# Grace Centered - Online Christian Magazine

> Grace Centered Magazine is a daily Internet publication dedicated to stimulating personal and public thought, prayer, and discussion about living the Christian life.

> Generated by All in One SEO v5.0.3, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site.

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](http://www.gracecentered.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Jesus and Machiavelli: An Unexpected Kinship in Strategy, Wisdom, and Human Nature](http://www.gracecentered.com/jesus-and-machiavelli-an-unexpected-kinship-in-strategy-wisdom-and-human-nature.htm): Most Christians instinctively keep Jesus and Machiavelli in separate categories. Jesus is the Son of God, the embodiment of truth and love. Machiavelli is the patron saint of political cynicism, famous for advice that sounds cold, calculating, and self serving. And yet, if we slow down and read both carefully, something surprising appears. Jesus speaks
- [Scapegoating Climate To Hide Callous Government Malfeasance](http://www.gracecentered.com/scapegoating-climate-to-hide-malfeasance.htm): by Paul Driessen The Palisades and Malibu wildfires are a doubly horrific tragedy, because the death and devastation could largely have been prevented.My article this week explains how California's forests have been turned into tinder boxes, ready to explode in flames; presents some of the many California government failures that allowed that to happen; and
- [President Trump to Sign Executive Order Defining Sex as ‘Male and Female’ on First Day](http://www.gracecentered.com/trump-to-sign-executive-order-defining-sex-as-male-and-female.htm): Discover details about President Trump's executive order reaffirming biological sex, addressing gender ideology policies, and implementing changes in federal law enforcement, identification, and protections.
- [A Fiery Apocalypse](http://www.gracecentered.com/a-fiery-apocalypse.htm): F. LaGard Smith Who could have seen it coming? Who ever could have imagined? Not I, even being a veteran of terrifying fires threatening my former faculty condo on Pepperdine University’s glorious Malibu campus. Been there, done that, watering down my deck with a garden hose as fierce flames flared around me and hot cinders
- [Christians Persecuted Under Biden Regime](http://www.gracecentered.com/christians-persecuted-under-biden-regime.htm): This article highlights corporate bias, religious persecution, and the Biden administration's disregard for Christian values, as seen in its policies and lack of support for religious freedom.
- [Hollywood Looking to Make More and More Faith Films](http://www.gracecentered.com/hollywood-looking-to-make-more-and-more-faith-films.htm): Hollywood actor Neal McDonough, who’s long been outspoken about his Christian faith and known for his roles in Minority Report and Yellowstone, revealed that Hollywood has undergone a cultural shift and now wants to make more faith-based films. McDonough, who previously said that his unwillingness to do sex scenes cost him movie roles, appeared on
- [Playing the Blame Game](http://www.gracecentered.com/playing-the-blame-game.htm): Can you blame the Democrats? The blame game is in full swing! Nancy Pelosi and George Clooney are fending off brick bats for their roles in pushing Joe Biden out of the race. They, in turn—assuming there would be a competitive primary—are blaming Biden for precipitously anointing Harris. And many Dems are still fuming about
- [The Triumph of Common Sense!](http://www.gracecentered.com/the-triumph-of-common-sense.htm): It wasn’t really about Donald Trump. In Trump, “the little people” found their voice. Along with the economy, immigration, and abortion, exit polls said “democracy” was a key issue. Democracy? You mean concerns about fascism and tyranny? Or maybe a January 6th repeat? Quite to the contrary, what we saw in the Red Wave was
- [Donald Trump: Unlike Kamala ‘We Embrace Followers of Jesus’](http://www.gracecentered.com/donald-trump-unlike-kamala-we-embrace-followers-of-jesus.htm): The Trump campaign embraces followers of Jesus, former President Donald Trump made clear this week after Vice President Kamala Harris seemingly mocked a man at a Wisconsin rally for shouting, “Jesus is Lord!” “While Kamala said that people who believe in Jesus don’t belong to her rallies, in our Movement — We love Christians, we
- [Tim Walz Ban on Christian Teachers Set to Hit Schools in Just Months](http://www.gracecentered.com/tim-walz-ban-on-christian-teachers.htm): This article originally appeared on WND.com Guest by post by Bob Unruh ‘Faithful members of the world’s largest and oldest religions cannot in good conscience ‘affirm’ non-heterosexual sexual orientations and gender identities. Christians who do so publicly deny their faith.’ Gov. Tim Walz’s ban on faithful Christians from teaching in Minnesota’s public is set to
- [Report Reveals 99 Terror Suspects Entered U.S. Illegally Under Biden-Harris Administration](http://www.gracecentered.com/report-reveals-99-terror-suspects-entered-u-s-illegally-under-biden-harris-administration.htm): A recent report from the U.S. House Judiciary Committee has revealed that, under the Biden-Harris administration, at least 99 individuals on the terrorist watch list are suspected of entering the United States illegally. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released these individuals into various American communities. These individuals hail from 36 different countries, including Afghanistan,
- [Why Did Jesus Weep At Mary's Sorrow?](http://www.gracecentered.com/why-did-jesus-weep.htm): Why did Jesus weep when Mary said to Him that if He had been there, her brother, Lazarus, would not have died as he did but could have been healed by Jesus.
- [When Your Spouse Feels Like A Roommate](http://www.gracecentered.com/when-your-spouse-feels-like-a-roommate.htm): In the context of Christian marriage, the concept of reigniting the spark between spouses is not only about sustaining love and passion but also about honoring the covenant made before God. Marriage, as described in the Bible, is a sacred union that reflects the relationship between Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:25-32). Therefore, the effort
- [Federal Court: Parents in Maryland School District Cannot Opt K-5 Children Out of LGBTQ Curriculum](http://www.gracecentered.com/federal-court-parents-in-maryland-school-district-cannot-opt-k-5-children-out-of-lgbtq-curriculum.htm): A federal court upheld a Maryland school district policy on Wednesday that prevents parents from opting their young K-5 children out of curriculum involving gender identity and sexuality. In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a lower court's ruling, rejecting the plea from religious parents to halt the
- [What Do Wives Want From Their Husbands?](http://www.gracecentered.com/wives-want-from-their-husbands.htm): Wives want quality time, help around the house, leadership, and affection. That’s what the article I read listed. Fairly simple and straightforward. Life tells a very different story. What do women really want from their husbands?
- [My Husband Won’t Pray With Me](http://www.gracecentered.com/husband-wont-pray.htm): As a Christian desiring the best marriage and a close walk with God, you may wonder why you and your spouse don’t have a deeply-connected prayer life together. You say a blessing over the food, and you pray for the missionaries; but you seldom if ever pour out your hearts before God together.
- [How to BE Happily Married, Part 1](http://www.gracecentered.com/happily-married-part-1.htm): The Bible gives commands for the kind of people we all need to be. Applying those principles (with some poetic license) to our marriages keeps us on track or fills in the missing pieces in a less-than-happy marriage. Stated succinctly, our marriages would be a lot better off if we extended basic human decency to our spouses.
- [How to BE Happily Married, Part 2](http://www.gracecentered.com/happily-married-part-2.htm): Happily married? Your marriage may be the greatest joy of your life or, maybe, you've just experienced the first real threat to a "happy marriage." Or perhaps, the dream of being happily married may be a distant memory for you.
- [Are You A Smothering Spouse?](http://www.gracecentered.com/smothering-spouse.htm): Wives smother to control—to stop something from happening or to ensure that something will happen. After all, if you don’t control this situation, what will happen?
- [Nicolas Cage To Star in Horror Film About the Childhood of Jesus Called, "The Carpenter's Son."](http://www.gracecentered.com/nicolas-cage-to-star-in-horror-film-about-the-childhood-of-jesus-called-the-carpenters-son.htm): Academy Award-winning actor Nicolas Cage is set to headline the upcoming film "The Carpenter's Son," a dark and intriguing tale focusing on the childhood of Jesus Christ. This new venture adds another significant role to Cage’s extensive and varied filmography. Directed by the visionary Lofty Nathan, the film is scheduled to begin production this summer.
- [Comedian Chris Distefano Recommends ‘The Case for Christ’ to Joe Rogan, Argues Jesus Rose From the Dead](http://www.gracecentered.com/comedian-chris-distefano-recommends-the-case-for-christ-to-joe-rogan-argues-jesus-rose-from-the-dead.htm): Comedian Chris Distefano recommended Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Christ” to podcast host and fellow comedian Joe Rogan while trying to convince Rogan that Jesus rose from the dead. “I was like, wow, this guy [Lee Strobel] is putting forth very compelling arguments for not only Jesus’ existence but his actual works being real,” said
- [How To Save Your Marriage Alone](http://www.gracecentered.com/how-to-save-your-marriage-alone.htm): Faithful Efforts to Save Your Marriage By Yourself: A Christian Perspective In the journey of marriage, not every path is smooth. At times, you may find yourself acting alone, striving to mend the bond that appears fractured. This task may seem daunting, but with God’s guidance, it is not impossible. Remember, "What therefore God hath
- [Positive Signs During Separation](http://www.gracecentered.com/positive-signs-during-separation.htm): What are some positive signs during separation that give hope of your spouse returning to your marriage? Navigating the turbulent waters of separation within a marriage can be a daunting journey, filled with uncertainty, doubt, and despair. However, as followers of Christ, we are called to embrace the promise of hope and redemption even in
- [I&I/TIPP: Majority Believes 'Religion Under Attack'](http://www.gracecentered.com/ii-tipp-majority-believes-religion-under-attack.htm): A majority of Americans believe religion is under attack, a new I&I/TIPP poll found. A total of 52% said they agreed with the statement that "religion is under attack in the U.S." But 40% of respondents said they disagreed with the statement, and about 9% said they weren't sure, tippinsights reported Monday. A whopping 74% of Republicans, and
- [Snake Handling Pits Religious Freedom Against Public Safety After Kentucky Death](http://www.gracecentered.com/snake-handling-spotlights-religious-freedom-and-public-safety.htm): The idea of a preacher bringing a venomous snake to a church assembly in 2014 might bring to mind an X-Files episode entitled, "Signs and Wonders," in which a Pentecostal pastor in the southeast expects church members with true faith to hold their arms to the nose of a rattlesnake as a demonstration of their faith in God.
- [Women Charged For Cheating At Church Bingo, Investigators Say](http://www.gracecentered.com/women-charged-cheating-church-bingo-investigators.htm): RUNNEMEDE, N.J. (AP) — Police in New Jersey say a church bingo night went awry after an allegation that two players had taped a called number onto their card to claim a bingo win. Investigators say 71-year-old Teresa Davis and 38-year-old Keasha Brockington said they had the winning card carrying a prize of nearly $200
- [Our Forum Back Online](http://www.gracecentered.com/forum-online.htm): Our Christian forums crashed a few days ago and many of you let us know how much you missed it. We're happy to report that it's now back online. The error was repaired and the forums are working again. You may access them at http://www.gracecentered.com/christian_forums/ We have a new section of the forum for Christians
- [Muslim Marauders Murder 12 Christians, Burn Two Churches](http://www.gracecentered.com/muslim-marauders-murder-12-christians-burn-churches.htm): Muslims went on a three-day-long rampage of mayhem and murder, slaughtering 12 Christian, burning two churches, and terrorizing hundreds of others as part of an ongoing pogrom against Christians that has been going on for the last month.
- [Why Are Modern Marriages Failing?](http://www.gracecentered.com/why-are-modern-marriages-failing.htm): In contemporary society, the sacred institution of marriage faces numerous challenges, fundamentally altering the dynamics of this divine covenant. This evolution from traditional values of partnership and unity towards a culture of competition and individualism not only threatens the stability of marital unions but also deviates from the scriptural blueprint laid out for us in
- [Wife Says: My Husband Won't Talk To Me](http://www.gracecentered.com/wife-says-my-husband-wont-talk-to-me.htm): In the journey of marriage, communication stands as a cornerstone of building a strong, loving relationship. Yet, many couples face periods where one partner, particularly husbands, might withdraw into silence, leaving their spouse yearning for open dialogue. From a Christian standpoint, nurturing communication within marriage is not only essential for the relationship's health but also
- [Do You Hate Your Marriage?](http://www.gracecentered.com/do-you-hate-your-marriage.htm): Are you struggling with feelings of dissatisfaction in your marriage? Many couples encounter periods where they question the state of their marriage. If you're feeling a sense of hatred or intense dissatisfaction towards your marriage, it's crucial to address these feelings and explore ways to revitalize your relationship. This guide offers in-depth strategies and insights
- [Infamous "Friends" Star To Orphan's Advocate, Angie Featherstone](http://www.gracecentered.com/angie-featherstone-now-helps-foster-kids.htm): Angela Featherstone: The Unexpected Force in "Friends" “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27) Angie Featherstone appeared in an interview on Coach Lee's YouTube channel recently on what she
- [Can Separation Save Your Marriage?](http://www.gracecentered.com/can-separation-save-your-marriage.htm): Relationship expert, Coach Lee, discusses whether separation can save, help, or harm a marriage in crisis and in danger of divorce. In the intricate dance of love and marriage, there are moments when even the strongest bonds are put to the test. The journey of marriage is rarely a smooth sail, as couples navigate the
- [Christian Teacher Fired for Refusing to Lie to Parents About Student ‘Gender Transitions’](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian-teacher-fired-for-refusing-to-lie-to-parents-about-student-gender-transitions.htm): Do schools see their role as lying to parents? Our taxpayer dollars are paying schools who think it is their job to lie to parents about their children! It's time to switch our children to private schools or homeschool. The stakes couldn't he higher when it comes to the souls of our children! A California
- [Was Jesus Married? Did Jesus Have A Wife Or Ever Get Married?](http://www.gracecentered.com/was-jesus-married.htm): Was Jesus of Nazareth Married to Mary Magdalene? It is common to hear or read that Jesus Christ, who lived on earth between 4 BC and 33 AD (Castro), lived a single and celibate life (Swiatocho). From the point of at least 12 years of church attendance, I remember this basic assumption that Jesus didn't
- [A Prophecy of the Messiah from The Talmud?](http://www.gracecentered.com/a-prophecy-of-the-messiah-from-the-talmud.htm): Some Christians have heard of the Jewish Talmud, but few know much of its contents or history. In preparing for a book that will publish soon regarding the life of Jesus, I wanted to know what life was really like for him. That preparation led me to the Talmud, a Jewish religious and legal book
- [The Talmudic Period](http://www.gracecentered.com/the-talmudic-period.htm): The Talmudic Period was a time in Jewish history from around 400 AD to 500 BC in which the writings of the Talmud were the centerpiece to Jewish religion, life, and community. At the beginning of the Talmudic era, a collection of rabbinical writings known as the Talmud was assembled. The original and earliest version
- [Va. school district reverses suspension of Christian teacher who opposed trans pronoun policy](http://www.gracecentered.com/va-school-district-reverses-suspension-of-christian-teacher-who-opposed-trans-pronoun-policy.htm): A Virginia school district that punished a Christian teacher for expressing his disagreement with a policy to require teachers to use the preferred pronouns of trans-identified students has agreed to lift the teacher’s suspension as part of a settlement. Byron Tanner Cross sued Loudon County Public Schools after he was suspended in May following a
- [The Origin of Christmas](http://www.gracecentered.com/the-origin-of-christmas.htm): We are in the Christmas season now, and everyone is going about like busy bees, getting gifts, putting up Christmas trees, decorating the house with lights and other seasonal ornaments. Well, that’s tradition. However, have you ever thought about where all this tradition comes from? Why the date December 25th? Why the tree? Why the
- [Getting Past Guilt: Embracing God's Forgiveness](http://www.gracecentered.com/getting_past_guilt_by_joe_beam.htm): Getting Past Guilt by Joe Beam is an encouraging book that gets right to the heart of the questions that steal the joy God intends for your life. Buy Now | Get More Information
- [Becoming One: Emotionally, Spiritually and Sexually](http://www.gracecentered.com/relationshipbook.htm): Joe Beam's amazingly successful formula for bringing intimacy back into marriage was chronicled on Good Morning America. He has brought renewal to thousands of marriages through countless seminars and now he reveals his groundbreaking insight in his Becoming One marriage book. Buy Now | Get More Information
- [Seeing the Unseen: Preparing Yourself for Spiritual War](http://www.gracecentered.com/seeingtheunseen.htm): This war isn't between two countries and isn't waged with earthly weapons but is very real. Buy Now | Get More Information
- [A Cappella 'Mary Did You Know' Will Give You Chills!](http://www.gracecentered.com/a-cappella-mary-did-you-know-peter-hollens.htm): This a cappella version of 'Mary Did You Know' by Peter Hollens will give you chills!
