You have a calling. Everyone is important and has a purpose. When God calls us, we must answer correctly. He will equip us with what we need to use our gifts. No one person is more than the other. God is still calling and using gifts. We only need to answer the call.
“Here am I, send me!” will be your response when you are right with God and cleaned from sins. Sins, worry, too many pleasures, and the wrong use of riches will cause is not to hear from God. (Psalm 66:18, NLT2; Luke 8:7, NIV) When we learn and use our spiritual gift or gifts, God gives us the special endowments of supernatural energy. (1 Corinthians 12:1, AMP) This is not a work you do for the church, it’s a wonder you experience.
Speaking Gifts – words of wisdom, prophecy, evangelism, pastor-teacher, and teaching. Service Gifts – administration, exhortation, faith, giving, help, serving, and mercy. Sign Gifts – distinguishing of spirits, miracles, and healings.
When nice thoughts come to you, say them aloud. If there is a time you wish to do something special or unique, you should. When you feel things need to be different, you be the change.
Say it, Do it, Be it
When you think of something good, say it. Hebrews 3:13, AMP
When you think of something special, do it. James 4:17, AMP
In this powerful message, Ps. Leanne reads Judges 19 and uncovers how the spirit of the world will hide under the veil of religion. This message will strengthen our discernment on how the spirit of the world operates and will empower to operate with the spirit of God.
In order to achieve anything in this life, we must be determined. Being determined is: having made a firm decision and being resolved not to change it; having made up your mind that you are going to do something and that you will not allow anyone or anything to stop you; not being weak or uncertain.
Purposefulness:
The only way to see your dreams and desires come to pass is to be determined. It’s making up your mind about something and sticking to it. When you are determined, it increases your chances of being successful. If you stay focused and keep a good attitude, you will eventually see your hopes and dreams come to pass.
Persistence:
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not: unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent (Calvin Coolidge).
Passion:
Whatever you do, do with determination. You have one life to live; do your work with passion, and give your best. Whether you want to be a chef, doctor, actor, or a mother, be passionate to get the best results. It’s the determined people who succeed and get ahead in this life.
Let’s all be more decisive with our lives, and watch what God can do.
In a marriage, both husband and wife have needs. To meet these needs, there must be trust; trust in the Lord and in each other.
Discover How to Have Your Greatest Needs Met | His Needs, Her Needs Her need for openness and honesty.
Gives them a sense of security; this builds trust and intimacy. Our first trust must be in the Lord. (Proverbs 3:5-10, NKJV) Right trust gives us the right direction. The best thing you and your mate could ever do is to put both your trust in the Lord and then in each other. Love is given, but lasting intimate trust is built over time and through the right behavior and actions. (1 Peter 4:8, NKJV)
His need for physical attractiveness. (1 Peter 3:3-5, TLB)
Your husband married you because he first loved the way you look and then for your sweetness. As the marriage continues in time, it takes a more intimate and personal relationship to last. Looking attractive for your spouse is like depositing love units into his life. Ask your husband what he likes, not just your girlfriends. After all, who are you trying to please?
She needs and wants intimate conversation.
Real conversation that focuses on personal interests, problems, events, and things you would not tell just anyone. Everyone needs a mate they can talk to about personal information just between them. Conversation with each other becomes a great part of meeting each other’s emotional needs. (Song of Songs 4:1-7, TLB)
In this hot topic course, Dr. Heather Tomes (Registered Psychologist) talks about the critical topic of depression.
Many people are dealing with depression, and they don’t even realize it. Or if they do know it, but they don’t know where to start their recovery journey.
In this course, Dr. Tomes teaches us how to recognize the signs of depression and take steps to get help and move towards health and wholeness.
The Sun Sets on Bayou Boeuf in Lecompte, Louisiana
Story and Photo by Ken Hulsey
I have often noted that the strength of Louisiana comes from its people. The folk down here are hard working, polite, loving and God fearing. They greet you with a smile and they genuinely want to know how you are. It's not just lip service. If you are looking for good people look no further than the Pelican State.
