Changing the Culture

The death of Ahaz and the crowning of Hezekiah marked a turning point for Judah, albeit temporary. Hezekiah rejected his father’s policies and priorities, rejecting Baal and turning instead to the LORD (2 Chr. 29:1-2). However, rather than adopting a quiet change of personal policy, Hezekiah publicly worked to change the entire social and spiritual…

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Spiritual Inconsistency

Reading the human heart remains an elusive enterprise. While God knows each of us better than we know ourselves, we cannot truly understand any other human being except through what they say and do. Perhaps this sheds light on some pattern of behavior we have witnessed in the church. Some people seem so strong spiritually at one…

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The Seven Signs of Spiritual Zeal

Spiritual zeal may be easier to describe than it is to define. It captures the idea of fervent passion, couples passion with purposeful devotion, infuses devotion with energetic enthusiasm, and focuses that enthusiasm with spiritual intensity on God and His will. In brief, it takes God’s will to heart so much that it cannot but…

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Following to the End – Part Two

This is an excerpt from Kevin W. Rhodes’ latest book, Follow Me: A Call to Authentic Discipleship. For your copy from Hopkins Publishing or for more information, just follow the link to Follow Me: A Call to Authentic Discipleship or check it out on Amazon.com. The time will come in any believer’s life that God’s Word will confront him,…

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Following to the End – Part One

At the close of such a sad moment in Jesus’ ministry—the crowds retreating into the distance and leaving Jesus behind to question the commitment of the twelve–we find that Jesus knew full well that the decision of the multitude to leave only marked one type of spiritual failure. For at that time, “Jesus answered them,…

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Focused on Eternity – Part One

After Jesus answered the people and responded to their objections, the people, for the most part, made a decision; they decided to leave. It is difficult to fathom that people who heard Jesus, followed Jesus, and saw Jesus perform miracles would ever walk away from Jesus, but that is exactly what happened. And yet, people…

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