- [Revisionist History | Revisionism](http://www.gracecentered.com/assassins_de_la_memoire.htm): The writing of "revisionist history" is not unknown. Persons look back at an event or program and recast it in view of their own purposes. They explain the records and evidence consistent with those purposes. One of the periods most oftensubjected to such revisionism is European history of the 1930s and 1940s. Neo-Nazis, the Ku
- [Broken Codes](http://www.gracecentered.com/breaking_da_vinci_code.htm): I recently began reading Dan Brown’s blockbuster novel, The Da Vinci Code. I found it to be a gripping mystery filled with page-turning cliffhangers. No wonder this book has sparked such a reaction. Many novelists have written copycats, hoping to strike similar gold. On the other hand, countless Christian writers and theologians have fought an
- [The Jesus Tomb, Did They Find It?](http://www.gracecentered.com/jesus_tomb.htm): By now, many of you have gotten wind in the news, read the book, or watched the Discovery Channel special about director James Cameron’s amazing claim that he discovered the tomb of Jesus. You may remember that James Cameron is the award winning director of the epic, “The Titanic,” along with the Terminator and various other
- [Decoding Da Vinci: A Critical Look at The Da Vinci Code](http://www.gracecentered.com/da_vinci_code.htm): Author Dan Brown has received more free publicity than any author could hope for in his wildest dreams. Newsweek has devoted more pages on this in it’s May 29th issue than I can remember given to any other topic in the past. Sadly, it all focuses on an outlandish fictional novel (not a bad read)
- [Texas church under fire over 'Let's go Brandon' chants caught on video](http://www.gracecentered.com/texas-church-under-fire-over-lets-go-brandon-chants-caught-on-video.htm): NEW YORK - A Texas church is coming under fire over a video showing people inside the place of worship chanting the viral anti-Biden phrase, "Let’s Go Brandon." "A euphemism for, you know, less than well wishes for the president of the United States and it has become a kind of a radical conservative rallying cry," Oklahoma
- [Student Suing District After Being Suspended for Affirming There Are ‘Only Two Genders’](http://www.gracecentered.com/student-suing-district-after-being-suspended.htm): A student-athlete in New Hampshire is suing his school district after being suspended from a football game for reportedly saying there are “only two genders,” the Associated Press (AP) reported Wednesday. The lawsuit filed November 4 explained the suspension that happened in September violated the student’s constitutional right to free speech and also the New Hampshire Bill
- [The Legend of Zelda: Seeds of Darkness](http://www.gracecentered.com/zelda_seeds_of_darkness.htm): This is a excellent flash Zelda game in the never-ending story that is The Legend of Zelda. In this adventure, Link must destroy the three seeds of darkness before they grow to bring evil to the peaceful land of Hyrule.
- [Do Dogs Go To Heaven?](http://www.gracecentered.com/dogs-heaven.htm): Christian comedian Mark Lowry says Psalm 36:6 says that dogs (and other animals, with the exception of cats who he says are going to hell) are going to heaven. You can watch the humorous video.
- [Extremes in Churches of Christ](http://www.gracecentered.com/extremes_in_churches_of_christ.htm): A few years ago Joe Beam wrote an article entitled, “What is Happening to Churches of Christ?” In this article Joe explained what he thinks is happening within our fellowship that is causing increasing isolation between brethren and churches.
- [Marriage Takes Practice](http://www.gracecentered.com/marriage_takes_practice.htm): When we want to be successful at something in life, we usually don't attempt to "wing it." That's why those who want to play the piano take lessons. No one can sit down at a piano for the first time and play Mozart or Beethoven. Sure, most anyone can peck on the keys long enough
- [Abortionist Who Said She Cuts Baby Vocal Chords So They Can’t Scream During Abortion Loses Medical License](http://www.gracecentered.com/abortionist-loses-medical-license.htm): By Jim Hoft Published September 11, 2020 Back in 2018 Dr. Leah Torres wrote on Twitter that she cuts baby vocal chords before her abortions “so they can’t scream.” Dr. Torres tweeted this out. But in August Dr. Leah Torres lost her medical license because she allegedly made fraudulent statements on her application. CBN News reported: Dr.
- [Divorce during coronavirus: Will splits soar after pandemic quarantines end?](http://www.gracecentered.com/divorce-coronavirus-splits-soar-pandemic-quarantines-end.htm): Nashville, Tennessee, relationship coach Lee Wilson thought it was odd when one of his clients recently asked to meet with him at a golf course. Once he got there, he understood why: His client had already called a divorce lawyer. "He said, 'I had to get away from her.' " Just another couple driven to
- [Abortion Ticker and Pro-Life Widget for Websites and Blogs.](http://www.gracecentered.com/abortion_ticker.htm): Please use this code to put the "abortion ticker" (also called a prolife widget) on your blog or website to help bring awareness to the abortion statistics in the United States: Put this
- [What The Bible Says About Sex](http://www.gracecentered.com/bible_and_sex.htm): As God made every animal He created a partner of the opposite gender. The partner provided companionship and assistance. The two of them also made the perfect team for raising offspring. God blessed the human animal above the other animals by placing within them a different sexual need and a different sexual fulfillment. Most other
- [Is It A Sin To Refuse Sex To Your Spouse?](http://www.gracecentered.com/sin-refuse-sex-spouse.htm): In this program Dr. Joe Beam relies not just on his PhD earned while researching marital and sexual satisfaction, but also on his Bachelor's degree and many hours of graduate courses in Bible. He explains what the Bible says about sexuality in marriage and points out a specific section that addresses directly the subject of sexual refusal in marriage.
- [What is Happening to Churches of Christ?](http://www.gracecentered.com/what_is_happening_to_churches_of_christ.htm): Another preacher asked me if I could explain what is happening within our fellowship. Like many others, he's struggling to understand the dynamics that are causing increasing isolation between brethren and churches.
- [How Do I Know if I'm in Love?](http://www.gracecentered.com/howdoiknowifiminlove.htm): “Love is a feeling you feel when you feel you’re feeling a feeling you never felt before.” Sounds profound, doesn't it? I quoted it for years until I thought about the first time I received an electric shock. That was a feeling I’d never felt before, but I’ll guarantee you it wasn't love! The problem
- [When Is A Marriage Over?](http://www.gracecentered.com/is_my_marriage_over.htm): Last night at church a gentleman I didn't know stopped me and without preamble said, “My wife divorced me but not for a Biblical cause. May I get married again?” Quite a question from a man that I know nothing about. Besides, I’m not in the divorce profession; I’m in the saving marriages profession. I
- [George Washington experienced America’s first Christmas miracle](http://www.gracecentered.com/george-washington-experienced-christmas-miracle.htm): As I gather with family and friends for the holiday, I like to think about the most important Christmas moments that we have shared together. This year, as I was thinking about it, I also thought about the most important Christmas moments in American history. My mind immediately went to the first – George Washington’s
- [Kanye West: Democrats Spent Years Pushing Abortion and Welfare on Black Americans](http://www.gracecentered.com/kanye-west-slams-democrats.htm): Rap superstar Kanye West slammed the Democratic Party for pushing abortion and dependence on welfare on black Americans, explaining that many people have become “brainwashed” by the party’s destructive ideas. In a wide-ranging interview with radio host Big Boy to promote his album “Jesus Is King,” West opened up about his disdain for Democratic Party
- [5 Ways to Teach Students to Study The Bible Resources](http://www.gracecentered.com/5-ways-teach-students-study-bible-resources.htm): Just as important as studying the bible itself is to effectively employ bible resources. These additional resources can really help students of the bible to thrive in their studies.
- [Archaeologists unearth site of Jesus’ ‘water into wine' miracle](http://www.gracecentered.com/archaeologists-unearth-site-jesus-water-wine-miracle.htm): THE RIDDLE of the site of Jesus’ ‘first miracle’ has baffled religious scholars for centuries. But now academics claim to have solved the millennia-old mystery, bolstering the case for the New Testament’s historical accuracy. The Gospel of John famously recounts the story of Jesus Christ turning water into wine during the Wedding at Cana. In
- [Trump Warns Turkey: Free Pastor Brunson Now or U.S. Will ‘Impose Significant Sanctions’](http://www.gracecentered.com/trump-warns-turkey-to-free-pastor.htm): Release Pastor Andrew Brunson or face large sanctions from the United States. That was the direct warning from President Donald J. Trump to Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan brought by Vice President Mike Pence to the State Department’s first Ministerial on Religious Freedom Thursday. “As we gather here today, there’s one victim of religious
- [Christian Doctor Fired for Suggesting Gender Is Biological](http://www.gracecentered.com/doctor-fired-for-suggesting-gender-biological.htm): A Christian teacher has been fired for saying that gender is biological.
- [North Korea Using Executions, Torture Against ‘Serious Threat’ of Christianity](http://www.gracecentered.com/north-korea-execute-torture-christians.htm): The State Department – citing United Nations reports, NGOs, and media organizations specializing in North Korea coverage – found that Kim Jong-un’s regime regularly employed “arbitrary executions, political prison camps, and torture amounting to crimes against humanity” against anyone suspected of adhering to any faith, but targeted Christians in particular throughout 2017.
- [Clothed In The Love Of God](http://www.gracecentered.com/clothed-love-god.htm): “This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” v. 17-18
- [Valedictorian Ordered To Remove Jesus References From Speech](http://www.gracecentered.com/valedictorian-ordered-remove-jesus-from-speech.htm): An Illinois high school valedictorian has hired a lawyer after claiming that school officials demanded he remove all religious references from his graduation speech.
- [An Alternative Christian View on Taxes](http://www.gracecentered.com/alternative-christian-view-taxes.htm): The centuries immediately before and after the 100s CE in the Greco-Roman world were increasingly violent. There were frequent uprisings, attempted coups, assassinations of political leaders, reform efforts and massacres of Jews and other groups led by the Romans. Palestine, the holy land, was being controlled by the ever-expanding Roman Empire. The exiled Israelites sometimes tried to "get it back" through such violent means. Besides this ongoing struggle, the Romans also brought in new religious threats, political threats and various forms of coercion—not to mention religious and cultural (Hellenistic) agendas. Revolts against this paganization stem all the way back to the Maccabean Revolt in the 160s BC (today celebrated as Hanukkah).
- [Ancient Lost City of King David Uncovered Near Jerusalem](http://www.gracecentered.com/ancient-lost-city-king-david-uncovered-jerusalem.htm): Historians believe they have uncovered a building belonging to the ancient settlement, which is linked to King David.
- [Tell The Story. Touch A Heart](http://www.gracecentered.com/tell-the-story-touch-a-heart.htm): How to teach the message of Jesus even when you don't have any teaching experience or know how. You can spread the message of Christ by telling his story.
- [For The Joy](http://www.gracecentered.com/joy.htm): Jesus allowed himself to be crucified because he knew there was joy before Him. He had confidence and hope despite horrific circumstances because He trusted in His Father’s good promises.
- [Vatican Refuses to Disavow Pope’s Alleged Denial of Hell](http://www.gracecentered.com/vatican-refuses-disavow-popes-alleged-denial-hell.htm): In reaction to reports that Pope Francis has denied the existence of hell, the Vatican has released a carefully worded statement that does not refute the substance of the claims.
- [What Is Reverse Phariseeism?](http://www.gracecentered.com/reverse-phariseeism.htm): You've heard of reverse racism, right? That's when a group of people, a business, or college give special treatment to someone solely on the basis of them being any other skin color but white. I don't know why it's called "reverse" racism because it's really just plain racism.
- [Legalistic Grace](http://www.gracecentered.com/legalistic_grace.htm): For some time now I have been concerned about "our" (perhaps only my own) understanding of the "doctrine" of grace. It is true that we, as a people of God, have sometimes not grasped the depth of grace in our preaching and teaching. Preaching tended to focus on a handful of subjects: right church, baptism,
- [The Importance of Being Judgmental](http://www.gracecentered.com/importance-judgmental.htm): I know. I know. Nobody is supposed to be “judgmental.” It is the cardinal sin of Christians. And it is the response we get from non-Christians about every nod we make in the direction of hinting that some things are right – and others wrong. Especially with reference to the latter, we are reminded that judging is wrong.
- ['I Don't Judge People'](http://www.gracecentered.com/i-judge-people.htm): Of all places, there is an insightful line about the necessity of passing personal judgment that comes from a new one-act play. As reported in a review carried in the New York Times, here is the way a debate goes between the play's two central characters:
- [The Unseen World of Angels](http://www.gracecentered.com/angels.htm): “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14). From Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:14,15 we discover that God has family on earth and in heaven. The subject of angels appears over 300 times in 34 books of the Bible. The spiritual/heavenly realm is where angels dwell as
- [The Nephilim: Did Angels Have Children With Humans?](http://www.gracecentered.com/did-angels-have-children-with-humans.htm): Found deep in the pages of Scripture is a passage that rarely makes it into sermon outlines or Bible class discussions. Many scholars and Bible students believe this passage refers to a time in history when fallen angels came to earth and produced offspring with humans.
- [Church To Hold A Controversial Blessing Ceremony For AR-15s](http://www.gracecentered.com/church-hold-controversial-blessing-ceremony-ar-15s.htm): A church in Pennsylvania has thrown itself into the nationwide debate on gun laws by announcing they will be hosting a blessing ceremony for couples with an AR-15 assault rifle.
- [Billy Graham, 'America's Pastor' And Noted Evangelist, Dead At 99](http://www.gracecentered.com/billy-graham-americas-pastor-noted-evangelist-dead-99.htm): Billy Graham, the famed evangelist who became known as “America’s Pastor,” has died at the age of 99, The Associated Press reported.
- [The Hand of Providence: A U.S. Soldier's Story](http://www.gracecentered.com/hand-providence-u-s-soldiers-story.htm): While I was deployed to Afghanistan, I had a wooden stand next to my desk. It was, ironically a wooden cross that my armor sat on. I wrote on there “Psalm 23” and “Psalm 91” so that I could see those passages whether my armor was on the stand or not. Plus, every time I
- [Lasting Relationships and Your Future](http://www.gracecentered.com/dating_and_marriage.htm): If you've ever wanted motivation to work on your semi-serious dating relationship, here's some: Experts say that people who are able to sustain lasting relationships before they marry stay married longer and are more likely to be married for life than those whose pre-marital relationships don't last very long. That means that by working on
- [Court Allows Bakersfield Baker to Refuse to Bake Cake for Lesbian Wedding](http://www.gracecentered.com/court-bakersfield-baker-refuse-bake-cake-lesbian-wedding.htm): A California court has ruled that a Christian baker cannot be forced to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian couple because it would violate her First Amendment rights — a decision that runs against a national trend of cases now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
- [The Affair Phenomenon](http://www.gracecentered.com/affair-phenomenon.htm): There was a lot of press recently about the leaked members list of the Ashley Madison website. Frankly any site with the tagline "Life is short: have an affair" should be something people who claim Christ dwells in them should run from as fast as possible, but at the end of the day we're all human as well as Christian.
- [A McDonald’s Nativity Painting Went Viral after 1 Woman Spotted Something Unusual](http://www.gracecentered.com/mcdonalds-nativity-painting-went-viral.htm): It was the last thing she expected to see painted on a McDonald’s storefront…
- [New Harvard study says U.S. Christianity is not shrinking but growing stronger](http://www.gracecentered.com/harvard-study-u-s-christianity-shrinking-growing-stronger.htm): A new Harvard study says that Christianity is not in decline in the United States as many have suggested but is actually growing with different churches replacing mainline churches.
- [Report: Middle East Christians on the Eve of Destruction](http://www.gracecentered.com/report-middle-east-christians-eve-destruction.htm): Egypt, Jordan, Syria and the Palestinian territories are amongst the most dangerous places on earth for Christians, according to a new report. Hard-line Islamic views and state-sanctioned “religio-ethnic cleansing”are the key drivers behind the Christian genocide.
- [A Quarter of Non-Believers Pray When Faced With Crisis](http://www.gracecentered.com/quarter-of-non-believers-pray.htm): Non-believers call on God when faced with a crisis - despite insisting they're not religious.
- [Criminal Charges Against Street Preachers Dismissed](http://www.gracecentered.com/criminal-charges-street-preachers-dismissed.htm): Christian street preachers in Washington state who received prior approval of their public evangelism efforts but were nevertheless charged criminally under the guise of violating a noise ordinance won dismissals with the assistance of a nonprofit First Amendment legal defense group.
- [Should I Stay Married For My Children?](http://www.gracecentered.com/should-you-stay-married-for-your-children.htm): Every day our organization works with people whose marriages are in crisis. We hear the stories – infidelity, control, selfishness, and much more. So how do we answer the question, "Should I stay married for my children?"
- [The Top Five Christmas Movies for Families](http://www.gracecentered.com/top-five-christmas-movies-for-families.htm): Many of us have fond memories of December nights curled up on the couch with family and a cup of hot chocolate watching a heart-warming Christmas movie together. Here's a list you and your family can start now before Christmas day has come and gone.