The people of Louisiana, for the most part, all attend church on a regular basis if not every Sunday. Their grandparents attended church, their parents attended church, so likewise they attend and then go out someplace with the family for some good old fashioned southern cooking. It's a matter of tradition as much as it's a matter of religion. It's just what you have to do.
It's often been discussed around my church that the major hurdle to reaching people here in this region is that people attend church out of obligation instead of seeking the word of God. No matter what sermon a pastor can compose the people have heard it at least a dozen times and the true substance of the message falls on deaf ears.
This is of course not always the case. There are still people who come to church to be fed the word of God and study the scriptures in order to build a closer relationship with the Creator and affect positive change in their lives.
The backbone of any church is it's small groups where like-minded believers can come together and study the faith and learn more about it through personal interaction. Here at Journey Church (in Pineville, Louisiana) there is such a group where the true message of Jesus is shared and discussed every single Sunday. The group is called The Coffee Club and it's truly a special place where even a first time visitor is treated like a long-time friend. It's more of a family than just simply a bunch of people who gather every week to watch a video and answer discussion questions. Though that is the basic structure of session it is more about sharing personal insight on a certain subject than simply that.
Participants often time bring their own personal sufferings and experiences to the table without fear of any judgement or ridicule. No matter what is expressed there are no prejudices or malice here. This is group of true believers in Jesus Christ that have one mission to bring those far from God closer to God through study, fellowship and prayer. Everyone's insight and beliefs are valid and can be expressed openly.
I can personally testify that my walk with Jesus has grown stronger through the study, fellowship, discussion and prayer I have shared with this group of truly amazing believers. I can only pray that my contributions to the group have been as big a blessing to my fellow members.
As you can probably guess from the name of the group the fellowship centers around a good hot cup of strong Louisiana coffee. I have to tell you that they really do love strong coffee in this part of the country. It's not for the weak!
All kidding aside it is honestly a group of loving people who share their personal relationship with Jesus over a good cup of coffee.
The Coffee Club is for anyone, married or single, who are looking for an open spirit-filled group to learn and share with in order to develop a more Godly view on both life's hardships and pleasures in order to bring praise and glory to our savior Jesus Christ.
We meet every Sunday @ 10AM in Room 1 of Building C on the campus of Journey Church located at 2900 Donahue Ferry Rd in Pineville, LA 71360
I used to want to fix people, but now I just want to be with them. - Bob Goff
In the session one video from the Love Does Study, after Bob tells his story about Randy, he challenges us to reach out to someone who has been a “Randy” in their lives and tell that person thank you.
Think about your life and consider: Is there a person who has been there with you when the going got rough? Or a person who poured out his or her life to mentor or counsel you? Or someone who talked you out of making a bad choice or talked you into making a good one?
Eva Vlaardingerbroek's address at the Brussels National Conservatism Conference on March 23, 2022.
Eva Vlaardingerbroek studied law at Utrecht University and at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. After graduating with a bachelor's degree, she began studying for a master's degree in philosophy of law at Leiden University. She graduated her masters with honors.
What is Transhumanism?
Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement which advocates for the enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available sophisticated technologies that can greatly enhance longevity and cognition. It also predicts the inevitability of such technologies in the future.
Transhumanist thinkers study the potential benefits and dangers of emerging technologies that could overcome fundamental human limitations as well as the ethics of using such technologies. Some transhumanists believe that human beings may eventually be able to transform themselves into beings with abilities so greatly expanded from the current condition as to merit the label of posthuman beings.
What is Neuralink?
