New Lesson: Everything Starts Here (Romans 8)

Dark and Light

When you look out at the world, what do you see? Some see nothing but trouble and pain. They point to things like poverty, crime, problems with drugs and alcohol and marriage break-ups and say that the world is full of sadness and sorrow. Watch the news for even a half hour and you will get the idea that the world is a dark place. Others see nothing but good. They appreciate generous people in their community. They think about their friends and neighbours and smile. They marvel at the beauty of sunrises and stars at night. To them, the world is a bright and wonderful place. You may be surprised that the Bible supports both of these world views. On one hand it says things like, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the

New Article: Five Words to Improve Your Relationships

In the late 1800s, it was common for railway companies to plant formal gardens beside their stations. These gardens were filled with trees, shrubs, flowers, and fruit trees. Sometimes they also featured a kitchen garden growing lettuce, carrots, corn, and potatoes. Estevan’s Canadian Pacific Railway Garden was once located where Mid-City Plumbing and Heating is today. The purpose of these gardens was to show what the land could produce. After hours and sometimes days of riding across the featureless prairies, the railways wanted to show settlers the potential of their new home. The gardens showed what was possible and they encouraged the settlers to transform their own land and discover its potential too. Today’s verse acts similarly, in that it challenges us to find the potential in

Forgetting What Is Behind

Generalizations are helpful because they show a pattern that is normally true. However, they are also dangerous because they ignore the exceptions to the rule. Here is my generalization: It is a quality of the strong to be able to forget the past and move on. The apostle Paul summarizes this idea when he states, “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God had called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). Too often, we trip over things that are behind us. We remember and nurse old hurts. We rehearse mistakes that no one else recalls. In doing so, we pull the past into the present and allow it to dictate how we feel right now. In these cases, we would be better off “forgett

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