by Brandy Webb
It is becoming increasingly obvious that many people seem to have the inability to listen. Unless the news is exaggerating about how people are behaving these days, it seems that a lot of people want to be heard, but they are unwilling to calmly listen to the opposing side. This in turn creates a shouting match of chaos. The real problem is people want others to treat them in a way that they are unwilling to treat others. The idea of, you listen to me only and do not attempt to disagree. This can only be described as a double and hypocritical standard. I know it comes to no surprise that the world is full of hypocrites and double standards, but we must make sure that as Christians we do not act the same way. Continue reading
The day after Jesus Christ returns, I will be a spirit being, living as a part of God’s Family (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). I will no longer have physical aches, pains, or imperfections in my body. All of the restraints caused by birth defect, accident, abuse, or age will no longer bind me or slow me down (1 Corinthians 15:35, 42-44). I will be able to jump around if I so desire, or zip from place-to-place at the speed of thought. The first time walking through a wall instead of using the door will be really fun. There will be a lot of firsts, and they all will be fun. I am really looking forward to, the day after… 
There are never small miracles because every miracle is wonderful. It is always awesome when God answers prayers, whether it is healing or just Him taking our anxiety away. I am realizing that I need to stay aware of all the answered prayers that I have because every single one is an awesome miracle. It is so uplifting when our prayers are answered. In fact, Proverbs points out that a “desire fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12). Therefore, an answered prayer is life giving to our soul. 
Many people I am currently praying for are facing severe trials right now. One friend just went in for surgery to have a cancerous tumor removed from his liver. That same man will have to go in again in a few months to have more cancer removed from his colon. A cousin of mine is in stage four of lymphoma cancer. Both suffer not only the physical pain of the disease that is trying to kill them, but also the fear of not knowing what will happen with the only life they have been given. Additionally, they wrestle with what it will mean for the loved ones who are left behind if the cancer takes them. 
This past Sabbath, John Reedy gave the message in Texarkana, TX, and he asked something that I am still thinking about a few days later. He asked, as Christians, are we allowing one foot to stay in the world while the other is in God’s church? He was making the point that we are in the world, but we aren’t supposed to be of the world. God understands that we can’t put ourselves in a bubble separating ourselves from the world. However, we aren’t supposed to get caught up in the world’s way of living, selfishness, greed, strife, envy, gossips, enmity with God, etc. We are to be different, set apart by how we live our lives. 
A good friend texted me this picture as a joke recently. Then he said, “This would make a good subject for a blog.” I decided He was right!
I know that I have written about music before, but the other day I heard something that I didn’t even know in regards to music. I was driving to town listening to a radio program, and the speaker was listing all the benefits of singing with other people. Studies have shown that group singing benefits our health and well-being. I knew I enjoyed singing, but I didn’t know that there were actually positive health benefits to singing, especially when you sing in a group. 
The other day my family and I were watching a fun series called Brain Games, and in one episode about lying, it had a study done with children. The premise was to have a group of children sit at a table with this tasty chocolate cake, and an adult would tell them that they were not to have any of the cake. In fact, they could not even touch the cake. Then the adult would leave the room to watch the children behind a two-way mirror. All but one of the kids could not resist the temptation. They just had to at least touch it with the tip of their finger. It was too hard to do the right thing when no one was around. 
The Church of God International Springfield, Missouri 