- [Christian Teacher Suspended for ‘Misgendering’ Trans Pupil Sues School](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian-teacher-suspended-misgendering-trans-pupil-sues-school.htm): A Christian teacher is suing his secondary school after being suspended for referring to a biologically female pupil as a “girl”. Joshua Sutcliffe, 27, from Oxford, argues that he was not trained in the new, quickly evolving, gender politics and should not be forced to accept transgender ideology as a Christian.
- [Drop the Blanket 2: The Rest of Linus's Story from A Charlie Brown Christmas](http://www.gracecentered.com/drop-the-blanket-2.htm): After the epic, blanket-dropping recitation of Scripture given by Linus in response to Charlie Brown's quest for meaning, he picks the blanket back up. Isn't that anti-climactic?
- [Have You Ever Noticed This In 'A Charlie Brown Christmas?'](http://www.gracecentered.com/have-you-noticed-this-in-charlie-brown-christmas.htm): There's something very important in the Charlie Brown Christmas show that you probably haven't noticed.
- [Does God Exist?](http://www.gracecentered.com/does-god-exist.htm): Is there evidence that proves God exists?
- [High School Football Coach Ordered To Cease Leading Prayers](http://www.gracecentered.com/high-school-football-coach-ordered-to-cease-leading-prayers.htm): The head coach of the Mooresville High School football team, Hal Capps, has been ordered to stop leading players in prayer and from attending their baptisms.
- [The Sorry State Of Religious Freedom At The Air Force Academy](http://www.gracecentered.com/state-religious-freedom-air-force-academy.htm): Last Tuesday, Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) contacted the leadership of the United States Air Force Academy to complain about an “egregious violation” of the United States Constitution. The offense? A junior at the Academy had handwritten a New Testament Bible verse on a personal whiteboard hanging on the exterior wall of his or her dorm room, adjacent to the door.
- [Report: Atheism in Russia Falls by 50 Percent in Three Years](http://www.gracecentered.com/report-atheism-russia-falls-50-percent-years.htm): The number of Russians who identify as atheists has fallen by 50 percent in just three years, according to a recent poll by the Levada research center. The poll, which was conducted in late June, revealed that the number of Russian atheists, or those who consider themselves “absolutely irreligious,” fell sharply from 26 percent in
- [Canadian Muslim Website Publishes Article Claiming ‘Medical Benefits’ of Female Circumcision](http://www.gracecentered.com/canadian-muslim-website-publishes-article-claiming-medical-benefits-female-circumcision.htm): A Muslim website based in the Canadian city of Calgary has published an article defending the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) claiming that there are medical benefits if part of a woman’s genitals are removed, and saying it is justified by Islam.
- [Register To Vote](http://www.gracecentered.com/register_to_vote.htm): Most of the rest of the country is voting on what's called Super Tuesday one week later on February 4th. Make sure you're registered and find out where to go by calling the appropriate number listed in this post.
- [Christian Voting Guide](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian_voting_guide_voters.htm): Guide for Christian Voters There are many issues in our day for the Christian to consider when voting for leaders. We feel that Christians should make efforts to be informed concerning the policies of those aspiring to lead our country. Though we can't research all issues, we try to list a candidate's position on issues
- [Consumer Beware!](http://www.gracecentered.com/consumer-beware.htm): Christian consumers beware! We are warned to stay away from them by debt relief experts on radio, television and the internet! They have an “F” rating at the Better Business Bureau! Laws have recently been passed to prevent them from scamming us! Hundreds of them have been shut down by the Attorney General in the
- [How December 25 Became Christmas](http://www.gracecentered.com/how-december-25-became-christmas.htm): On December 25, Christians around the world will gather to celebrate Jesus’ birth. Joyful carols, special liturgies, brightly wrapped gifts, festive foods—these all characterize the feast today, at least in the northern hemisphere. But just how did the Christmas festival originate? How did December 25 come to be associated with Jesus’ birthday?
- [Seven Life-Changing Verses](http://www.gracecentered.com/seven-life-changing-bible-verses.htm): We often share our favorites verses and tell why they’re our favorites. I have a whole passel of my favorite verses but there are seven I wish to share with you today that I think can change our lives dramatically. Life Changing Bible Verses First, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean
- [The Reformers Favorite Bible Verses](http://www.gracecentered.com/favorite-bible-verses-of-the-reformers.htm): One of F. W. Boreham’s 50 plus books lists most of the great reformers and well-known evangelists. And in this volume he reveals these men’s favorite Bible verses. I wish to share with you the great texts that changed the lives of these men and gave them a burning desire to preach the gospel.
- [The Prophecy of Jonah](http://www.gracecentered.com/prophecy_of_jonah.htm): Technically, the book of Jonah is anonymous, however Jewish tradition holds that the author is Jonah himself. In more recent years it has come to be believed that "the book is about Jonah rather than by him."
- [What the Bible Says About Money](http://www.gracecentered.com/what_the_bible_says_about_money.htm): The Bible has a great deal to say about money and our use of it. Though an outspoken group of people today suggest that having wealth and making wise financial decisions is selfish or sinful, the Bible simply doesn't take that viewpoint. One example is that of King Solomon. According to historians, the wealth of
- [3 Myths of Biblical Teachings on Money](http://www.gracecentered.com/3-myths-of-biblical-teaching-on-money.htm): Even though I was raised attending church every week, I've still got a lot to learn about what the Bible says - I'll never know it all. Sometimes I think I know what the Bible says, but then as I read along, I'll stumble across a verse I've misquoted my whole life or have been using out of context.
- [Is Watching Porn Adultery or Sin?](http://www.gracecentered.com/porn_adultery.htm): A critical issue that I struggled with in my spiritual battle regarding my addiction, even after I became a Christian, was rationalizing my behavior. I actually had the audacity to try and convince my wife that watching porn on the internet was not a sin (adultery). Furthermore, I had the nerve to try and convince
- [What is Adultery In The Bible?](http://www.gracecentered.com/biblical_view_of_adultery.htm): A biblical view of adultery and remarriage and an answer to the question, on what adultery is.
- [4 Types of Persecution Only Western Christians Understand](http://www.gracecentered.com/21st-century-western-persecution.htm): Persecution. The word conjures up images of torture and the Spanish Inquisition, burnings, hangings, and disfigurements. But in the developed world, mostly anyway, persecution is more subtle.
- [Did Adam And Eve Have Belly Buttons?](http://www.gracecentered.com/did_adam_and_eve_have_belly_buttons_navals.htm): Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?
- [When A Church Has No Elders](http://www.gracecentered.com/elders_elderships_and_mens_business_meetings.htm): Let me begin this reflective analysis by saying that I firmly believe the ideal is for each congregation to have strong, Spirit-led shepherds to guide the flock.
- [Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit: Reflecting on the Unforgivable Sin](http://www.gracecentered.com/blasphemy_of_the_holy_spirit.htm): What Is Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? What is the Unforgivable Sin (also called Unpardonable Sin)? In this article, Al Maxey will be looking at what is called "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit" and making a determination on whether or not that is the so-called "unforgivable sin." The inimitable Emma Goldman (1869-1940), in her essay
- [The Genealogy of Jesus](http://www.gracecentered.com/genealogy_of_jesus.htm): Within the pages of the Old Covenant writings one will find approximately 26 different genealogical lists. Some are rather brief, others fairly extensive.
- [Judas Iscariot](http://www.gracecentered.com/judas_iscariot.htm): The name Judas comes from the Greek word Ioudas, which is simply the word employed for the Hebrew name Judah. We discover from Gen. 29:35 that it is derived from the verb meaning "to praise." In the above referenced passage one finds mention made of several sons that Leah bore to Jacob. She bore Reuben,
- [What Is Salvation?](http://www.gracecentered.com/what-is-salvation.htm): Salvation. It's one of the most basic and fundamental concepts of Christianity. Do you have it? How can you get it? Can you lose it? What is it, anyway? Ask 7 Christians and you may get 7 answers.
- [10 Reasons To Praise God](http://www.gracecentered.com/10-reasons-praise-god.htm): There are many more, but humans have limited focus. So concentrate on these reasons to praise God today.
- [The Top Ten False Prophets](http://www.gracecentered.com/top-ten-false-prophets.htm): The Bible warns against these people. According to Matthew 7:15 we should: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves."
- [Unequally Yoked Together. Does 2 Corinthians 6:14 Apply to Marriage](http://www.gracecentered.com/unequally_yoked.htm): Does the teaching of Paul regarding being unequally yoked have application to marriage? Specifically: may a believer marry an unbeliever? May a Christian marry one who is not (i.e., a Jew, a Buddhist, an atheist, etc.)? Does God recognize such unions as legitimate marriages?
- [Will Animals Go To Heaven?](http://www.gracecentered.com/does-god-care-about-animals.htm): It wasn't until the last few years that I reconsidered the importance of animals in terms of how God views them. I'd always just considered them to be sort of an accessory to humans. Nothing more than beings to serve us when we wanted them to but of little value when we didn't. That despite the fact I've always been close to animals.
- [Trust in Clergy Hits All-Time Low: Poll](http://www.gracecentered.com/trust-clergy-hits-all-time-low-poll.htm): Only 65 percent of respondents said they trusted priests to tell the truth, according to the survey, conducted among 988 adults last month, The Times reports.
- [New Evidence: Could this be Christ's Tomb?](http://www.gracecentered.com/evidence-christs-tomb.htm): Scientific tests have offered fascinating new insight into the tomb in Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre venerated as the resting place of Jesus Christ.
- [Christian Author, Evangelist Edward Fudge Passes Away](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian-author-evangelist-edward-fudge-passes.htm): Edward Fudge has passed away after a life as a Christian author and minister.
- [Christian Teacher Suspended for ‘Misgendering’ Pupil](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian-teacher-suspended-misgendering-pupil.htm): A teacher has been suspended and could lose his job after allegations he referred to a pupil who was born female, but “self-identifies” as a boy, as a girl.
- [Report: Texas Church Shooter Was Atheist, Thought Christians ‘Stupid’](http://www.gracecentered.com/report-texas-church-shooter-atheist-thought-christians-stupid.htm): The man who shot and killed 26 people in a Texas church on Sunday is reported to be a creepy, crazy, and weird outcast who preached atheism online.
- [More Students, Young Americans Turn To Paganism](http://www.gracecentered.com/students-young-americans-turn-paganism.htm): As millennials continue to leave traditional Christian religions, interest in Wiccan and pagan practices have seen increased interest in recent years, a trend also spotted among young people and on college campuses.
- [Christian Film "War Room" Surpasses Expectations, Takes Second At Box Office](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian-film-war-room-surpasses-expectations-takes-box-office.htm): 8-31-2015 - Straight Outta Compton was the big winner at the box office for the third straight week, but not far behind, the indie Christian picture War Room took the weekend’s second spot. The fourth big release by Alex and Stephen Kendrick (makers of Courageous, Facing the Giants, and Fireproof) is grabbing headlines Monday for
- [Biblical Soap Opera Enjoying Success in Brazil](http://www.gracecentered.com/biblical-soap-opera-enjoying-success-brazil.htm): RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- The actress agonizes on her deathbed, her hair and makeup impeccable, as the hunky male lead clutches her hand. Tears pour down his face while her eyelids flutter to a final close. READ MORE
- [Why Did You Doubt?](http://www.gracecentered.com/doubt.htm): Matthew 14:22-33 is a lesson on faith from Jesus. He teaches Peter about real faith in the face of danger.
- [Stand!](http://www.gracecentered.com/stand.htm): This article was written to support the right – no, the obligation – of all Christians to STAND! for what we believe in, without regard to the consequences associated with doing so.
- [In This Day and Age, Evangelism is Spelled: A-P-O-L-O-G-E-T-I-C-S](http://www.gracecentered.com/day-age-evangelism-spelled-a-p-o-l-o-g-e-t-i-c-s.htm): I was a committed skeptic and atheist until the age of thirty-five. I was also a detective and a thoughtful evidentialist. The vast majority of my co-workers were non-Christians, but I did know a few committed believers who worked as detectives at my agency. When I poked fun at their beliefs and challenged them to give me just a few reasons why I should trust the New Testament or believe in the supernatural, they were woefully inept and unable to make an evidential case for what they believed.
- [5 Ways Christians Can Stop Wasting Their Lives](http://www.gracecentered.com/5-ways-christians-stop-wasting-lives.htm): When Ray Romano finished filming the final episode of the show “Everybody Loves Raymond,” he told the live studio audience why he quit. The show had more left in its tank, but Ramona told them that nearly 15 years earlier, when he was leaving New York to try his luck in Hollywood, his brother hugged him and then slipped a note into his suitcase. He would go on to find it one day, and it read, “What does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul?”
- [ISIS Abducts 150 Christians in Syria](http://www.gracecentered.com/isis-abducts-150-christians-in-syria.htm): Islamic State militants have abducted at least 150 people from Assyrian Christian villages in northeastern Syria they had raided, Christian Syrian activists said on Tuesday.
- [Christian Outfitter Forced To Undergo 'Diversity Training' For Refusing To Print 'Gay Pride' Shirts](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian-outfitter-ordered-undergo-diversity-training-refusal-print-gay-pride-t-shirts.htm): A Lexington, KY, human rights commission ordered the employees of a local apparel company, Hands On Originals Christian Outfitters, to undergo “diversity training” after they refused to print t-shirts celebrating a “gay Pride” festival.
- [Student Suspended for Saying “Bless You” to Sneezing Classmate](http://www.gracecentered.com/student-suspended-bless-you-sneezing-classmate.htm): Kendra Turner, a High School student at Dyer County High School in Tennessee, was recently suspended because she chose to say “Bless You” when a classmate of hers sneezed.
- [An Interview With Dr. Bobby Harrington](http://www.gracecentered.com/interview-with-bobby-harrington.htm): Dr. Bobby Harrington has written several articles for GraceCentered.com in addition to authoring several books about Christianity and discipleship. We caught up with Bobby and interviewed him about what he and his ministry are doing these days, one item of interest being a national conference/forum about discipleship.
- [Miss. Church Pranks Congregation With George W. Bush Impersonator](http://www.gracecentered.com/mississippi-church-pranks-congregation-with-bush-impersonator.htm): Bethlehem Community Church in Laurel, Mississippi had advertised to the community that a "special guest," would be speaking.
- [It's Not Easy Being A Mom](http://www.gracecentered.com/not-easy-being-a-mom.htm): Judith Viorst once wrote an essay based on interviews she had with children. The subject was "What's a good mother like?" Viorst reports that the children expected their mother to get angry from time to time. "She has to," said Ted, "or she'll faint from holding it in."
- [Baby Got Book](http://www.gracecentered.com/baby_got_book.htm): "Baby Got Bible" (also called "Baby Got Book") is a take off on the popular rap song "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mixalot. It is meant to be light hearted and humorous. Allow 3-4 minutes for this video to load. It may load faster with a faster connections. You will need Widows Media Player to
- [Detroit Union Contract Gives Hiring Preference to 'Non Christians'](http://www.gracecentered.com/michigan-union-gives-hiring-preference-to-non-christians.htm): A Michigan school district's written policy of giving hiring preference to non-Christians has been scrapped after more than 30 years, and officials say they have no idea how the clause - which they insist was never invoked - ever made it into the teachers' union contract.
- [Celebrity Pastors Are Selling Their Pulpits For Commercial Gain](http://www.gracecentered.com/celebrity-pastors-selling-pulpits.htm): What would you think of a pastor who preached to his church in front of billboards advertising the newest Cadillac or Monster Energy drinks? Would you find it acceptable for a pastor to paste advertising all over the stage, filling the space with branded messages in the finest traditions of NASCAR?
- [Hobby Lobby's Bible Museum on Its Way](http://www.gracecentered.com/hobby-lobbys-bible-museum.htm): A yet-to-be-named Bible museum owned by Hobby Lobby's Green family moved one step closer to its anticipated 2017 opening in Washington, D.C., with the hiring of two top-level management executives.
- [Bibles to be removed from hotel rooms at ISU Union](http://www.gracecentered.com/bibles-to-be-removed-from-hotel-rooms.htm): Rooms at Iowa State University’s Hotel Memorial Union will no longer contain Gideon Bibles, after a guest complained to a watchdog group about “unwelcome religious propaganda in the bedside table.”
- [American Pastor Moved to Dangerous Iranian Prison; Obama Urged to Speak Up](http://www.gracecentered.com/american-pastor-moved-dangerous-iranian-prison-obama-urged-speak.htm): The Iranian prison where American pastor Saeed Abedini is now being held is “regarded as one of Iran’s harshest jails because of its high number of cases of torture, rape and murder,” according to press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders.
- [Dooms-Day Radio Network Facing End Times?](http://www.gracecentered.com/dooms-day-for-family-radio-network.htm): You might remember Harold Camping from his prophecy that the world would end in 1994. Or when he predicted and promoted May 21, 2011 as the "Day of Rapture." Or maybe it was his failed prophecy that the world would come to an end on October 21, 2011 that jogs your memory.
