by Jeremy Brown
Most days I wake up and wonder how we got to such a state! Before I can open up the latest issue of the Wall Street Journal, I can see images of a world with so much pain and a lack of love for thy neighbor, images of the latest bombing victims, mass shooting, etc., on the front page. “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). It’s become so common place that many of us are shocked when we turn on the news and we don’t hear about the latest mass shooting, mass bombing, murder, robbery, etc. How do we maintain our empathy and love for one another? Continue reading
My biggest fear is to not reach my full potential according to God’s Word and His will. I believe full-heartedly that God’s will for each of us is to obey His commandments. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thy self” (Luke 10:27). I believe that there is a difference between knowing God and doing God’s will. My dad taught me that the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people do what unsuccessful people do not want to do. I believe that to be the same as our walk with God. Some believers believe their salvation relies on believing in God’s only Son, Jesus; and for others their salvation relies on their testimony of Jesus and keeping God’s commandments. God’s commandments are not easy, and we as human’s cannot and will not keep them perfectly; yet it is the challenges that we face in trying to keep them that constantly remind us of who we are and what we are called to be. 
Do you ever have that moment where someone asks you for a favor, and you really don’t want to do it? Maybe you are tired, maybe you are just not in the mood, but there really isn’t anything pressing that would stop you from helping. The only thing keeping you from helping the person is, you just don’t want to. 
The Church of God International Springfield, Missouri 