God has equipped you with everything you need to be victorious and win in spiritual warfare. While spiritual warfare is real, what is also real is you can win in warfare and don’t ever have to lose.

When you think about the life of Jesus, there is a lot of fanfare made about his place of birth. Old Testament prophecies predicted where he would be born and even in the gospels, we find stories about his birth. He was born in Bethlehem and grew up in Nazareth.

However, when it comes to Jesus growing up, the Bible gets a little quieter. There is a space of time between when Jesus was born to when he begins his ministry that we just don’t know a lot about. When you consider a question like where did Jesus grow up, we must turn to historical records to help piece together a picture of the place where Jesus grew up.

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As we move further into the 21^st century, it seems as if the tolerance for the things of God and things relating to Jesus are waning. What people tolerated before just does not happen anymore. The decision to stand for Biblical truth is now met with opposition from many levels, and may lead to the world hating you.

Knowing this, how should you as a Christian respond? I want you to consider five ways to respond when the world hates you.

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In the seeker-sensitive model of church that has become popular in America these days, does the church still believe in the power of the Gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit? As I ponder and write, I feel like the answer is no.

My prayer is we would even more proclaim the wonder and necessity of the blood of Jesus. Let us declare louder than ever before “O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow, no other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

The pruning process in a nutshell involves removing, cutting, or addressing all the potential things that can hinder the growth of the plants in the garden. When done well, this really positions the plants to be healthy and to shine.

If you live long enough in this life – and trust me, you don’t need to live too long – at some point, you are going to get hurt by someone. They are going to say or do something that will be offensive to you and cause you pain. Sometimes you will be the one causing the pain, which means there will be moments where you will need to be forgiven.

Regardless of which side of forgiveness you are on, we must all deal with forgiveness. For today, I want to focus on forgiving others. How do you forgive others when they hurt you? I want to highlight four things for you to do that will aid you in this journey to forgiveness. These things stem from the lessons I learned in my struggle with unforgiveness.

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In 1 Corinthians, Paul mentions a key to finishing strong and, in one word, it is discipline. Sometimes we think of discipline in a legalistic way, but discipline is a commitment to do the things necessary to maintain your course and achieve your goal.

With Jesus, we usually don’t mind being called his servant, partially because he is Lord, so we really don’t have a choice. But aside from that, to be called a servant of the Lord is something we wear as a badge of honor. But to be a servant of each other, that can feel a little extreme and even awkward.

A person who identifies as a Christian Fundamentalist is making a commitment to adhere to the core doctrines that are essential to Christianity. That sounds good in theory, but I told you there were good and bad things to know about Christian Fundamentalism.

How is it possible to find the 10 most beloved hymns? I can tell you, doing this was difficult. As with any countdown or list, when you limit it to only ten, some really great and beloved hymns are going to be left out. I will admit there may be a little subjectivity (maybe a lot) to this list, but I think (or maybe hope) you will agree with most of them. What I know is if you ever need an encouragement or a lift, these 10 hymns will do that for you.

With that, let’s begin with number 10.

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The reason God had to allow Noah’s sons and their wives on the ark is because they had a mission to fulfill once the waters receded. Part of that mission was to repopulate the earth. Not only were there eight people in the ark, but when the waters receded, there were only eight people on the earth. 

"Today you will be with me in paradise" may be the most shocking statement in the Easter narrative. Can being saved really be that simple?

In the question of seeing Adam and Eve in heaven, there is no direct Scripture that says we will or won’t. Because of this, we must put on our legal hats and consider all the circumstantial evidence, which I believe leads us to answer that question with a yes.