- [University Tells Student to Remove Cross Necklace Because it Might Be “Offensive” to Other Students](http://www.gracecentered.com/university-tells-student-to-remove-cross-necklace.htm): A Sonoma State University student was ordered to remove a cross necklace by a supervisor who thought other students might find it offensive.
- [At 105, Noah Smith Keeps Preaching](http://www.gracecentered.com/noah-smith-keeps-preaching-at-105.htm): He was 4 when the Titanic sunk. He's lived through World War 1, Vietnam and every war since. At 105 years old, Smith is still hard at work, preaching.
- [Is Twilight Really So Bad?](http://www.gracecentered.com/is-twilight-really-so-bad.htm): Mark Driscoll recently went off on the Twilight Saga’s story, success and its fans on his church website. He called Twilight “porn” for teenage girls.
- [Theophilus Brown Larimore](http://www.gracecentered.com/theophilus_brown_larimore.htm): Born into abject poverty in Jefferson County, east of Knoxville, Tennessee on July 10, 1843, Theophilus Brown Larimore would nevertheless rise to become one of the great shining beacons of the Stone-Campbell Movement, leaving behind a rich legacy of tireless effort to bring disparate disciples together.
- [Bulk orders of The True Heaven for Bible Classes](http://www.gracecentered.com/the_real_heaven_bulk.htm): For those wishing to order in bulk for the books, The Real Heaven or The True Heaven, both written by Joe Beam and Lee Wilson.
- [Thank You!](http://www.gracecentered.com/thank_you_stus.htm): Thank you! Your order has been received. Please allow 7-10 days for delivery. You might be interested in other books by Joe Beam: The Real Heaven: It's Not What You Thinkby Joe Beam and Lee Wilson"What will Heaven be like?" Have you ever wondered? Do you want to know what the Bible means when it talks about "the
- [The Pitfalls of Pornography](http://www.gracecentered.com/pornographys_pitfalls.htm): As I am writing this, it is Sunday afternoon, and I have just returned home from Church. This morning I taught a group of young men on the issues of purity. Specifically, I was talking to them about the pitfalls of pornography. I was asked to teach this group because I have learned first-hand the
- [Porn Blocker and Internet Filter Software Blocks Pornography](http://www.gracecentered.com/porn_blocker_filter_software.htm): Why should you get porn blocker software? Because it's very important to protect your family from pornography on the Internet. Pop ups and tempting advertisements constantly bombard viewers with near-pornographic images that lead to porn sites with videos and images that can do great harm to their minds and souls. The porn blocker we recommend
- [Bronze Serpent Article](http://www.gracecentered.com/bronze_serpant.htm): To read this article go to http://www.gracecentered.com/bronze_serpent.htm
- [Supporting Grace-Centered Magazine](http://www.gracecentered.com/support.htm): 1. Please share Grace Centered with your friends and family by using the Facebook, Twitter and Google + buttons on the pages of articles, games and videos. Also, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google +. 2. Purchase products from our bookstore. And when you use Amazon.com please use our affiliate link so that
- [Dr. Lee Camp Misquoted by the Tennessean](http://www.gracecentered.com/lee_camp_of_lipscomb_misquoted_by_tennessean.htm): Nashville, Tennessee, Dec 6 -- Nashville, Tennessee, Dec 6 -- On Wednesday, November 29, The Tennessean, a Nashville-based newspaper, quoted Dr. Lee Camp of Lipscomb University as saying that Christians should abandon their belief in the "Lordship" of Jesus at an interfaith gathering at Lipscomb Univesity on Tuesday, November 28. Shortly after The Tennessean's report,
- [Facing the Fact: I Have An Addiction to Internet Porn](http://www.gracecentered.com/internet_porn.htm): It was more than 30 years ago, but I can remember it like it was yesterday. It was a Saturday. My parents were going out for the evening, with my Aunt and Uncle. I was going to stay over at my cousin’s house for the duration. My cousin and I were alone. He is two
- [Facing the Fact: I Have An Addiction to Internet Porn part 2](http://www.gracecentered.com/internet_porn_part2.htm): In my introductory column I explained how I was exposed to pornographic material (in the form of magazines) for the first time in my life, at the age of thirteen. That exposure grew into a consuming addiction. Now, at the age of 44, looking back I can see how both God and Satan were at
- [A Forgotten Tune](http://www.gracecentered.com/civilrightsactof1964.htm): The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is like a long-forgotten song. Some of the words occasionally come to mind, and you might remember a few bars of the melody. But it fades away again, retreating to the recesses of your memory. For all it’s worth in 2004, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (CRA) is
- [Ping Pong Game Online. 3D Pong.](http://www.gracecentered.com/play_pong_online.htm): This isn't quite classic Pong, but it might be even better. Take a look and enjoy!
- [Play Pacman Online for Free](http://www.gracecentered.com/play_pacman_online.htm): Pacman needs to eat a lot of power pellets while escaping the ghosts. Can you help him? Do you remember the 1980's?
- [Baseball Game](http://www.gracecentered.com/baseball_game.htm): Instructions for the Baseball Game: In this baseball game you'll be facing one of several possible teams that the computer will use to challenge you. Batting Instructions: To bat: Use the "J" key to swing. Use the "U" key to bunt. Use the "i" key to call a time out and press "i" again to
- [Apologetics of the Christian Faith Part 1](http://www.gracecentered.com/apologetics_video.htm): Apologetics of Christianity, Morality and the Bible. Click here to watch part 2 Click here for more videos or discuss on our Christian forums.
- [8 Reasons I Don't Share My Faith](http://www.gracecentered.com/8_reasons_not_to_share_faith.htm): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTyv1RwL3WM Click here for more funny videos or discuss on our Christian forums.
- [Apologetics Part 2](http://www.gracecentered.com/apologetics_part2.htm): Apologetics of Christianity, Morality and the Bible part 2 of the video. Click here for part 1. Click here for more videos or discuss on our Christian forums.
- [Rebooting Your Prayer Life (Part 2)](http://www.gracecentered.com/rebooting-prayer-life-part-2.htm): Prayer has been anything but easy for me. I struggled in silence for many years… wondering why it was so difficult to connect with God in the most basic way. Prayer was an entry-level Christian practice, I assumed.
- [Mass Shooting at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Nashville](http://www.gracecentered.com/mass-shooting-burnette-chapel-church-christ-nashville.htm): Mass shooting at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee leaves one dead and others injured.
- [First Temple-Era Hebrew Seals Unearthed in Jerusalem Excavations](http://www.gracecentered.com/temple-era-hebrew-seals-unearthed-jerusalem-excavations.htm): A collection of First Temple-period seals has been discovered during excavations in Jerusalem’s City of David.
- [The Problem of Pain](http://www.gracecentered.com/problem-pain.htm): CS Lewis wrote a book with the same title many years ago. He had experienced much pain in his life.
- [The Gift of Pain](http://www.gracecentered.com/gift-pain.htm): The realities of living in a broken, twisted world will pounce on us without warning. Probably more than once. Suffering will strike us and the people we love. I’m not talking about minor irritations or momentary discomfort. I’m talking about heart-wrenching, life-altering, faith-testing trials that bring us to the end of our resources.
- [7 Qualities of Life-Giving People (Part 3)](http://www.gracecentered.com/7-qualities-life-giving-people-part-3.htm): This is part three of a three-part post that identifies and fleshes out seven characteristics of life-giving people.
- [Evangelical Group on DACA: ‘The Bible Does Not Teach Open Borders’](http://www.gracecentered.com/evangelical-group-daca-the-bible-teach-open-borders.htm): Evangelicals for Biblical Immigration (EBI), a group of faith leaders and other Evangelical Christian conservative activists, offered President Donald Trump and the GOP Congressional leadership advice on the impending end of DACA. “While some faith groups use selective Bible words for open borders and amnesty, we consider the whole counsel of scripture,” the letter reads.
- [Black Jack Online](http://www.gracecentered.com/black_jack.htm): Black Jack Online Instructions: The idea of this classic card game is to get as close to a total of 21 with the sum of your cards numbers without going over. The dealer will never "hit" on 17 in this and most Black Jack games. Remember that an Ace card can count as 1 or
- [Jumping from Grace: The Mechanics of Apostasy](http://www.gracecentered.com/jumping-grace-mechanics-apostasy.htm): Pertaining to our discussion(s) below about "falling" from grace I would like to ask a few questions to clear the matter up for me. An observation first. First, I for one (and I don't know of anyone who would deny this) do not deny that it is POSSIBLE for a Christian to so "apostasize" and
- [Play Chess Online Unblocked](http://www.gracecentered.com/play_chess_online.htm): Chess is the game of kings and military strategists. It helps you strengthen your ability to think ahead, plan and anticipate. Plus, it's tons of fun! Can you beat the computer who plays against you in this game? Test your skills here!
- [What Does 'Resurrection' Mean in the Bible?](http://www.gracecentered.com/resurrection-in-the-bible.htm): Resurrection. Do we believe in it? Do we understand what that word means when used in the Bible? Over the years, I have become convinced that I did NOT know what the word means and it led to all manner of confusion on my part. Some clarification is needed.
- [7 Qualities of Life-Giving People (Part 1)](http://www.gracecentered.com/7-qualities-life-giving-people-part-1.htm): When a think of the phrase life-giving people, my mind immediately shows me the faces of several friends who fit that description. These are the people I absolutely love being around. They bring encouragement, joy, and life into my life. Who are the faces that come into your mind?
- [7 Qualities of Life-Giving People (Part 2)](http://www.gracecentered.com/7-qualities-life-giving-people-part-2.htm): This is part two of a three-part post that identifies and fleshes out seven characteristics of life-giving people.
- [Rebooting Your Prayer Life (Part 1)](http://www.gracecentered.com/rebooting-prayer-life-part-1.htm): Not long after I was diagnosed with cancer, I was compelled to reexamine the topic of prayer and totally reboot my prayer life and start over. I dedicated a full year to this – I read classic books on prayer, sought wise counsel from more mature believers, and experimented with different forms of prayer.
- [ANTIFA Attacks Prayer Group, Pepper Sprays Prayer Leader](http://www.gracecentered.com/antifa-attacks-prayer-group-pepper-sprays-prayer-leader.htm): Violence has broken out between left- and right-wing protesters, after more than 100 black-clad masked antifa broke through police barricades at a 'Rally Against Hate' and assaulted at least four, including the leader of a prayer group.
- [Archaeological Find in Jerusalem ‘Proves Bible Passage is Historically True’](http://www.gracecentered.com/archaeological-find-jerusalem-proves-bible-passage-historically-true.htm): by Rob Waugh, Yahoo News UK Archaeologists excavating in Jerusalem have found burned artifacts dating from 2,600 years ago – which prove that a passage in the Bible is true. Researchers uncovered charred wood, grape seeds, fish scales, bones and pottery while digging in the City of David in Jerusalem. The find provides evidence that
- [Is Justin Bieber Sabotaging His Career To Follow Jesus?](http://www.gracecentered.com/justin-bieber-sabotaging-career-follow-jesus.htm): Australian TV host Richard Wilkins thinks he knows the real reason why Bieber abandoned his global trek months before it was scheduled to wrap up: To “reconnect with his faith” and potentially start his own church.
- [Satan's Primary Strategy Is...](http://www.gracecentered.com/satans-primary-strategy-is.htm): One of Satan's primary strategies for harming American Christians is to convince them that he doesn't exist. But that's not all...
- [U.S. Very Concerned By Temple Mount Tensions](http://www.gracecentered.com/u-s-concerned-temple-mount-tensions.htm): WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration is "very concerned" at the sight of growing tensions on the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, where security has been tightened since a terrorist attack last week. "The United States is very concerned about tensions surrounding the Temple Mount/Haram Al-Sharif, a site holy to Jews, Muslims, and
- [Pew: Christian Refugees Outnumber Muslims Under Trump](http://www.gracecentered.com/pew-christian-refugees-outnumber-muslims-trump.htm): More Christian than Muslim refugees have been admitted to the United States in the first months of the Trump administration, reversing a trend that had seen Muslims outnumber Christians in the final fiscal year under President Barack Obama, a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. State Department refugee data has found. From Donald Trump’s first
- [Scientist to Scour Grand Canyon in Attempt to Prove Biblical Flood](http://www.gracecentered.com/scientist-scour-grand-canyon-attempt-prove-biblical-flood.htm): A geologist attempting to prove that the great flood described in the Bible really happened has been granted permission to collect rock samples from the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
- [Middle Eastern Christians Forced to Become Nomads](http://www.gracecentered.com/middle-eastern-christians-forced-nomads.htm): One of the effects of increasing Christian persecution in the Middle East is the creation of a diaspora. Many believers are left with no choice but to make the perilous journey to Europe in the hopes of landing a spot in one of many over-crowded migrant camps. Others choose to wander the region as nomads,
- [Welcome Home](http://www.gracecentered.com/home.htm): My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD. Psalm 84:2 In his best-selling book, Seeing the Unseen, Joe Beam described what he thought his first moments in heaven might be like. “I’ll see angels of all kinds, godly people singing, and the Loving Light streaming from the throne. Somewhere, sometime, in
- [About Grace Centered Magazine](http://www.gracecentered.com/aboutus.htm): Grace Centered Magazine is an Internet publication dedicated to stimulating personal and public thought, prayer, and discussion about living the Christian life. We are about unity and fellowship among followers of Christ. Writers teach from the Bible and deliver practical writings for today's Christian. Grace-Centered also strives to highlight current events and political happenings of concern to
- [Terrorists Massacre Coptic Christians in Egypt, Killing at Least 26](http://www.gracecentered.com/report-gunmen-massacre-coptic-christians-egypt-killing-26.htm): Masked militants riding in three SUVs opened fire Friday on a bus packed with Coptic Christians, including many children, south of the Egyptian capital, killing at least 26 and wounding 25, the Interior Ministry said.
- [Faith-Based Film Filled With F-Bombs](http://www.gracecentered.com/faith-based-film-filled-f-bombs.htm): 'Generational Sins' features expletives and references to child abuse and alcoholism: "We live in an R-rated world, and covering up the darkness won’t bring it into the light," says executive producer Thurman Mason.
- ["Feed your flesh... starve your soul."](http://www.gracecentered.com/feed-flesh-starve-soul.htm): That's the prevailing message of our day. All the money and pleasure and comfort and security and Netflix and technology in the world can't ultimately satisfy a person's soul.
- [The Word of Life (1 John 1:1-4)](http://www.gracecentered.com/word-life-1-john-11-4.htm): 1 John is organized around two central truths: “God is light” and “God is love.” Both are known through the manifestation of the “Word of Life,” which is the central message of the Christian Faith.
- [The Grace "But"](http://www.gracecentered.com/grace-but.htm): I rarely heard about, or witnessed, grace in my younger years. When I attended Bible college much of my doctrine was reinforced through classes that also rarely stressed grace. I was taught to play biblical hop-scotch with verses pulled from contexts to win debates.
- [A Prayer For When You Are Afraid](http://www.gracecentered.com/prayer-for-when-you-are-afraid.htm): A prayer for when you are afraid by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. A prayer to help those in troubled and painful times.
- [Australian Wearing Cross Beaten By Muslim Gang Shouting ‘F*** Jesus!’](http://www.gracecentered.com/australian-wearing-cross-beaten-muslim-gang-shouting-f-jesus.htm): Christians in Sydney, Australia, are being advised to hide their crosses after an Arabic-speaking gang shouting “F*** Jesus!” attacked a couple on a train while transport officers looked on from a “safe space” and did nothing. The Sydney-based Daily Telegraph – a News Corp outlet unrelated to the Telegraph Media Group newspaper of the same
- [Mothers with Objections to Islamic Curriculum in Public School Hire Law Firm](http://www.gracecentered.com/middle-school-mothers-objections-islamic-curriculum-public-school-hire-law-firm.htm): Two mothers of seventh graders who attend Chatham Middle School in New Jersey have hired the Thomas More Law Center, a public interest law firm, after their legitimate objections to pro-Islamic curriculum in their children’s classes have resulted in personal and social media attacks upon them within their community.
- [Jesus' Burial Shrine in Jerusalem Restored in Time for Easter](http://www.gracecentered.com/jesus-burial-shrine-jerusalem-restored-time-easter.htm): Work ends on $4 million renovation of Edicule in Church of the Holy Sepulcher, with pilgrims now able to see stone of ancient burial cave for first time • Restoration funded by World Monuments Fund, PA President Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah, and others.
- [In an Israeli Warehouse, Clues About Jesus' Life and Death](http://www.gracecentered.com/israeli-warehouse-clues-jesus-life-death.htm): In a cavernous warehouse where Israel stores its archaeological treasures, an ancient burial box is inscribed with the name of Jesus.
