Is war ever just? Why is there so much killing in the Bible? How can a good, loving, and all-powerful God condone holy wars?
Does it just seem to you that God himself is at war against the world?
If so, you may be closer to the truth than you care to admit. Listen and find out how close.
Are you a Deist? Do you think some people are just lucky? If so, is there a meaning to life?
Listen and find out why that just can’t be true. Find out about a personal God who involves himself in every detail of the universe – a God who gives meaning to everything happening around you.
We want our lives to count for something. But how do we do that realistically?
Year after year we make the same resolutions, and break the same resolutions and things remain the same.
The search for significance is not the easiest road to travel because there are so many wrong turns on it, and those look so much more scenic than the main road that it’s easy to veer.
The answer to how to make your life count is easy to the point of being insulting, but really it’s very hard work and only those who persevere will be happy in the end.
If you’re ready to do some hard lifting and work up a little sweat, listen to this message.
Pastor Mark Bates doesn’t promise an easy life, but he does his best to point you in the right direction if you’re interested in making your life really count.
In everyone’s life there are watershed moments that will define who you are. You’re going to have to choose sides – will I be this or will I be that?
The thing about it is that once you choose, it’s very hard, if not impossible, to un-choose. So learn to recognize those moments and then do the right thing.
How? Listen and find out. (Hint: Faith)
Life is not pretty. The Bible is not pretty.
The good news is that between Genesis and Revelation, the Bible is really just one story – and that story is Jesus.
The other good news is that it’s alright to lament, complain, and, yes, even whine sometimes.
The even more good news is that we’re in the middle of the story and the last chapter hasn’t been written yet.
Is your life messy? Don’t stop now. Listen to the rest of the story, and maybe find God while you’re at it.
The parallels are uncanny. Esther compromises her beliefs and customs to fit in – to get ahead.
Are we too focused on “Blending In” to our culture? Maybe. But are some of us too focused on eschewing the the world and limiting our interaction to only other Christians?
Listen as Mark Bates gives us the key to living in the current culture and, at the same time, not be compromised by it.
Footnotes on Esther