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Heavy With Favor Today's Scripture “Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1, NKJV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Notice that today’s verse doesn’t say that the glory of the Lord is going to come on you one day. It doesn’t say, “Maybe when the economy gets better, when you graduate from college, or when you get that good break.” No, it says God’s glory is already on you! The word “glory” in the original language indicates that God’s favor, blessing and splendor is on you in...

The Proper Perspective " Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ . . . " —2 Corinthians 2:14 The proper perspective of a servant of God must not simply be as near to the highest as he can get, but it must be the highest. Be careful that you vigorously maintain God’s perspective, and remember that it must be done every day, little by little. Don’t think on a finite level. No outside power can touch the proper perspective.The proper perspective to maintain is that we are here for only one purpose— to be...

October 24, 2012   Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Eph 3:2-12 Brothers and sisters:You have heard of the stewardship of God's gracethat was given to me for your benefit,namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation,as I have written briefly earlier.When you read thisyou can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,which was not made known to human beings in other generationsas it has now been revealedto his holy Apostles and prophets by the Spirit,that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same Body,and copartners in the promise in Christ...

A group of Louisiana State University football fans whose admiration for the Tigers is second only to their love for Jesus is outraged after the school digitally erased the tiny crosses they painted on their bare upper chests at a recent football game. LSU officials sent out a photo of The Painted Posse, Christian students who paint their bodies with LSU school colors and small crosses for home games, in an email about the LSU game against South Carolina on Oct. 13. The students were shocked to see the photo, which appeared to be otherwise untouched, in the newsletter that...

Make Room Today's Scripture “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.” (Proverbs 13:22, NKJV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Notice, God has already laid up contracts, houses, businesses, promotions and good breaks. They already have your name on them. If you’ll keep honoring God and making room for them, then eventually they will find their way into your hands — the hands of the righteous. That means right now something is headed your direction; not bad breaks, not disappointments, not lack, not mediocrity....

Nothing of the Old Life! "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" —2 Corinthians 5:17 Our Lord never tolerates our prejudices— He is directly opposed to them and puts them to death. We tend to think that God has some special interest in our particular prejudices, and are very sure that He will never deal with us as He has to deal with others. We even say to ourselves, “God has to deal with other people in a very strict way, but of course He...

October 23, 2012 Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Eph 2:12-22 Brothers and sisters:You were at that time without Christ,alienated from the community of Israeland strangers to the covenants of promise,without hope and without God in the world.But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far offhave become near by the Blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he made both oneand broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his Flesh,abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims,that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two,thus...

The number of those who believe in extraterrestrial life is significantly higher than those who believe in God in the United Kingdom, a survey commissioned by a new alien-themed video game claims. The survey, for which the "XCOM: Enemy Unknown" videogame hired market research agency Opinion Matters to conduct, suggests that 52 percent of U.K. adults believe UFO evidence has been covered up because widespread knowledge of their existence would threaten government stability, as opposed to 44 percent who say they believe in God. Around 10 percent of the country also claims to have seen a UFO, with almost a...

Various Financial Sector Reports Select a sector, and select which type of financial efficiency rating group to display Sorting: Click on a column header to sort. Hold shift key + click to sort by multiple columns if the first clicked column has multiple rows of identical data. Ministry Noteworthy Efficiency Rating Efficiency Rank Sector Breath of Life, Inc. #1 (100%) Educational Media Children's Medical Ministries (CMM) #2 (99.7%) Relief and Development World Help #3 (99.4%) Foreign Missions Christian Blind Mission /CBM #4 (99.1%) Relief and Development Citihope International #5 (98.8%) Relief and Development Persecution Project Foundation #6 (98.5%) Advocacy Kingsway...

Rome resident Mirko Curti stumbles upon tomb piled with bones while chasing wayward feline near his apartmentRome may not exactly be short of catacombs, but one discovered this week is more deserving of the name than the city's countless other subterranean burial chambers. For Mirko Curti stumbled into a 2,000-year-old tomb piled with bones while chasing a wayward moggy yards from his apartment building. Curti and a friend were following the cat at 10pm on Tuesday when it scampered towards a low tufa rock cliff close to his home near Via di Pietralata in a residential area of the city....

