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by: Gary L. Hutchens Are you happy with your spiritual life? Is your faith as strong and deep and sustaining as you’d like it to be? How are you doing as a Christian? Do you believe that your life is pleasing to God? These are probing questions that can be painful to answer. Yet, they’re questions that each of us needs to consider on a regular basis, for we’re instructed to “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” (2 Cor. 13:5).
By: Gary L. Hutchens Jesus encouraged us, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). The “crown of life” signifies eternal life in Heaven, eternal salvation. Eternal life is a gift offered to us by God through grace. Our responsibility in receiving this gift is to “be faithful until death.” We are not just to become faithful, we are to live in faithfulness until the day we die. We must even be willing to die for our faith, if necessary.
By: Gary L. Hutchens We’ve crossed over the threshold of time once again, moving from one year into another. This is the forty third bulletin article I’ve been privileged to write at the beginning of a new year. Five, including this one, have come at the beginning of a new decade. One ushered in a new century and millennium. I suppose a preacher naturally mulls over to a somewhat greater degree just what he should write at the beginning of a new year. He wants to say something profound, something that will stimulate thoughtfulness and positive action on both an individual and a congregational basis.
by: Gary L. Hutchens It has been said, “Like sand through an hourglass, so are the days of our lives.” Time waits for no one. The Rolling Stones put that truth to music in 1974. Second by second, minute by minute, time’s passing is inexorable, relentless. As each second ticks away, it is gone forever. It will never come our way again; we have it but once.
by: Gary L. Hutchens In a few days, multitudes of people in this country and around the world will supposedly celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Many will attend some kind of special church service in His honor. Others will simply feel special feelings about the Savior as they go about the day. Specific references to the birth of Christ will be uttered in prayers by some. A large number of people will party and get drunk!
by: Gary L. Hutchens A crisis is defined as a critical moment, a decisive point in time, a situation or period of time in which matters are difficult, uncertain, painful, potentially dangerous, even catastrophic. Frequently, a crisis calls for decisive action in order to avoid disaster. Everyone faces a crisis in life from time to time, some more compelling than others. One of the most profound of all crises is a crisis of faith, which can come in different forms.
By: Gary L. Hutchens Could you imagine trying to live without electricity? Probably, every one of us has had some experience with that prospect, on a limited basis. Storms of various types often down power lines or cause transformers to blow. Sometimes, heavy usage within an electrical grid will lead to a shut-down of the system within that grid. There have been a number of instances of loss of power over extensive areas of the country. While such scenarios cause problems, the resultant loss of power is usually fairly short-lived. Before long, the problem is corrected and power is restored.
By: Gary L. Hutchens Just a few days ago we celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday, in my mind one of the best holidays of all. People put aside their busy schedules. Families come together and eat and talk and enjoy each others company. Many prayers are said reflecting upon the many ways in which they have been blessed. It is a time that motivates people to think more, at least for a little while, about their spiritual lives.
by: Gary L. Hutchens This coming Thursday is, in my opinion, one of the great holidays that we celebrate as a nation- Thanksgiving Day! A number of reasons could be listed as to why this is a great holiday, depending on who does the listing. There are few holidays that command as much attention and respect as does this one. To a great extent, the busy pace of our society drops down into low gear on Thanksgiving Day. Most businesses will be closed, and most employees will have the day off.
By: Gary L. Hutchens Back in 2009 another movie playing on the theme of global destruction was released. It was just the latest in a long series of such films dating way, way back. Based on the focus of that movie I wrote an article titled, “Will The Earth End In 2012?” Well, here we are nearing the end of 2019, so the answer to the question is obvious. Now we hear a growing cry among climate change activists that, on our present course, life on earth will be pretty much wiped out within twelve years!
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December 2019
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