- [A Heart Like Mary's](http://www.gracecentered.com/heart-marys.htm): I have always admired Mary, and felt sorry for Martha who really had a very good heart and worked so hard but in the end was chastised for it.
- [Lessons From Dr. Martin Luther King](http://www.gracecentered.com/lessons-dr-martin-luther-king.htm): If the life of Martin Luther King teaches us anything, it’s that racial reconciliation is not a fad to try out or a bandwagon to jump on. It’s a serious project that requires prayer, risk, courage, dedication, and lots of Christ-like love over a long period of time. The church should be leading the culture
- [Fred's Store Displays Easter Crucifixion Made From Mr. Pibb's](http://www.gracecentered.com/freds-store-displays-easter-crosses-mr-pibbs.htm): A Fred's store in Murfreesboro, TN displays Easter crosses made from Mr. Pibb's packages.
- [Turn My Eyes Away](http://www.gracecentered.com/turn-my-eyes-away.htm): Worthless things. I wonder if we had an inventory of everything we looked at today whether it was online or in our non-digital world … how much of our vision was held captive by worthless things? Oh I know you’re thinking about pornography or the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition (which is pornography, in case you
- [Grace Centered Sponsorship](http://www.gracecentered.com/sponsorship.htm): Please help Grace Centered pay the ongoing expenses of running this website (hosting and web programming fees). The traffic loads on our website cause us to need much more powerful server and hosting services than a typical website. You may pay using Paypal (even without a Paypal account - just select the credit card option).
- [5 Decisions That Liberate The Soul](http://www.gracecentered.com/5-decisions-liberate-soul.htm): I will be intentionally grateful. Every single day. The goodness of God is on display 24/7 in my life. I don't deserve the life he has graciously given to me.
- [Are Baptists Going To Heaven?](http://www.gracecentered.com/are-baptists-going-to-heaven.htm): Are baptist going to heaven?
- [12th Dead Sea Scroll Cave of Qumran Discovered](http://www.gracecentered.com/12th-dead-sea-scroll-cave-qumran-discovered.htm): Excavations in the cliffs of Qumran, by the north-west shore of the Dead Sea, have revealed a 12th cave believed to have concealed the Dead Sea Scrolls, an ancient collection of religious texts.
- [UN Gay Rights Envoy: Religious Freedom ‘Not an Absolute Right’](http://www.gracecentered.com/gay-rights-envoy-religious-freedom-not-absolute-right.htm): The United Nations envoy for gay rights has declared that when there is a clash between homosexual rights and religious liberty it must be recalled that “freedom of expression and religious freedom are not absolute rights and may be limited if necessary.”
- [Letter To Myself About Posting Politics On Facebook](http://www.gracecentered.com/letter-posting-politics-facebook.htm): Should you post political opinions on Facebook?
- [What Is Gnosticism?](http://www.gracecentered.com/gnosticism.htm): Early Christianity, particularly from the first century up until the fourth century, went through immense conflict. The issues that the early church fathers and the church had to face were many. Persecution under both Nero and Diocletian were just one phase of major conflicts attacking faithful believers.
- [Charades Ideas and Charade Categories](http://www.gracecentered.com/charades_ideas_and_charade_categories.htm): On this page you'll find various charade ideas, charade categories, games and words for the game of charades. Scroll down and find the category you're seeking on our word list. Feel free to print this page and cut the charades words into pieces for participants to draw from a bowl. Some are hard and some
- [Koran Recital in Episcopal Cathedral Quotes Passage Denying Jesus Was Son of God](http://www.gracecentered.com/koran-recital-scottish-cathedral-denies-jesus-son-god.htm): A passage from the Koran that denies one of the central tenets of the Christian faith was sung aloud at a cathedral service in Scotland. The passage from Surah 19, which specifically denies that Jesus was the Son of God and says He should not be worshiped, was sung during a Eucharist service at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow to mark the feast of the Epiphany.
- [Islamic Migrant Stabs Christian Woman Because She Was Reading Bible](http://www.gracecentered.com/islamic-migrant-stabs-christian-woman-reading-bible.htm): An Afghan migrant attacked a woman at an asylum centre in Austria because she was reading a bible.
- [Priest Dresses Mary and Joseph In Muslim Garb, Causes Outrage](http://www.gracecentered.com/priest-dresses-mary-joseph-muslim-garb-outrage.htm): A parish priest in the south of Italy enraged parishioners by dressing the Virgin Mary in a Muslim burqa for his church’s Christmas Nativity scene, adding a boat full of refugees and a rainbow flag in place of the star of Bethlehem.
- [Study Shows Fewer Americans Are Practicing Organized Religion](http://www.gracecentered.com/study-shows-americans-practicing-organized-religion.htm): Americans have less faith in organized religion than they did nearly a decade ago, a new study shows.
- [FBI Warns ISIS Wanting Attacks On Churches and Christmas Gatherings](http://www.gracecentered.com/fbi-warns-isis-wanting-attacks-churches-christmas-gatherings.htm): WASHINGTON (CBS) — Federal authorities warned Friday that Islamic State of Iraq and Syria sympathizers “continue aspirational calls for attacks on holiday gatherings, including targeting churches.”
- [Secular Hollywood Quietly Courts the Faithful](http://www.gracecentered.com/secular-hollywood-courts-faithful.htm): On the surface, Hollywood is a land of loose morals, where materialism rules, sex and drugs are celebrated on screen (and off), and power players can have a distant relationship with the truth. But movie studios and their partners have quietly — very quietly, sometimes to the degree of a black ops endeavor — been building deep connections to Christian film goers who dwell elsewhere on the spectrum of politics and social values.
- [Ben-Hur](http://www.gracecentered.com/ben-hur.htm): BEN-HUR is a powerful, epic story of faith and forgiveness.
- [Watch: University of Virginia Students Sign Petition to Ban Christmas](http://www.gracecentered.com/watch-university-virginia-students-sign-petition-ban-christmas.htm): Campus Reform walked the University of Virginia dressed as “The Hipsters Who Stole Christmas” to see if students would sign their petition to ban Christmas.
- [Atheists Threaten to Sue Ohio Town for Nativity Scene](http://www.gracecentered.com/atheists-threaten-sue-ohio-town-nativity-scene.htm): Militant atheists at the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) are threatening to sue St. Bernard, Ohio, over the city’s Nativity scene — a Christmas display depicting the scene of Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem in the Holy Land.
- [Christmas Is So Offensive](http://www.gracecentered.com/christmas-is-so-offensive.htm): If people are offended by Christmas or elements of it, perhaps they are the ones who have the problem and should grow up.
- [School Cancels ‘A Christmas Carol’ Play Due to 'God Bless Us' Line](http://www.gracecentered.com/school-cancels-a-christmas-carol-play-due-god-bless-us-line.htm): A principal at an elementary school in Pennsylvania has canceled its production of “A Christmas Carol” due to complaints about a line said during the play and concerns about it taking too much time out of classroom instruction.
- [Washington Post: Virgin Mary Offends Rape Victims by Her Purity](http://www.gracecentered.com/washington-post-virgin-mary-offends-rape-victims-purity.htm): According to The Washington Post, the Virgin Mary is offensive to rape victims.
- [Update On East-Tennessee Churches After Fires](http://www.gracecentered.com/update-east-tennessee-churches-fires.htm): Here's a partial update on churches in the east-Tennessee area near Gatlinburn, Sevierville, and Pigeon Forge where the wildfire has damaged so much of the area. We encourage you to please pray for the people there.
- [ACLU Sues Indiana Town over Cross on Top of Christmas Tree](http://www.gracecentered.com/aclu-sues-indiana-town-cross-top-christmas-tree.htm): The American Civil Liberties Union is taking aim at one small Indiana town’s Christmas tree.
- [Likely Islamic Terrorist Responsible For Bombing Church, Killing 35, Injuring 22](http://www.gracecentered.com/islamic-terrorist-responsible-bombing-church-killing-35-injuring-22.htm): A bomb exploded Sunday killing 35 in a church in Egypt. Islamic terrorism likely to blame.
- [Methodists Fearful of Islamification of Their Churches](http://www.gracecentered.com/methodists-fearful-islamification-churches.htm): Methodists are fearful that their churches will be turned into mosques or forced to double as a church and a mosque.
- [John Glenn Said Space Flight Made His Faith in God Stronger](http://www.gracecentered.com/john-glenn-space-flight-faith-god-stronger.htm): John Glenn, the first man to orbit the earth, said that his faith in God was strengthened by space travels.
- [Methodist Churches Converting To 'Virtual Mosques' For Muslim Migrants](http://www.gracecentered.com/methodist-churches-converting-virtual-mosques-muslim-migrants.htm): The United Methodist Church is reportedly implementing a statewide plan to revamp Texas churches into “virtual mosques” catering to incoming Muslim migrants.
- [Church May Close Due To State Fine For Housing Homeless](http://www.gracecentered.com/church-fined-for-housing-homeless.htm): Dundalk, MD – The Patapsco United Methodist Church faces a fine of $12,000 for offering a safe haven for the homeless after a disgruntled neighbor decided that the church’s helping hand to the homeless was hurting his business.
- [Not Afraid To Say "Christmas"](http://www.gracecentered.com/afraid-christmas.htm): Another Christmas is quickly approaching and with it yet another round of insults to the Christian faith. Increasingly we are afraid to utter the “C” word in public places, or in seasonal advertising. We wouldn't want to offend those people of other faiths, you know. Before I go any further, let me explain: I’m not
- [Leo's Toy Store Brings Christmas Lesson](http://www.gracecentered.com/leos-toy-store-brings-christmas-lesson.htm): In this book your child will learn about placing other people's needs above their own, and that money is not the most important thing in life. Parents you are not left out of this lovely story as you will learn lessons as well. A very enjoyable book for the whole family. Includes memory and reflection questions great for family or group discussion!
- [Leo's Toy Store](http://www.gracecentered.com/leos-toy-store.htm): Leo is the beloved owner of Leo's Toy Store. His store is different because children can play with the toys even if they don't buy them. Plus, Leo gives candy to the children who visit! The town loves Leo and he loves that his store brings such joy to children and parents alike. But a new landlord puts Leo's Toy Store in jeopardy. The landlord wants to raise Leo's rent to an amount he can't afford. Can Leo save his store in time for Christmas? Includes memory and reflection questions.
- [Coup Purge: Turkey Ousts Only Christian Mayor](http://www.gracecentered.com/coup-purge-turkey-ousts-christian-mayor.htm): The only Christian mayor in Turkey, a U.S. NATO ally, has been removed as part of a purge by the ruling Islamist government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following an abortive coup earlier this year.
- [Copter Game](http://www.gracecentered.com/copter_game.htm): Copter was an instant classic with video game enthusiasts. This game of touch and feel is simple but highly addictive. Fly your helicopter through the obstacle course and see how far you can go. Then challenge your friends to see if they can beat your score.
- [The Problem With 'Righteous Rage'](http://www.gracecentered.com/problem-righteous-rage.htm): It's the kind of line that slips past you if you aren't reading carefully. Seriously, I've been going to church all of my life, and I've been in professional ministry for almost 20 years, and I don't know that I'd ever noticed it before.
- [My Early Personal Reaction to the Election of Donald Trump](http://www.gracecentered.com/early-personal-reaction-to-election-donald-trump.htm): Thoughts from a minister on the election of 2016 that elected Donald Trump as President of the United States.
- [Some Unfiltered Takeaways from the 2016 Presidential Election](http://www.gracecentered.com/unfiltered-takeaways-2016-presidential-election.htm): Some observations and powerful reminders for Christians after the 2016 elections.
- [Are You Ever Disappointed With Your Level of Faith?](http://www.gracecentered.com/disappointed-level-faith.htm): Do you ever feel pressure or shame because your faith in Jesus isn’t radical or extreme enough?
- [Jason Fowler Trades Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll for Jesus](http://www.gracecentered.com/jason-fowler-trades-sex-drugs-rock-roll-jesus.htm): Jason Fowler watched alcohol addiction destroy the lives of many of his family members so he swore to himself he would never drink.
- [Small Town Florist Warns: 'Gay' Art Mandate Threatens 'Everyone'](http://www.gracecentered.com/small-town-florist-warns.htm): Don’t kid yourself: The government that gives itself the authority to order a “small-town florist” to advocate a message that violates her faith isn’t going to be satisfied with controlling one “small-town florist."
- [Scientists Uncover Christ's Burial Slab in Jerusalem](http://www.gracecentered.com/scientists-uncover-burial-slab-of-christ.htm): Scientists and restorers have uncovered the slab of limestone on which the body of Jesus Christ was laid in a tomb after his death.
- [Penn. HS Football Team Forced to Stop Praying Before Games](http://www.gracecentered.com/penn-hs-football-team-forced-to-stop-praying-before-games.htm): A football program in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania is being forced to stop its pregame prayer, a tradition that goes back decades.
- [Exclusive: Christian Militias Unite Against the Islamic State in Northern Iraq](http://www.gracecentered.com/exclusive-christian-militias-unite-islamic-state-northern-iraq.htm): All Christian militias have come together to fight as one force in an effort to recapture their historical homeland in northern Iraq from the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
- [Mob of Muslims Call for Christian Mom Who Argued with a Muslim to be HANGED](http://www.gracecentered.com/mob-muslims-call-christian-mom-argued-muslim-hanged.htm): Hundreds of Muslims took part in coordinated mass demonstrations across Pakistan, chanting slogans and holding banners, as they called for the death of Asia Bibi, 50.
- [The Beatitides (remixed)...](http://www.gracecentered.com/beatitides-remixed.htm): The Beatitides (remixed)...
- [Sweden Bans Christmas Street Lights To Avoid Offending Muslim Migrants](http://www.gracecentered.com/sweden-bans-christmas-street-lights-avoid-offending-muslim-migrants.htm): Towns across Sweden have banned Christmas street lights in the name of “security,” but the real reason is almost certainly because the country has completely capitulated to Islam.
- [ISIS Crucifies Christian Missionaries, Cuts Fingertips Off 12-Y-O in Front of Father](http://www.gracecentered.com/isis-crucifies-missionaries.htm): Islamic State militants in Syria heinously tortured and killed a 12-year-old boy, along with 11 indigenous Christian missionaries, after they refused to leave their homeland or renounce Christ.
- [WikiLeaks Scandal: After Hillary Clinton Staff Mocks Catholics, Evangelicals, Letter Circulating Among Christian Leaders](http://www.gracecentered.com/wikileaks-scandal-after-hillary-clinton-staff-mocks-catholics-evangelicals.htm): A letter is being circulated among Catholic and Evangelical Christian leaders demanding Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton immediately apologize for high-level campaign staffers' anti-Christian bigotry as revealed by a WikiLeaks email Tuesday.
- [Muslims Behead Priest In Normandy Church](http://www.gracecentered.com/muslims-behead-priest-normandy-church.htm): One of a pair of ISIS knifemen who stormed a church in Normandy before slitting the throat of an elderly priest has been named as known terror threat Adel Kermiche.
- [What Ever Happened to Bible Study?](http://www.gracecentered.com/what-happened-to-bible-study.htm): Why don't churches have Bible studies anymore? It seems all they have are studies of books 'about' the Bible.
- [Christian woman beaten, stripped naked and paraded through streets by Muslim mob](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian-woman-beaten-stripped-naked-by-muslim-mob.htm): A group of 300 Muslim men burned down seven homes belonging to Orthodox Coptic Christian families in a rural Egypt town. They also captured a 70-year-old Christian woman, stripped her naked, beat her and paraded her through the streets.
- [A Healthier Image of God](http://www.gracecentered.com/healthier-image-of-god.htm): From Eden forward, Satan has been telling two vicious lies about God.
- [Refugee Crisis: An Opportunity for Faith and Hope](http://www.gracecentered.com/refugee-crisis-is-an-opportunity-for-faith.htm): For decades, Christian missiologists have strategized about the “10-40 Window” – the countries of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia most unreached by and hostile to the Gospel message. Christians have mourned the difficulty of getting missionaries into these regions and churches have earnestly prayed for breakthroughs.
- [IRS sued for refusing to release secret ‘church investigations’ procedures](http://www.gracecentered.com/irs-sued-refusing-release-secret-church-investigations-procedures.htm): Government watchdog groups have filed a motion in federal court to compel the IRS to reveal how it determines when to initiate “church investigations” after accusing the tax-collecting agency of “stonewalling” efforts to bring to light its procedures.
- [Horror as China tears down THOUSANDS of crucifixes](http://www.gracecentered.com/horror-china-tears-thousands-crucifixes.htm): CHRISTIAN communities in China have been left horrified after the government started tearing down THOUSANDS of crucifixes in a crude bid to eradicate the faith in the country.
- [The Flight Of A Million Christians](http://www.gracecentered.com/flight-of-one-million-christians.htm): Christians in Syria are fleeing their homes at a far higher rate than hitherto reported.
