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FCN Daily Bible Verse
August 22, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Editorial: Opioid overdose deaths: A national catastrophe
August 22, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Fatal aviation disasters are a rare event in the modern age. It would come as a shock to hear of a passenger jet crashing and killing everyone aboard. Now try to imagine it happening today, tomorrow, the next day and the day after. That will give you an idea of the death toll from drug overdoses in the United States
Here’s a link to the editorial at the Chicago Tribune.
Pastor Rick Warren: Your Life Is Shaped by Your Thoughts
August 22, 2018 By Leave a Comment
By Rick Warren — August 22, 2018
“Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts” (Proverbs 4:23 GNT).
Why is it so important that you learn how to manage your mind? Let me give you three reasons.
Manage your mind, because your thoughts control your life.
Proverbs 4:23 says, “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts” (GNT). Your thoughts have tremendous ability to shape your life for good or for bad. For example, maybe you accept the thought someone told you when you were growing up, “You’re worthless. You don’t matter.” If you accepted that thought, even though it was wrong, it shaped your life.
Manage your mind, because the mind is the battleground for sin.
All temptation happens in the mind. Paul says in Romans 7:22-23, “I love to do God’s will so far as my new nature is concerned; but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. In my mind I want to be God’s willing servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin” (TLB).
One of the reasons why you get mentally fatigued is because there’s a battle in your brain 24 hours a day. It’s debilitating because it’s intense, and it’s intense because your mind is your greatest asset. Satan wants your greatest asset!
Manage your mind, because it’s the key to peace and happiness.
An unmanaged mind leads to tension. A managed mind leads to tranquility. An unmanaged mind leads to conflict. A managed mind leads to confidence. An unmanaged mind leads to stress. When you don’t try to control your mind and the way you direct your thoughts, you will have an enormous amount of stress in your life. But a managed mind leads to strength and security and serenity.
“Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace” (Romans 8:6 NLT).
The games Illinois insiders play to keep you, the voter, outside
August 21, 2018 By Leave a Comment
If you care about democracy, don’t forget how it “works” closest to home. In Illinois, those in power use and abuse the electoral process to cling to that power.
Here’s a link to the editorial at the Chicago Sun-Times.
Commentary: Summertime and the media are embarrassing — from hating America to loving Antifa
August 21, 2018 By Leave a Comment
August is a time when Washington shuts down for summer recess. The left and the media should have taken the hint. Instead, they stayed and made fools of themselves.
Here’s a link to the editorial at FOX News.
Weekly Devotion: Daily Wisdom
August 21, 2018 By Leave a Comment
D A I L Y W I S D O M
https://devotions4competitors.blogspot.com/2012/08/d-i-l-y-w-i-s-d-o-m-proverbs-834-when-i.html
Proverbs 8:34
When I was a young man and pursuing my girlfriend (now my wife of over 30 years), I knew exactly where she lived, when and where she went to class and every angle that made for an opportunity for me to know her. Today’s scripture tells us to pursue wisdom just like that.
Proverbs chapter 8 and verse 34 says, “Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.”
Wisdom is personified by the author as a lovely woman, full of life giving truth. It says the man who listens to her is blessed. The key to receiving the blessing is to listen, watch and wait for her.
We can hear wisdom as we listen to our coaches and other mentors. Further, we must listen daily; implying regularity and discipline. We hear most effectively when we listen at wisdom’s doors… where she lives.
Wisdom lives in the minds of your coaching staff, your parents, your instructors and even in some teammates. Listen closely and you’ll be blessed. Wisdom resides in the Bible and God speaks loudly and clearly daily through its words. Have a great competition today.
Pastor Rick Warren: God Understands You Can’t Change Overnight
August 21, 2018 By Leave a Comment
By Rick Warren
“Put on your new nature, created to be like God — truly righteous and holy” (Ephesians 4:24 NLT).
The Holy Spirit will make changes in your life far beyond anything you thought possible, but it’s not going to happen overnight. When Saddleback Church did our “Decade of Destiny,” my prayer was that, through the work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God and with support from our small groups, our church would become more mature, more Christlike, and further along in our purpose 10 years from that point. My prayer is the same for you: that in the next decade, you would grow in spiritual maturity and Christlikeness and purpose.
I want you to be stronger emotionally, physically, spiritually, psychologically, and financially, but you’ve got to be intentional about it. The Bible says, “Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy” (Ephesians 4:24 NLT).
This is how we become more like Jesus. We throw off the old things and the old ways that keep us from getting to know Christ and becoming like him, and we put on our new selves with the help of the Holy Spirit. We let God do his work in us—no matter how long it takes.
“As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him” (2 Corinthians 3:18 TLB).
Commentary: What would Jesus do? Clean house in the Catholic Church
August 20, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Anyone who welcomes one little child like this in my name welcomes me,” Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew. “But anyone who is the downfall of one of these little ones who have faith in me would be better drowned in the depths of the sea with a great millstone round his neck.”
Here’s a link to the editorial at the Chicago Tribune.
Newt Gingrich: Democrats have no idea what demons they are unleashing
August 20, 2018 By Leave a Comment
A few weeks ago, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) wrote an article for Vox explaining the movement’s goals – to end capitalism and radically change America.
Here’s a link to the editorial at FOX News.
FCN Daily Bible Verse
August 20, 2018 By Leave a Comment
During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said: “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king.”