Stored Up Blessings Today's Scripture “Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men!” (Psalm 31:19, NKJV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Scripture talks about how God has blessings stored up for those that honor Him. Think about that. God has contracts, houses, ideas, good breaks that already have your name on them! They’ve been stored up for you. The question is, how do you see them released? Number one: by honoring God...

The Witness of the Spirit "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit . . ." —Romans 8:16 We are in danger of getting into a bargaining spirit with God when we come to Him—we want the witness of the Spirit before we have done what God tells us to do.Why doesn’t God reveal Himself to you? He cannot. It is not that He will not, but He cannot, because you are in the way as long as you won’t abandon yourself to Him in total surrender. Yet once you do, immediately God witnesses to Himself—He cannot witness to...

October 22, 2012   Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Eph 2:1-10 Brothers and sisters:You were dead in your transgressions and sinsin which you once lived following the age of this world,following the ruler of the power of the air,the spirit that is now at work in the disobedient.All of us once lived among them in the desires of our flesh,following the wishes of the flesh and the impulses,and we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest.But God, who is rich in mercy,because of the great love he had for us,even when we...

There’s a theory, only hinted at in Scripture, that Planet Earth had been the domain of Satan prior to his rebellion. Although he was only a created being, Satan was an enormously powerful dignitary in God’s Universe (Jude 1:9). He was the overseer of the Cherubim (the guardians of God’s Throne) and a leader of the angelic host. He was God’s most impressive creation (Ezekiel 28:12-15). Because of his position, his power, and his beauty he became proud and rebelled (Ezekiel 28:17, Isaiah 14:13-14), bringing about a judgment that destroyed planet Earth. All this seems to have happened between Genesis...

Impulsiveness or Discipleship? "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith . . ." —Jude 20 There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the lines of our own nature, not along the lines of God’s nature. Impulsiveness is a trait of the natural life, and our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God gives a sense of...

October 21, 2012   Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Is 53:10-11 The LORD was pleasedto crush him in infirmity. If he gives his life as an offering for sin,he shall see his descendants in a long life,and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him. Because of his afflictionhe shall see the light in fullness of days;through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,and their guilt he shall bear. Responsorial Psalm Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22 R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.Upright is the word of...

Father Dan Pattee spent his summer spreading Gospel of Life and witnessing firsthand the devastation of abortionRising at dawn and offering Mass is nothing out of the ordinary for any priest. Walking 30-plus miles after the Mass, across America’s highways and byways with a bunch of college students, however, is a little less ordinary — unless you’re Father Dan Pattee. In the summer of 2012, Father Pattee, a professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, teamed up with Crossroads for the second time (the first was in 2007), and walked across America, from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., on...

Hebrews 10:2 'For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins'-- Hebrews 10:1 'For the law having a shadow of good things to come.' (we are not under the law).-- Hebrews 10: 14 'For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.'(in our spirit we are complete forever).--Ephesians 1:7 'In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins'(forgiven forever). How can it be said that we are dead to sin(s) and freed from it if God is holding certain...

Is God’s Will My Will? "This is the will of God, your sanctification . . ." —1 Thessalonians 4:3 Sanctification is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify me— is it my will? Am I willing to let God do in me everything that has been made possible through the atonement of the Cross of Christ? Am I willing to let Jesus become sanctification to me, and to let His life be exhibited in my human flesh? (see 1 Corinthians 1:30). Beware of saying, “Oh, I am longing to be sanctified.” No, you are not. Recognize...

October 20, 2012   Saturday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Eph 1:15-23 Brothers and sisters:Hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesusand of your love for all the holy ones,I do not cease giving thanks for you,remembering you in my prayers,that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelationresulting in knowledge of him.May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,what are the riches of gloryin his inheritance among the holy ones,and what...