- [4 Kinds of Battles of the Christian Single](http://www.gracecentered.com/4-battles-christian-single.htm): As a single, I deal with many battles on various platforms, some of which are the same as the battles of my married friends. However, many battles are unique to singles. Here are a few:
- [Love The Lord First](http://www.gracecentered.com/love-the-lord-first.htm): I love my husband. He is my best friend, lover and leader of our household. He is a pretty swell guy. He makes my heart swoon. And yet, there is another man in my life who trumps my husband every time.
- [Rocking for Christ](http://www.gracecentered.com/rocking-for-christ.htm): “It would be nice to walk upon the water, talking again to angels on my side ... all my words are golden, so have no Gods before me. I'm the light.” Was that a saying by the great St. Francis of Assisi?
- [Easter and the Moon](http://www.gracecentered.com/easter-moon.htm): As I flip the calendar into April, I turn the page from winter and look forward to spring breezes, budding flowers, and the hope that the patches of brown in my front lawn will soon turn to green. In some parts of the country, spring beckons with intermittent moments of grandeur as we jump erratically
- [The Young Messiah](http://www.gracecentered.com/young-messiah.htm): Inspired by Scripture and rooted in history, "The Young Messiah" film imagines one year in the boyhood of Jesus Christ.
- [Church Offering Goes Digital](http://www.gracecentered.com/church-offering-goes-digital.htm): Several apps have hit the market that allow people to more easily give offerings or tithes to their churches.
- [Terrorism: Does Prayer Help?](http://www.gracecentered.com/does-prayer-help-with-terrorism.htm): When these terrible things happen, it is not unusual to hear a government official, news reporter, or spokesman for some group say, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their loved ones.”
- [Have I Fallen From Grace?](http://www.gracecentered.com/haveifallenfromgrace.htm): The question found in the title above terrified me in my early Christian years. And I suspect many other Christians agonize over whether or not they can fall from grace. Sometimes I'd lie awake at night wondering if my recurring struggles with sin would keep me from heaven. I wondered if I had crossed the
- [You Won’t Believe This About The Modern Holy Land](http://www.gracecentered.com/modern-holy-lands.htm): Many people are surprised to learn that the Holy Lands of Israel, where Jesus walked, are littered and polluted.
- [A Square Peg In A Round Hole](http://www.gracecentered.com/square-peg-hole.htm): Have you ever felt like you don't quite fit in?
- [Who Do You Think You Are?](http://www.gracecentered.com/who-do-you-think-you-are.htm): “Just who do you think you are?” If you’ve ever had those words directed towards you, then you understand that it was more of a statement than an actual question. A statement intended to put you in your place, to advise you of your comparative inferiority, and to remind you of your relative lack of power. But for Christian’s it’s even more. It’s also a statement that serves as both an indication and an opportunity….
- [Celebrities Then and Now](http://www.gracecentered.com/celebrities-then-and-now.htm): Gene Autry is a name hardly known to anyone under 30. People from the next couple of decades might recognize him as the owner of the Anaheim Angels of Major League Baseball. But it takes people from two or three additional decades to recall him as the “Singing Cowboy” of radio, movies, and television.
- [History of Silver in the Bible](http://www.gracecentered.com/history-silver-bible.htm): An interesting look at the history of silver in the Bible and how it was used as currency.
- [Do You Pray Like A Pagan?](http://www.gracecentered.com/do-you-pray-like-a-pagan.htm): Sometimes we pray like pagans and barter with God. “God, if you will do this or that,” we beg, “then I will stop what I’ve been doing and start doing something else!” Pagan prayer – and much that passes for Christian, I fear – is like a giant roulette wheel at a gambling casino.
- [ACLU Sues Christian Hospitals for Their Refusal to Perform Abortions](http://www.gracecentered.com/aclu-sues-christian-hospitals-for-refusal-perform-abortions.htm): The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is volunteering to defend Trinity Catholic Hospitals after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the Hospitals in October for their refusal to perform abortions.
- [KY School That Removed Christ From 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' Play Gets Reminded by Audience](http://www.gracecentered.com/ky-school-removed-christ-a-charlie-brown-christmas-play-reminded-audience.htm): Audience members attending a Kentucky school's production of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" chimed in to recite the biblical portion of the play that had previously been eliminated by school administrators.
- [Judge Orders School to Remove Christ From Christmas. Their EPIC Defiance Is Going Viral](http://www.gracecentered.com/judge-orders-school-remove-christ-christmas-epic-defiance-viral.htm): Showing some defiant initiative and last-minute improvisational skills, the school set up a nativity display for their Christmas production using mannequins instead of students, much to the delight of the audience.
- [The Blank Cookbook](http://www.gracecentered.com/blank-cookbook.htm): The Blank Cookbook is a great resource for referencing recipes, passing recipes down family lines or giving away to friends. Buy Now | Get More Information
- [I Played My Best for Him](http://www.gracecentered.com/i-played-my-best-for-him.htm): Like most of you, I love this time of the year. I also love the music that so aptly gets me…and keeps me….in the Christmas spirit during the holidays.
- [Christian Family Whose 5 Children Seized by Gov't Launches 'Christmas Card' Campaign to Get Kids Back](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian-family-launches-campaign-to-get-kids-back.htm): A Christian family in Norway, whose five children were seized by the government to "prevent" them from being "indoctrinated" with Christianity last month, has launched a Christmas card campaign to get their kids back for Christmas.
- [Presbyterian Pastor: Christ’s Redemption Also For Machines](http://www.gracecentered.com/presbyterian-pastor-christs-redemption-machines.htm): Presbyterian Pastor: Christ’s Redemption Also For Machines
- [Why Did God Tell Abraham To Sacrifice Isaac?](http://www.gracecentered.com/god-abraham-sacrifice-isaac.htm): Why did God command Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac? God was teaching a lesson, but not just testing Abraham's faith as is often taught.
- [Bible Quiz, Bible Trivia and Bible Game](http://www.gracecentered.com/bible_quiz_bible_trivia_game.htm): So you think you have what it takes to ace a Bible Quiz? Are you a master of Bible Trivia? Are you looking for a fun Bible game? Then this section of GraceCentered.com is for you. Whether you're looking for online Bible games for a youth event or looking to pass the time with a
- [Play Zelda Online. The Legend of Zelda.](http://www.gracecentered.com/play_zelda_online.htm): This is a good flash Zelda game with a classic feel in the never-ending story that is The Legend of Zelda. In this adventure, Link must save princess Zelda...again.
- [Frogger Game Online For Free](http://www.gracecentered.com/frogger_arcade_game.htm): Frogger is the classic Atari game that allows you to help a frog cross the street without being crushed by moving obstacles from oncoming traffic to animal predators.
- [Snake Game Online](http://www.gracecentered.com/snake_game.htm): The Snake game is similar to a popular game that was on many of the early cell phones (or mobile phones if you want to call it that). You have to feed the snake but as it eats it becomes longer and is more likely to bump into a wall or object that will kill
- [Florist Threatened With Court For Playing Christmas Carols](http://www.gracecentered.com/florist-threatened-with-court-for-playing-christmas-carols.htm): A florist in Birmingham has been told by council killjoys that he faces a court appearance if he continues playing Christmas carols on his flower stall as the annual ‘War on Christmas’ resumes.
- [Praise The Lord (For What Didn't Happen)](http://www.gracecentered.com/praise-lord-for-happen.htm): We are all entering the season when we typically assess the degree to which the Lord has been blessed us throughout the concluding year. But we tend to measure God’s blessings exclusively by our increase.
- [Keyboard Hero](http://www.gracecentered.com/guitar_game.htm): This game is almost identical to Guitar Hero. It's basically just a version that can be played on your computer. Warning, it's addictive.
- [Faith and 'Ordinary Life'](http://www.gracecentered.com/faith-ordinary-life.htm): Where does faith fit in with the ordinary lives of ordinary people?
- [Whatever Happened to the Blood?](http://www.gracecentered.com/what-happened-to-the-blood.htm): We used to have a lot of hymns about the blood of Jesus. The songs told how the blood of Jesus was the only thing that could make a sinful heart clean, could protect the believer from the snares of the enemy, and was an absolute necessity in the life of every Christian. They were powerful songs with a powerful message. But what happened to them?
- [How To Explain What You Do, When You're A Minister](http://www.gracecentered.com/how-to-explain-that-you-are-a-minister.htm): This is a TBN Interview with Pastor J. John where he comically explains how to explain what you do, when you're a minister!
- [Blessed Assurance: Falling Back, In Faith](http://www.gracecentered.com/blessed-assurance-2.htm): Limiting our trust to only that which we can see and understand is akin to a belief that the entire universe consists only of the places we have actually physically visited during our lifetime.
- [Family's Original Christian Song Will Lift Your Soul](http://www.gracecentered.com/willis-family-sings-good-god.htm): Toddrick Willis and his family were sitting in the parking lot at church when they decided to film this adorable video. The Willis family wrote this amazing praise song, 'Good God'. Their song will touch your heart, and this Godly family is truly talented!
- [What Will Heaven Be Like?](http://www.gracecentered.com/the_real_heaven.htm): Do you want to know what the Bible means when it talks about "the New Earth" and "the Kingdom of Heaven?" If so, best-selling Christian author Joe Beam and Lee Wilson have teamed up to provide two fast-paced, exciting books on Heaven and the afterlife. Buy Now | Get More Information
- [A Few Friendly Reminders For My Fellow Christians During The Holiday Season](http://www.gracecentered.com/friendly-reminders-for-the-holiday-season.htm): As we enter into what's become known as the Holiday Season, I wanted to offer a few friendly reminders to my fellow Christians.
- [Truth Telling Vs. Truth Dump](http://www.gracecentered.com/truth-telling-vs-truth-dump.htm): Maybe some don’t want to tell a painful truth for the sake of genuine compassion that recoils from causing upset and anguish of heart. That is fully understandable. But what happens when the truth does come? From a stranger? That they will discover you knew all along? Then the pain is even greater.
- [Mississippi School District Fined Over $7,500 for 'Proselytizing Christianity' After Minister Prays at Event](http://www.gracecentered.com/mississippi-school-district-fined-for-minister-praying-at-event.htm): A U.S. Federal District Court has fined Mississippi's third largest public school district $7,500 after a minister opened up a districtwide honors assembly with a prayer invocation.
- [Jewish Man Saved From the Holocaust Is Now on a Mission to Rescue Over 2,000 Christians Fleeing ISIS](http://www.gracecentered.com/jewish-man-saved-holocaust-mission-rescue-2000-christians-fleeing-isis.htm): A Jewish Barron in Britain, who was rescued by Christians from his homeland of Austria during the Holocaust in 1938, says he has a favor to repay.
- [Pastor Shoots Intruder at Texas Church](http://www.gracecentered.com/pastor-shoots-intruder-at-texas-church.htm): A would-be burglar messed with the wrong church and pastor Tuesday. Baytown police say the man kicked in the door of the Church of New Beginnings early and attempted to rob it.
- [Why Is the World Turning a Blind Eye to the 'Eradication' of Christians in the Middle East?](http://www.gracecentered.com/world-turning-blind-eye-eradication-christians-middle-east.htm): Christianity is being "wiped out" of its region of birth, said Cato Institute foreign policy expert Doug Bandow Tuesday during a Family Research Council discussion on the increase in Christian persecution in the Middle East and Africa, and he offered reasons why the international community has done little to save those ancient Christian communities.
- [Want ‘Sustained Happiness’? Get Religion, Study Suggests](http://www.gracecentered.com/sustained-happiness-religion-study-suggests.htm): A new study suggests that joining a religious group could do more for someone’s “sustained happiness” than other forms of social participation, such as volunteering, playing sports or taking a class.
- ['How Great Thou Art' gets Mississippi high school band pulled from halftime](http://www.gracecentered.com/how-great-thou-art-mississippi-high-school-band-pulled-halftime.htm): A Mississippi high school band was banned from taking the field at halftime during Friday night's season-opening game after district officials learned of a planned performance of "How Great Thou Art."
- [Christian Man In Maine Murdered By Muslim 'Refugees'](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian-man-main-murdered-muslim-refugees.htm): A judge on Monday unsealed the court documents of a grisly murder of a Christian man, allegedly at the hands of three Muslim immigrants in Portland, Maine. Akoa’s blood-splattered Bible was found lying next to his head.
- [Armed Pastor Stops Criminal From Burglarizing Church](http://www.gracecentered.com/armed-pastor-stops-criminal-burglarizing-church.htm): The pastor of a northeast Oklahoma City church shot at a man Wednesday after the man burglarized the church, Oklahoma City police said.
- [Ohio Factory Worker Fired For Recommending Faith-Based Film to Lesbian Co-Worker](http://www.gracecentered.com/ohio-factory-worker-fired-for-recommending-christian-movie.htm): Producers of the recently-released faith-based film Audacity were contacted last week by Chris Routson of Middletown, Ohio, who wanted to share with them his story of recommending the film to two lesbian co-workers and subsequently being fired after 13 years as a well-regarded employee.
- [Wife of Imprisoned Pastor: I Wish Pope Had Called Out Iran](http://www.gracecentered.com/wife-imprisoned-pastor-pope-called-iran.htm): Naghmeh Abedini, wife of American Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, told Newsmax TV she was disappointed Pope Francis didn't specifically call out Iran on Thursday when he talked about religious persecution.
- [Oregon Gunman Singled Out Christians During Rampage](http://www.gracecentered.com/oregon-gunman-singled-out-christians.htm): A gunman singled out Christians, telling them they would see God in “one second,” during a rampage at an Oregon college Thursday that left at least nine innocent people dead and several more wounded authorities said.
- [Student says TX teacher forced 7th graders to deny God is real, or take a failing grade](http://www.gracecentered.com/students-forced-7th-graders-to-deny-god.htm): A Texas seventh-grader is standing up for her religious beliefs after she alleges her teacher forced students to deny that God is real, and threatened them with failing grades if they don’t agree.
- [America’s Changing Religious Landscape](http://www.gracecentered.com/americas-changing-religious-landscape.htm): The Christian share of the U.S. population is declining, while the number of U.S. adults who do not identify with any organized religion is growing, according to an extensive new survey by the Pew Research Center.
- [The 5 Most Annoying Hymns (Really)](http://www.gracecentered.com/5-annoying-hymns-really.htm): The inspiration for an definitive list of the most annoying hymns came from a funny, but supposedly true story about a church fundraiser where a piece of paper collected bids to "Block a Hymn for a Year." The highest bidder could choose any hymn to ban for a full year!
- [Help! My Spouse Is Losing Her Faith!](http://www.gracecentered.com/help-spouse-losing-faith.htm): Are You 'Unequally Yoked' If, After Marrying A Christian, Your Spouse Loses Their Faith?
- [Christian Persecution Spikes in Pakistan, Prompting Calls for US to Exert Pressure](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian-persecution-spikes-in-pakistan.htm): Violence against Christians is on the rise in Pakistan, where a disturbing trend of attacks by Islamist fanatics has made life inside the U.S. ally hell for religious minorities.
- [How To Know If You Are A Hopeless Case](http://www.gracecentered.com/hopeless-case.htm): Have you noticed how candid the Bible is about its heroes? It doesn’t whitewash the flaws and foibles of its characters.
- [Action Without Evidence: Building Arks on Sunny Days](http://www.gracecentered.com/action-without-evidence.htm): Noah obeyed God’s command of building the ark; toiled through intense labor; and sustained through the relentless doubt and ridicule of friends and family, for over 100 years of perfectly sunny weather! Not a drop of rain in sight.
- [Who Was Saint Patrick?](http://www.gracecentered.com/life-saint-patrick.htm): Saint Patrick was more than just a man from Ireland who was named for a holiday. Here's a brief look into his life and the reason he's remembered to this day.
- [Play Tetris Online for Free](http://www.gracecentered.com/tetris_online.htm): Play Tetris just like you used to on your Nintendo or Game Boy.
- [5 Things Christians Should NOT Say To Cancer Patients](http://www.gracecentered.com/5-christians-cancer-patients.htm): Having been on both sides several times, I feel qualified to assemble this list of things that I feel Christians should and should not say to Christians affected by cancer. In some cases the point attempting to be made might be legit and fair, but simply is best unsaid to a person hurting due to this type of situation.
- [The  Future of Marriage: Is it Becoming Extinct?](http://www.gracecentered.com/futureofmarriage.htm): Some of the modern thinkers of our day have said that marriage will one day become extinct. They've predicted marriage will slowly but surely be thought of as old-fashioned and unnecessary despite its current popularity and existence throughout human history.
- [How to Discredit Christianity](http://www.gracecentered.com/discredit-christianity.htm): From reading the headlines, you’d think church people occasionally get together, ask what they’d have to do to make Christianity look foolish, and then set about to implement their strategy! So clergy have affairs. Leaders of Christian ministries steal or squander money – or say incredibly silly things in God’s name.
