motions of the Christian life, but it’s like dragging a corpse around. It’s a drudge and a labor. What’s gone wrong? And, how can I fix it? Why am I so dead and how can I revive my soul? Paul answers both questions in Romans 8:12-13. BACKGROUND Romans 8 tells us a lot about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. What the law could not and cannot do, the Holy Spirit can and does. The Holy Spirit transforms our conscience (1-3) The Holy ..read more

INTRODUCTION Tech tycoon Bryan Johnson, 45, spends $2million a year to engineer his body into that of an 18-year-old. Through diet, exercise, and various high-tech devices, Johnson and his doctors claim that in two years he has reduced his overall biological age by more than five years and now has the heart of a 37-year-old, the skin of a 28-year-old and the lung capacity and fitness of an 18-year-old. Like most people, Johnson wants to delay aging or rewind the process of dying and is putting his hope in technology to achieve this. Others are more focused on restoring life after they die. Tod ..read more

INTRODUCTION “I’d like to be a servant when I grow up,” said no one ever. Who would ever want to be a servant? That’s a position of lowliness, weakness, and poverty rather than of prestige, power, and wealth. Why would anyone choose to be a servant rather than a master? That’s a question that stumped the disciples too. A couple of them asked Jesus for the highest, most powerful, and most prestigious seats in heaven. When the other disciples heard this conversation, they jumped in to put them down and elevate themselves over them. They were all jockeying for position, power, and prestige. Jesus ..read more

INTRODUCTION What kind of mind do you have? There are multiple classification methods for mind-types: Two types of mind: creative or analytical. Three types of mind: photo-realistic visual thinking, pattern mathematical thinking, and verbal/auditory thinking. Four types of mind: the soul-mind, the body-mind, the emotional mind, or the rational mind. Five types of mind: he disciplined mind, the synthesizing mind, the creating mind, the respectful mind and the ethical mind. Six types of mind: joy oriented mind, love oriented mind, hate oriented mind, fear oriented mind, boredom oriented mind an ..read more

INTRODUCTION “Why do I do things I don’t want to do? Why do I do the things I hate? Why don’t I do things I really want to do? Why don’t I do what I love?” Have you ever asked these questions? I have. Sins I was sure would be defeated soon after my conversion 35 years ago, still raise their ugly heads and beat me up to this day. “Why do I do things I don’t want to do?” When Christ found me 35 years ago, I was sure that I’d have multiple juicy fruits of the Spirit in my life, but sometimes it seems my tree doesn’t even have leaves. “Why don’t I do what I want to do?” We hear God’s Word telling ..read more

INTRODUCTION “What is your hope of heaven?” I asked this dying 80+ year old lady who’d been a faithful church attender all of her life. She must have heard the Gospel thousands of times and yet her answer to this question was “Well I’ve always gone to church and tried to support the church. I’ve been good to my family and neighbors. I worked hard and haven’t hurt anyone.” It was early in my ministry and I was devastated that someone who’d heard the Gospel so many times from her earliest years in Sunday school right up to Bible studies in her eighties could still have some faith in herself. Alm ..read more

INTRODUCTION Every Christian has been married twice and the second marriage is always better than the first. Our first marriage is always terrible. Our second marriage is always not only better, but the best. How can we get out of our first and worst marriage and get into our second and best marriage? How can we remarry for the better? BACKGROUND American law has authority and dominion over us as long as we live but death frees us from the law’s authority and our obligation to obey it. That’s true whether it’s criminal law, civil law, tax law, etc. When we die, our relationship to the laws of ..read more

INTRODUCTION The brain gets a similar ‘hit’ from love as it does from a small dose of cocaine. Brain imaging studies of love suggest that 12 different areas of the brain are involved in love. When looking or thinking about a loved one, these areas release a cocktail of neurotransmitters across the brain, including oxytocin, dopamine, vasopressin and adrenaline. It takes a fifth-of-a-second for the euphoria-inducing chemicals to start acting on the brain when you are looking at that special someone. We were made to love and be loved. God made us in such a way that we are most fulfilled when we ..read more

INTRODUCTION Have you ever tried to help an addict? Maybe it was a drug addict, a porn addict, a gambling addict, or an alcoholic. You’ve tried everything and yet it’s getting no better, only worse. So many false dawns, so many disappointed hopes. How can we beat addiction? Or maybe it’s yourself. You’re in the grip of a destructive habit that you’ve tried to deny, minimize, excuse, or beat, but it’s stronger than ever. How can we beat addiction? The Apostle Paul proposes three ways to beat addiction that involve three ways of viewing yourself. See yourself as dead with Christ (6:1-11). See y ..read more