We can find the words grace and mercy used all throughout scripture. Do they mean the same thing? And if not, what is the difference? Mercy is getting a little less punishment or retribution than what you deserve. You were caught by that cop going 30 miles an hour over the limit. Justice says you've got to pay your $300, but the judge is in a good mood that day and he s...

Today's blog is centered around the second miracle that the Bible records of Jesus. Let me give you a little background. Four of the twelve disciples of Jesus were fishermen. Peter and Andrew were brothers and James and John were brothers. These four guys had a fishing business in northern Israel. At this point, Peter, James, John and Andrew are not disciples of Jesus y...

What makes the difference between emptiness and overflowing? In my last blog we dove into the Bible story where Jesus made the fishermen's nets overflow with fish. If you missed this blog, READ IT HERE before continuing. So, how do we receive the blessing of an overflowing, abundant life? The first thing we need to do that Peter and Andrew and James and John did is: 1....

What will wisdom do for you? A lot more than we think! Most of us spend our whole life trying to obtain a long life, wealth, honor, pleasure, security and happiness. But, God actually says that all of these things are byproducts from learning to be wise. 1. Wisdom Brings a LONG LIFE How can God promise me a longer life if I'm wise? Because when we're wise it reduces the...

How do you deal with the "crazy makers" who push your buttons? HOW TO DISARM YOUR BUTTON PUSHERS The Bible talks about this in the book of Proverbs. The first way is this: 1. I calculate the cost of anger. Before you allow yourself to get mad back, you calculate what you're going to lose. Calculate the cost of anger. You're less likely to get angry when somebody's pu...

How do you get your spouse to listen to you? What's the best way to navigate through conflict with your husband or wife? You can take any area that you need to talk about and follow these seven steps to get your spouse to listen to you. 1. CHOOSE THE RIGHT TIME Eccl. 8:6 (MSG) "There's a right time and way for everything." Timing is everything in communication. We can...

Even the healthiest marriages have disagreements. We can disagree without being disagreeable. We can argue without assassinating. When we are in a conflict situation, we need to establish ground rules. There are certain verbal phrases that are off limits, no matter how upset and angry we are. Here are 7 rules for a fair fight: 1) Never compare. When we are in the middle ...

What does consideration look like within a marriage? Consideration means you start thinking of "we" instead of "me." It means paying attention to what your spouse says. It means showing common courtesy. It means respecting and treating them with respect and with care. One of the primary purposes of marriage is to teach us how to be considerate. Why? Because Jesus is cons...

We all have hard-to-love or hard-to-deal-with types in our life. People who drive us crazy. One of the amazing things about these "crazy makers" in your life is how quickly they can flip you from being happy to angry in a split second. They know how to push your buttons. Let me give you some facts about anger that I found out. The average woman loses her temper three time...

I often hear people say that phrase: "Pastor Jerry, I just don't see." "I just don't see how I'm going to make it through this problem" "I just don't see how I'll ever be able to change" "I just don't see that my marriage is ever going to get any better" "I just don't see any hope for the future" "I just don't see the situation working out" When people say "I just don't se...