"Neuralink" is a start-up created by Elon Musk in 2016. The company’s main aim is brain implants development by means of electronic chips that are inserted into the brain and equipped with a form of artificial intelligence. This kind of technology focuses on helping persons with disabilities, for example, to communicate or to move. At first glance, "Neuralink" does not seem to present any particular ethical difficulties. Helping persons with disabilities respects the principle of beneficence, in other words, it acts or has qualities of mercy, kindness, generosity, charity, altruism, love, humanity, and promoting the good of others. But Elon Musk clarified his goal: "Over time I think we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence" (World Government Summit in Dubai). And he continued: "Some high bandwidth interface to the brain will be something that helps achieve a symbiosis between human and machine intelligence.” In 2020, Musk indicated that "you could upload, you could basically store your memories as a backup and restore the memories, then ultimately you could potentially download them into a new body or into a robot body".
If you are wondering how these new technologies may be linked to the Antichrist in the book of Revelation check this out!
An AI god will emerge by 2042 and write its own bible. Will you worship it?
From Venture Beat
In the next 25 years, AI will evolve to the point where it will know more on an intellectual level than any human. In the next 50 or 100 years, an AI might know more than the entire population of the planet put together. At that point, there are serious questions to ask about whether this AI — which could design and program additional AI programs all on its own, read data from an almost infinite number of data sources, and control almost every connected device on the planet — will somehow rise in status to become more like a god, something that can write its own bible and draw humans to worship it.
Recently, reports surfaced that a controversy-plagued engineer who once worked at Uber has started a new religion. Anthony Levandowski filed paperwork for a nonprofit religious organization called The Way of the Future. Its mission: “To develop and promote the realization of a Godhead based on artificial intelligence and through understanding and worship of the Godhead contribute to the betterment of society.”
One of the experts is Vince Lynch, who started a company called IV.AI that builds custom AI for the enterprise. Lynch explained how there are some similarities between organized religion and how an AI actually works. In the Bible used by Christians, for example, Lynch says there are many recurring themes, imagery, and metaphors.
Okay ... now this is the scary part!
Indeed, Lynch even shared a simple AI model to make his point. If you type in multiple verses from the Christian Bible, you can have the AI write a new verse that seems eerily similar. Here’s one an AI wrote: “And let thy companies deliver thee; but will with mine own arm save them: even unto this land, from the kingdom of heaven.” An AI that is all-powerful in the next 25-50 years could decide to write a similar AI bible for humans to follow, one that matches its own collective intelligence. It might tell you what to do each day, or where to travel, or how to live your life.
Robbee Minicola, who runs a digital agency and an AI services company in Seattle, agreed that an all-knowing AI could appear to be worthy of worship, especially since the AI has some correlations to how organized religion works today. The AI would understand how the world works at a higher level than humans, and humans would trust that this AI would provide the information we need for our daily lives. It would parse this information for us and enlighten us in ways that might seem familiar to anyone who practices religion, such as Christianity.
If you add two and two together it is easy to see how Satan could use technology to create the Antichrist. Only God knows at this point if this is how the prophesy outlined in the book of Revelation will actually pan out or not. It is, however, a scary vision of where technology is heading. Christians need to be alert to such technology and begin to preach the word of God more boldly. The end times are indeed upon us!
From Christianity TodayWhen researchers for the American Bible Society’s annual State of the Bible report saw this year’s survey statistics, they found it hard to believe the results. The data said roughly 26 million people had mostly or completely stopped reading the Bible in the last year.
“We reviewed our calculations. We double-checked our math and ran the numbers again … and again,” John Plake, lead researcher for the American Bible Society, wrote in the 2022 report. “What we discovered was startling, disheartening, and disruptive.”
In 2021, about 50 percent of Americans said they read the Bible on their own at least three or four times per year. That percentage had stayed more or less steady since 2011.
But in 2022, it dropped 11 points. Now only 39 percent say they read the Bible multiple times per year or more. It is the steepest, sharpest decline on record.
According to the 12th annual State of the Bible report, it wasn’t just the occasional Scripture readers who didn’t pick up their Bibles as much in 2022 either. More than 13 million of the most engaged Bible readers—measured by frequency, feelings of connection to God, and impact on day-to-day decisions—said they read God’s Word less.