- [What Is A Testimony ITM? Find Out Here.](http://www.gracecentered.com/testimonies-itm.htm): When we found out about Dylan’s impending surgery, my wife and I did the only thing we knew how to do – we fell to our knees and asked God to intervene. But things got progressively worse.
- [The Reality of Sin and Grace](http://www.gracecentered.com/sin-and-grace.htm): We live in a time of such moral confusion that nobody can sin. Each person simply makes up his or her own rules. And nobody can call anything “wrong” or “sinful” without being a bigot.
- [Eagerly Awaiting The Harvest](http://www.gracecentered.com/eagerly-awaiting-the-harvest.htm): Three years ago I read a book that was geared toward building better relationships with your children. The book also referenced the extreme problem we have in our society today with fatherlessness, especially in the African American community.
- [What He Inspires](http://www.gracecentered.com/what-he-inspires.htm): And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Hebrews 12:24-25
- [Discovering "My Truth"](http://www.gracecentered.com/discovering-my-truth.htm): Lots of words have been so devalued of late that they tend to confuse rather than enlighten. Take the word “love” as a classic example. I can “love” everything from blueberry pancakes to comfortable shoes to my child to Jesus Christ. Surely there is a need for some type of clarification along this gamut of usage.
- [Can Jesus Survive Religion's Failures?](http://www.gracecentered.com/jesus-survive-religions-failures.htm): One of the great strengths of the Christian faith has been its ability to endure, accommodate, and use the cultural shifts across the centuries without losing its essence. Even in its most misguided forms, the Christian religion has continued to pass along its central message about Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.
- [Galaga Is No Longer Available For Play Here](http://www.gracecentered.com/galaga_online_game.htm): Galaga is a classic Atari game where you are called on to save the universe from invading aliens and their spacecrafts.
- [Hooked on a Feeling: The Addictive Nature of the Modern Church](http://www.gracecentered.com/hooked-on-a-feeling-the-addictive-nature-of-the-modern-church.htm): Pastors and Christians who read their Bibles daily are confronted with both extremely positive verses and horribly negative verses. You simply can't get around that fact. Yet the average megachurch has not only been able to dance around the negative aspects of the Bible, they have managed to build massive followings by cultivating an atmosphere of total positivity that for some has become as addictive as any controlled substance, adrenaline rush, concert or sporting event. Church for the average Christian has become synonymous with any other culturally accepted fantasy based "escapism."
- [Growing or Dying](http://www.gracecentered.com/growing-dying.htm): All organisms have the same choice. Grow or die. Our Faith gives us that same choice. We choose to follow Christ and drink deep from the Living Water. Or, we don't.
- [A Sunday School Lesson On Eve Gone Wrong](http://www.gracecentered.com/sunday-school-lesson-on-eve-gone-wrong.htm): A humorous look at a Sunday School lesson on God creating Eve from Adam's rib.
- [Former Atheist's Testimony Will Restore or Refresh Your Faith](http://www.gracecentered.com/former-atheist-testimony.htm): Kristin knew there wasn't a God and the Christians of the world were just trying to brainwash the rest of the world. Until...
- [Pastor's Wife Shares 'Excruciating Pain' in Letter to Husband Imprisoned in Iran, Marking 11th Wedding Anniversary](http://www.gracecentered.com/pastors-wife-shares-excruciating-pain-letter-husband-imprisoned-iran-marking-11th-wedding-anniversary.htm): The wife of imprisoned pastor Saeed Abedini sent a letter to her husband on the day of their 11th wedding anniversary, describing the "excruciating pain" she's in without him while he's being held inside an Iranian prison because of his Christian faith.
- [No Man Influences Me! (Really?)](http://www.gracecentered.com/man-influences-me-really.htm): Are we really being honest with ourselves about who influences our views about the Bible?
- [Social Media: Don't Be That Church (Funny)](http://www.gracecentered.com/social-media-church-funny.htm): Your church is using social media to be visible in your community and to engage church members, right? Either way, you'll get a chuckle out of this video.
- [A Texas Minister Set Himself On Fire And Died To ‘Inspire’ Justice](http://www.gracecentered.com/texas-minister-set-himself-on-fire.htm): One Monday in June, 79-year-old Charles Moore, a retired United Methodist minister, drove to Grand Saline, Tex., his childhood home town some 70 miles east of Dallas. He pulled into a strip mall parking lot, knelt down on a small piece of foam and doused himself with gasoline. Then, witnesses said, he set himself on fire.
- [Asking Strangers for Food in NYC! You Won’t Believe How It Ends!](http://www.gracecentered.com/asking-strangers-for-food-nyc.htm): This video is of a social experiment where a man asks strangers for food on the streets of New York City and you’ll be stunned by some of the responses.
- [Millionaire Gay Couple Is Suing To Force A Church To Hold Their Wedding](http://www.gracecentered.com/millionaire-gay-couple-suing-to-force-church-to-hold-wedding.htm): Many thought it would come to this. A wealthy gay couple has decided to launch a lawsuit to force their church to perform their wedding.
- [Beauty as Divine Strategy](http://www.gracecentered.com/beauty-as-divine-strategy.htm): Why did people fall all over themselves to get a glimpse of Jesus? Climb trees to see him? Hang on his every word? It was the beauty of the kingdom of God that Jesus exhibited in his personality and actions.
- [Gang Member Who Harassed Kirk Cameron Five Years Later](http://www.gracecentered.com/gang-member-harassed-kirk-cameron-years.htm): In one of these direct conversations Kirk Cameron is known for, he interacted with gang members and as the video shows, you'll see one of them harassing and interrupting him. Now five years later, Ray Comfort sees that person again. You won't believe how he's changed!
- [Churches Using Facial Recognition Software To Check Attendance](http://www.gracecentered.com/churches-use-facial-recognition-software-to-check-attendance.htm): A facial recognition software specifically for churches called Churchix is used to keep up with who is attending and who is skipping church worship, classes or other events.
- [Your Bible Is Not Safe!](http://www.gracecentered.com/you-bible-is-not-safe.htm): It is only fair that you should be warned: The Bible you have on your desk or shelf is unsafe. It could do strange, unsettling things to you.
- [Fox's 'Lucifer' Series Draws Protests](http://www.gracecentered.com/foxs-lucifer-series-draws-protests.htm): One Million Moms, an offshoot of the American Family Association, has launched a petition asking the Fox broadcasting network to exorcize "Lucifer" from its TV lineup.
- [Believing Through The Pain](http://www.gracecentered.com/believing-pain.htm): This is a part of my testimony. God's Grace supporting me through the darkest times in my life. I will just list three here as I have limited space and a long story. Perhaps there's a book in there, but when I meet people for the first time they tend to think I'm exaggerating until they get to know me better and realize I don't do that.
- [Marine Court-Martialed for Refusing to Remove Bible Verse](http://www.gracecentered.com/marine-court-martialed-refusing-remove-bible-verse.htm): A United States Marine was convicted at a court-martial for refusing to remove a Bible verse on her computer – a verse of Scripture the military determined “could easily be seen as contrary to good order and discipline.”
- [Call it 'gender fluidity': Schools to teach kids there's no such thing as boys or girls](http://www.gracecentered.com/call-gender-fluidity-schools-teach-kids-boys-girls.htm): One of the nation’s largest public school systems is preparing to include gender identity to its classroom curriculum, including lessons on sexual fluidity and spectrum – the idea that there’s no such thing as 100 percent boys or 100 percent girls.
- [Survey Finds Top 'Never Churched' City in the U.S.](http://www.gracecentered.com/survey-finds-top-unchurched-city.htm): A new survey found the top "never churched" cities in the United States. Can you guess which city topped the list?
- [Apocalypse Now](http://www.gracecentered.com/apocalypse-now.htm): The book of Revelation, also known as The Apocalypse (the Greek word being used here), is of course one of the more intriguing and often mysterious books found in all of Scripture. It has fascinated and puzzled believers for millennia now.
- ['SOLELY BECAUSE OF THEIR FAITH' - More Christians Executed by ISIS](http://www.gracecentered.com/solely-faith-christians-executed-isis.htm): The White House Sunday evening condemned a video purportedly showing a mass execution of Ethiopian Christians in Libya by terrorists affiliated with Islamic State.
- [The Nature of God: Free Will](http://www.gracecentered.com/nature-god-free.htm): God's description of the humans He just made is unlike anything He did before. Plants, animals were all created as beings that had a measure of life to exist through His Word in them. Mankind had more than that. It had God's own character - freewill - seared into the psyche.
- [Is Christianity Dark Enough for Millennials?](http://www.gracecentered.com/christianity-dark-millennials.htm): "I caution against the idea that the way to get young people into church is to be hip and cool and have a pastor who wears skinny jeans."
- [Critics: Obama's Words, Actions Show Anti-Christian Bias](http://www.gracecentered.com/critics-obamas-words-actions-show-anti-christian-bias.htm): President Barack Obama's comment at this week's Easter Prayer Breakfast that some Christians are acting "less-than-loving" is the latest in a string of remarks and actions that some say suggest he has an anti-Christian bias.
- [Two Simple Questions...](http://www.gracecentered.com/simple-questions.htm): Chances are if you're reading this you've already asked the first and recognized the truth of Jesus Christ. But the second question is harder to ask, and harder still to act on. It requires us to look beyond ourselves and out into the world. It may involve discomfort. It may involve travel.
- [Judas' Psychological Profile](http://www.gracecentered.com/judas-psychological-profile.htm): No, there is no “Breaking News” here. Wolf Blitzer hasn’t reported a new archaeological find just outside Jerusalem. No brain scan was just discovered. And there is no long-hidden-in-the-Vatican-archives suicide note from Judas Iscariot. It’s just that the events of last week got me to thinking about some of the most notorious villains of history. What psychological anomaly made them do it?
- [When the Church Refuses To Judge itself](http://www.gracecentered.com/when-the-church-refuses-to-judge-itself.htm): This may be news to some believers, but the church is to be self-critical. It is to actually assess, discern and judge what is happening in its midst and in its name. We Christians are to be constantly tending to the condition of our own camp. Not to do so is to invite trouble.
- [Imagine a World Devoid of God](http://www.gracecentered.com/imagine-world-devoid-god.htm): Recently a man I admit I respect, Stephen Fry, gave an interview. Fry is an atheist and an incredibly intelligent - in the world's terms - man, well educated although I forget if it was Oxford or Cambridge he went to, and a man of quick wit and smart, pithy answers to most questions. Which is why I was so gobsmacked at the tirade that poured out of him when asked about what he would do if he ever met God.
- ['Life Is Miserable in Pakistan' — Activist and Friend of Shahbaz Bhatti Says Blasphemy Laws, Anti-West Sentiment Provoke Christian Persecution](http://www.gracecentered.com/life-miserable-pakistan-activist-friend-shahbaz-bhatti-blasphemy-laws-anti-west-sentiment-provoke-christian-persecution.htm): A former Pakistani parliamentarian advocating for equal treatment for religious minorities back home claims life is sometimes hell for the Islamic Republic's Christian minorities, who are often victimized by blasphemy laws and bear the brunt of public resentment against Western nations like the United States.
- [What a Bunch of Suckers!](http://www.gracecentered.com/bunch-of-suckers.htm): Conversion is not signing on to a list of rules. It is giving your heart, mind, and body to Jesus. It is more akin to getting married than signing a bank note.
- [Shock As Pope Francis Seeks To Change Rule Regarding Priests Being Celibate](http://www.gracecentered.com/shock-pope-francis-seeks-change-rule-priests-celibate.htm): A childhood friend of Pope Francis has claimed that he intends to overturn the centuries-old ban on Catholic priests from getting married.
- [Clear Acrylic Book Weight](http://www.gracecentered.com/clear-acrylic-book-weight.htm): This is PERFECT for beach reading this summer! This clear acrylic book weight holds pages down so the wind doesn't blow them and so that you have your hands free. It's a perfect gift for book lovers in your life (including yourself)! Click here to purchase.
- [The Last Hybrid: Bloodline of Angels](http://www.gracecentered.com/the-last-hybrid-bloodline-of-angels.htm): Hannah returns to college after partying took her scholarship away before. This time, nothing is more important than being the model student. That is, until she meets Daniel. Buy Now | Get More Information
- [The Book Journal: Your Reading Adventure](http://www.gracecentered.com/book-journal-reading-adventure.htm): Reading is an adventure that must be chronicled and The Book Journal brings out the details of your favorite reads like none other. Buy Now | Get More Information
- [Take This Survey About Churches of Christ](http://www.gracecentered.com/survey-about-churches-of-christ.htm): Take this survey about churches of Christ whether you're a member, former member, or nonmember.
- [The Benefits of Adultery?](http://www.gracecentered.com/benefits_of_an_affair.htm): "God will bless us if we divorce our mates and marry each other. It's right there in the Bible." "Really?" I replied. "Please enlighten me." He was entangled with a woman at his church. Each was married to someone else, but now both professed undying love and devotion to the other. Each complained bitterly about
- [When Vengeance is an Honorable and a God-Honoring Thing](http://www.gracecentered.com/vengeance-honorable-god-honoring.htm): Should Christians ever seek revenge or vengeance?
- [Self Defense and Scripture](http://www.gracecentered.com/self-defense-and-the-bible.htm): What does the Bible say about self defense and owning guns or other weapons?
- [Father Protests Islamic Indoctrination in Florida Curriculum](http://www.gracecentered.com/father-protests-islamic-indoctrination-in-florida-curriculum.htm): Wagner of Seminole County told WFTV’s Daralene Jones that the school is “requiring our kids in our public schools to learn Islamic prayers.”
- [I Must Decrease](http://www.gracecentered.com/i-must-decrease.htm): With God, we may cling intimately to all that we know of Him while gazing longingly into the immeasurable expanse of what we do not, knowing that He has granted us full access to Himself through the sacrifice of His Son.
- [Katy Perry Claims God Spoke to Her Before Super Bowl Performance](http://www.gracecentered.com/katy-perry-claims-god-spoke-to-her.htm): Pop superstar Katy Perry told E! News host Ryan Seacrest that she prepared for her half time show by prayer.
- [Walmart Orders Greeter to Stop Saying Certain Phrase but Caves After Community Uproar](http://www.gracecentered.com/walmart-orders-greeter-stop-phrase-caves-community-uproar.htm): Walmart orders greeter to stop saying a certain phrase but caves after community uproar.
- [Are You Losing Your Footing?](http://www.gracecentered.com/losing-footing.htm): Are you losing your footing in life? Do you fear the news about the world around you?
- [Where it's Hard to Follow Jesus](http://www.gracecentered.com/hard-follow-jesus.htm): Christianity Today published a brilliant article at the start of January telling the readers where there is the most persecution going on actively against the Church. Unsurprisingly, North Korea, China and Iraq all feature in the top 50 countries where physical persecution goes on, with North Korea listed as the worst of all.
- [Loving the Person Who Isn't "One of Us"](http://www.gracecentered.com/loving-the-person-who-is-not-one-of-us.htm): The best way for the church to get clear about our mission in the world is to study the life of Jesus. Our goal is to be in our corporate life the continuation of who Jesus was in his personal life.
- [Are We All Children of God?](http://www.gracecentered.com/children-of-god.htm): A very common – but mistaken – claim made all the time is that we are all God’s children. Whether a person is a Christian or non-Christian, it is asserted that everyone is a child of God. While this may sound nice and inclusive, and appeal to many, it is of course profoundly unbiblical.
- [‘Boy Who Came Back From Heaven’ Actually Didn’t; Books Recalled](http://www.gracecentered.com/boy-heaven-didnt-books-recalled.htm): Tyndale House, a major Christian publisher, has announced that it will stop selling “The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven,” by Alex Malarkey and his father, Kevin Malarkey.
- [City Forced to Remove Memorial of Soldier Kneeling at a Cross After Lawsuit Claimed it was “Offensive”](http://www.gracecentered.com/city-forced-remove-memorial-soldier-kneeling-cross-lawsuit-claimed-offensive.htm): Until a few days ago, a war memorial in a public park in North Carolina included a metal sculpture depicting a soldier kneeling in prayer before a cross. But city officials voted to remove the sculpture to settle a lawsuit claiming the artwork promoted Christianity.
- [The Missing Link](http://www.gracecentered.com/missing-link.htm): When we educate people nowadays, we tend to focus on competencies. When a university builds its business department, for example, it makes strategic hires in accounting, management, marketing, and human resources.
- [Is Your Church Worship More Pagan than Christian?](http://www.gracecentered.com/church-worship-pagan-or-christian.htm): There is a great misunderstanding in churches of the purpose of music in Christian worship. Churches routinely advertise their “life-changing” or “dynamic” worship that will “bring you closer to God” or “change your life.” Certain worship CD’s promise that the music will “enable you to enter the presence of God.”
