Our Scripture this week begins with this prayer in Psalm 119:25: “My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to your Word!” The timing of this passage has come at an intriguing moment in our nation. I realize many of you are curious about the rumors of revival coming from Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. Could this be a real revival? How do we even measure whether a revival is legitimate? I thought it might be helpful to share several marks of genuine revival according to historical reflection. Here are seven marks of genuine revival based on past momentous

“Jesus, at thy command, I launch into the deep, and leave my native land, where sin lulls all asleep; For thee I fein would all resign, And sail to heav’n with thee and thine. What though the seas are broad, what though the waves are strong, what though tempestuous winds distress me all along; Yet what are seas or stormy wind, Compared to Christ the sinner’s friend! Christ is my Pilot wise, my compass is his word; My soul each storm defies while I have such a Lord; I trust his faithfulness and pow’r, to save me in the trying

Ever notice that when your cup of happiness is full, somebody always jogs your elbow?  That is funny but true at times.  But the pursuit of happiness is the pursuit that our early American forefathers called us to.  “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”   It is in our spirits to pursue our happiness and in this pursuit, we often get lost in ourselves and end up looking around one day wondering how unhappy we are even when we achieve what we thought would bring us great joy.   I think we falter in this because we do not understand our

Merry Christmas Church!  Every Christmas, since I came to faith in Christ Jesus some 36 years ago right here at Granite Hills Baptist Church, I am so blessed to know the true meaning of Christmas.  The meaning that through all the hustle and bustle of the season that Jesus Christ came as a baby to “save His people from their sins.”   That no matter what the circumstances we may be in, God has in the end fixed our lives to hope in the resurrected Jesus.  This we fix our hope on dear church.  Concerning this particular Christmas, it’s been a

Presents, cookies, icicle lights, eggnog, Christmas songs, parties, snowballs fights, hot cocoa… These are just a few of the many wonderful things we get to enjoy during the Christmas season, and they’re all good things. However, they also have the potential to become our focus during this special time of year when our best attention should be given to celebrating the coming of our Lord Jesus. I’ve often wondered why the Apostle ends 1 John with the seemingly disconnected sentence, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols,” and as I’ve been considering this question at Christmas time, it finally dawned on