- [The Harmony of Condemnation and Tolerance](http://www.gracecentered.com/harmony-condemnation-tolerance.htm): There is a particular deception which has planted itself in the collective attitude and is growing at an alarming rate. It is a misunderstanding of two perfectly united terms which hinders unbiased perception and reasoning, favoring emotional rather than logical responses in the context of social discourse. I am speaking of the false dichotomy of condemnation and tolerance.
- [Is God Real?](http://www.gracecentered.com/is_god_real.htm): There are times when I wake up in the middle of the night and ask myself, "What if I am wrong, what if there is no God? Is God real?"
- [Did Archaeologists Find Site Where Jesus Preached?](http://www.gracecentered.com/did-archaeologists-find-site-where-jesus-preached.htm): What archaeologists were surprised to find on a 20-acre parcel of land along the western side of the Sea of Galilee may have ties to Jesus.
- [Happy Holidays?](http://www.gracecentered.com/happy-holidays.htm): Christmas needs us as Christians to claim it back from the World. Especially in the developed world, Christians themselves get caught up in the commercial aspect of the season and don't think about the spiritual meaning except on Christmas Day itself.
- [Tax Credit Denial for Noah’s Ark-Themed Park](http://www.gracecentered.com/tax-credit-denial-noahs-ark-themed-park.htm): A religious group called “Answers in Genesis” (AIG) is threatening to sue over the Kentucky Tourism Board’s refusal to allow tax incentives for the building of a theme park inspired by the biblical story of Noah’s Ark.
- [How To Listen To God](http://www.gracecentered.com/listening-to-god.htm): We are so full of noise and clamor and activity and busyness that we have little time in our hurried schedules for any kind of spiritual reflection.
- [Pastor Saeed Abedini Pens Moving Christmas Letter From Prison to Family, Believers: 'These Days Are Very Cold Here'](http://www.gracecentered.com/pastor-saeed-abedini-pens-moving-christmas-letter-prison-family-believers-these-days-cold-here.htm): For the third Christmas in a row, Christian American-Iranian pastor Saeed Abedini, who has been imprisoned in Iran for his faith since 2012, is missing his family. And despite being cold and threatened by inmates in prison, Abedini encouraged Christians in a moving and at times heartbreaking letter to his family from his prison cell to keep hoping in God.
- [Jailed Minister In Iran Told To Deny Christ Or Never Be Released](http://www.gracecentered.com/jailed-pastor-in-iran-told-deny-christ.htm): Saeed Abedini, a minister jailed for eight years in Iran, has been threatened that he must deny Christ and return to Islam or that he will not be released – even after his sentence has been served.
- [Update: Pastor Saeed Abedini Released From Solitary Confinement](http://www.gracecentered.com/update-on-pastor-saeed.htm): After spending his 33rd birthday inside the "small dark hole" of solitary confinement, U.S. Pastor Saeed Abedini has been returned to the general prison population of Evin Prison in Iran. But that doesn't mean that he is out of danger.
- [Christmas Is About . . .](http://www.gracecentered.com/christmas.htm): Santa is still strong this time of year. So are Rudolph, Prancer, and the other reindeer. Frosty is good. I've even seen larger-than-life replicas of The Grinch of Whoville. But it seems increasingly difficult to find shepherds and angels.
- [The Shallow Villains of Western Film](http://www.gracecentered.com/shallow-villains-western-film.htm): Because of the nature of forgiveness, any disdainful attitude on the part of the forgiver cannot exist. Resolution always implies a positive, face-to-face interaction ending in an improved relationship between two parties.
- [Minister Has 8 Minutes to Convince Prostitutes to Quit in New Reality Show](http://www.gracecentered.com/minister-has-8-minutes.htm): A&E has greenlit a provocative new reality series in which a man tries to convince prostitutes to quit their jobs. EW has learned exclusively that the network has ordered eight episodes of 8 Minutes (working title), a series featuring cop-turned-pastor Kevin Brown surprising escorts in hotel rooms and offering to rescue them from a life of trading sex for cash. In each episode, Brown has eight minutes to make his case.
- [God Among Us](http://www.gracecentered.com/god.htm): Jesus Christ was God in living flesh, man and God reconciled in a single presence for a period of time here on planet earth, walking among us, talking to us and sharing everything from the mundane to the miraculous.
- [A Working Mom's Role Model: Proverbs 31](http://www.gracecentered.com/working-moms-role-model-proverbs-31.htm): I work full-time as a project manager in the aerospace industry - a career I've always dreamed of having. While I dreamed of a career, I didn't necessarily have any plans for a family of my own, but now that I've been married for ten years, with two daughters, I can't imagine life any other way.
- [8 Signs You Were A Youth Group Kid in the Early 90's or Late 80's](http://www.gracecentered.com/signs-you-were-a-youth-group-kid.htm): Whether or not you were actually a member of a youth group during the 1980's or 90's, you will likely remember several of these trends that Christian teens from that time period would identify with.
- [Jewels Overlooked in the Story of Job](http://www.gracecentered.com/jewels-overlooked-in-job.htm): The Old Testament book of Job is an ancient and mysterious piece of literature. Often we focus on its main message to the neglect of the little gems of understanding hidden in its recesses.
- [Should My Offering Only Go To My Church?](http://www.gracecentered.com/offering-church.htm): One of today’s popular teachings is that one’s offerings should be given only at his home church. I suppose some of this is a reaction to all of the televangelists of the 70’s and 80’s who urged people to send them their tithes.
- [Teaching Our Kids to Thrive in a Tough World](http://www.gracecentered.com/teachingtothrive.htm): When you factor out those fortunate people who are born to wealth and a few athletic and entertainment superstars, virtually every millionaire in America got there one way: By learning to sell. Salesmanship is the great equalizer of our society.
- [Does Your Insurance Provide Obamacare Abortion Coverage?](http://www.gracecentered.com/does-your-insurance-provide-obamacare-abortion-coverage.htm): WASHINGTON — Two pro-life research groups announced Thursday on Capitol Hill that they've launched a new website designed to help healthcare consumers figure out which Obamacare plans include surcharges that will go directly toward funding abortions.
- [5 Facebook Mistakes](http://www.gracecentered.com/5-facebook-mistakes.htm): I suppose this could be about all social media, but Facebook seems to take up most of our time on the computer these days (and for the foreseeable future?). As with all things we need wisdom to use such a gift … and yes, I do regard Facebook as a gift. It is a free utility that allows us to connect with so many people that we might not hear from otherwise.
- [Pray for them: Christian persecution at 'biblical proportions'](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian-persecution-at-biblical-proportions.htm): In recent months, stories of Christian persecution have seemed more like pages ripped from the Book of Exodus than modern-day news reports.
- [Billy Graham Celebrates 96th Birthday With New Film Announcement: 'I Know I'm Going to Heaven, I'm Looking Forward to It'](http://www.gracecentered.com/billy-graham-celebrates-96th-birthday-film-announcement-i-heaven-it.htm): Billy Graham is ringing in his 96th year with friends and family on Friday, and fellow faith leaders are sending an outpouring of well wishes to the famed evangelical preacher today.
- [Some College Students Approve of ‘After-Birth Abortion’… Up to Age 5](http://www.gracecentered.com/college-students-approve-after-birth-abortion-age-5.htm): Some pro-choice students think it’s morally acceptable to kill a child after birth up to the age of five, according to a Christian group that that does pro-life counseling on college campuses.
- [Forgiveness and Consequences](http://www.gracecentered.com/forgiveness-consequences.htm): There's a lot in the New Testament about forgiveness. Jesus speaks of it so many times there's not enough space to fit all the references in here. In the letters and Acts there's a heavy emphasis on forgiving those who have wronged us, but there's less said about consequences.
- [Leading With Integrity](http://www.gracecentered.com/leading-with-integrity.htm): The first duty of a leader is personal integrity. Whether in politics, athletics, business, education, or family, who the person is counts for more than what she does. His title, fame, or salary can never compensate for a lack of character.
- [Christian Couple Murdered and Cremated by Muslim Mob in Pakistan for Allegedly Desecrating the Quran](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian-couple-murdered.htm): Christian Couple Murdered and Cremated by Muslim Mob in Pakistan for Allegedly Desecrating the Quran.
- [Pastors Defy IRS Rules, Endorse Candidates](http://www.gracecentered.com/pastors-defy-irs-rules-endorse-candidates.htm): Christian pastors reportedly are defying IRS rules and endorsing political candidates at an unprecedented rate.
- [Houston Mayor Drops Bid to Subpoena Pastors' Sermons](http://www.gracecentered.com/houston-mayor-drops-subpoena-bid.htm): Subpoenas issued to five Houston pastors demanding all sermons and correspondence dealing with homosexuality, gender identity and the city's Equal Rights ordinance have been withdrawn, the city’s first openly lesbian mayor announced at a Wednesday press conference.
- [One Smart Coach](http://www.gracecentered.com/one-smart-coach.htm): The really good coaches are smart cookies. Forget the “dumb jock” jokes, and pay attention to their ability to motivate – and focus on what matters.
- [The Criminalization of Christianity is Here](http://www.gracecentered.com/criminalization-of-christianity.htm): Kahnh Huynh knows something about living in a society devoid of freedom of religion, speech and association.
- [Family of New York preemie born weighing less than 1 pound asks for prayers](http://www.gracecentered.com/family-york-preemie-born-weighing-1-pound-asks-prayers.htm): Family of New York preemie born weighing less than 1 pound asks for prayers
- [Insight from a Jewish Theologian](http://www.gracecentered.com/insight-jewish-theologian.htm): “Religion is as religion does – all the rest is talk,” wrote Irving Greenberg. A Jewish theologian, Greenberg had the Holocaust in view with his statement. It was not enough to say a prayer for Jews in the time of Hitler. It didn’t help to feel sad or to wish that someone would come to the aid of people being murdered. It was a time that called for very specific and practical behaviors.
- [Things Mentors Overlook](http://www.gracecentered.com/mentors-overlook.htm): The term - mentor - is enjoying widespread popularity these days. There are various disciplines in which mentoring is actively encouraged – including business, education, and spiritual life. If you are over 40 and have experienced any degree of success in your field, you have had the experience of having one or more persons new to that domain ask you to be his or her mentor.
- [Pakistani court upholds death sentence for Christian woman accused of insulting Islam](http://www.gracecentered.com/pakistani-court-upholds-death-sentence-christian-woman-accused-insulting-islam.htm): Pakistani court upholds death sentence for Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, who is accused of insulting Islam.
- [City Threatens To Arrest Ministers Who Refuse To Perform Same-Sex Weddings](http://www.gracecentered.com/city-threatens-arrest-ministers-refuse-perform-same-sex-weddings.htm): Two Christian ministers who own an Idaho wedding chapel were told they had to either perform same-sex weddings or face jail time and up to a $1,000 fine, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court.
- [3 Things Jesus Will Never Do](http://www.gracecentered.com/3-things-jesus-will-never-do.htm): In the ongoing blessing of Jesus in our lives, there are three things that He will never do.
- [Overcoming Temptation](http://www.gracecentered.com/overcoming-temptation.htm): Victory sounds so triumphant. Yet I’m thinking most of us do not feel very triumphant over our temptations, obsessions, downfalls, and addictions.
- [City of Houston Demands Pastors Turn Over Sermons Critical of Mayor](http://www.gracecentered.com/city-houston-demands-pastors-turn-sermons-critical-mayor.htm): The city of Houston has issued subpoenas demanding a group of pastors turn over any sermons dealing with homosexuality, gender identity or Annise Parker, the city’s first openly lesbian mayor. And those ministers who fail to comply could be held in contempt of court.
- [Me And My Big Mouth](http://www.gracecentered.com/big_mouth.htm): I used to be a world-class, Olympic-gold-medal-winning nag. When my husband, Ron, and I first got married, I wanted to win every argument and be the boss of my tiny universe. One day my younger brother Dan witnessed me at my naggiest. "I'm going home" he said. "Your bickering is making me crazy-it wears me
- [Purity's Connection To Peace](http://www.gracecentered.com/puritys-connection-peace.htm): Dr. Bobby Harrington, a graduate of Abilene Christian University, speaks from the heart on the Bible's teachings on purity and how that relates to feeling peace with God and our daily lives.
- ['Museum of the Bible' hopes to have faithful flock to Washington](http://www.gracecentered.com/museum-bible-hopes-faithful-flock-washington.htm): If Steven Green’s prayers are answered, a new museum will take its place three years from now in Washington, alongside such venerable repositories of art and artifacts as the Smithsonian and the Air and Space and U.S. Holocaust Memorial museums.
- [Ebola Children Survivors Accused of Witchcraft, Black Magic in West Africa](http://www.gracecentered.com/ebola-children-survivors-accused-witchcraft-black-magic-west-africa.htm): Ebola children survivors accused of witchcraft, black magic in west Africa.
- [New York School Faces Backlash After It Refuses to Renew Students' Christian Club](http://www.gracecentered.com/york-school-faces-backlash-refuses-renew-students-christian-club.htm): A New York high school could face legal action after refusing to renew a Christian student organization this year.
- [Interview With Leonard Goodwin, Author of "Echoes in the Universe"](http://www.gracecentered.com/interview-with-leonard-goodwin.htm): Leonard Goodwin is a retired professor and social psychologist who resides just outside of Nashville, TN. He is author of the new book, "Echoes in the Universe." The following is an interview with him about that book.
- [Islamists Torch 185 Churches in Nigeria](http://www.gracecentered.com/churches-torched-in-nigeria.htm): A prominent Nigerian reverend has revealed Islamist terror group Boko Haram destroyed over 180 churches in the West African country following its capture of towns and villages in the north-eastern states of Borno and Adamawa.
- [US Tourist Jeffrey Fowle Was Arrested in North Korea for Leaving Bible Behind](http://www.gracecentered.com/us-tourist-jeffrey-fowle-arrested-in-north-korea-for-leaving-bible-behind.htm): North Korean authorities arrested U.S. tourist Jeffrey Fowle three months ago, accusing him of Christian proselytizing, which is considered a crime in North Korea. The arrest was made with the charge that he left a copy of the Bible with his contact information and pictures under a bin in the bathroom at a restaurant during his 10-day visit to that country.
- [How Clearly Do You See Yourself?](http://www.gracecentered.com/how-clearly-do-you-see-yourself.htm): A report from the Pew Research Center offers some interesting insights about how men and woman see ourselves. The topic surveyed among more than 2,250 adults was weight. Says the report: “People tend to see the weight problem of the nation as a whole as being greater than the weight problems of their friends and acquaintances.” They might also have added “or themselves.”
- [Reaching the Lost with a Church Website?](http://www.gracecentered.com/church_website_strategy.htm): In 1995 I started building and marketing websites. That makes me one of the veterans of the net. I was still in my teen years and saw the Internet as the mature version of Nintendo.
- [Why Does God Allow Pain?](http://www.gracecentered.com/reason_for_pain.htm): A five-year-old girl in Patterson, Georgia, has a rare abnormality. Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA) is so rare that a clinic specializing in the disorder has only 35 patients – 17 of them from the United States. CIPA is caused by a genetic mutation that obstructs development of the nerves that transmit sensations
- [Don't Give Guilt Such a Bad Name](http://www.gracecentered.com/guilt-has-a-bad-rep.htm): The impression one can get from lots of the pop psychology being marketed these days is that guilt is the most inappropriate of human sentiments. We are who we are, and we do what we do. Nobody should feel guilty about anything. Feeling guilty about anything is bad. It can only lead to negative results. That simply isn’t true.
- [Forgive and Forget?](http://www.gracecentered.com/forgive-forget.htm): Perhaps the most common idea about forgiveness is the tendency to link it with forgetting. To grant that “forgive and forget” go together as an alliteration is not to admit they go together in the moral act of forgiving someone.
- [Who Will Stand Up for the Christians?](http://www.gracecentered.com/stand-up-for-christians.htm): Why is the world silent while Christians are being slaughtered in the Middle East and Africa?
- [Party Time](http://www.gracecentered.com/party-time.htm): Somewhere in the last 2000 years we've missed the point. Church is a solemn and depressing place in many denominational parishes. The quiet "reverence" of the buildings misses the point. Masses in latin, canticles in old English or the more modern service books all emphasise the necessity to be quiet in God's presence.
- [Navy removes Bibles from guest rooms](http://www.gracecentered.com/navy-removes-bibles-guest-rooms.htm): There is growing outrage among sailors and religious liberty advocates over a directive that calls for the removal of Bibles from lodges and hotels run on U.S. Navy bases. The directive comes after an atheist group filed a formal complaint earlier this year over the placement of Bibles in the rooms.
- [Space Traffic Chief](http://www.gracecentered.com/asteroids_game.htm): You're innocently flying your spaceship through the universe when you accidentally take a wrong turn and wind up in an asteroid field. So your only chance is to shoot your way out. But these things are tricky!
- [An Eye for an Eye](http://www.gracecentered.com/eye-for-an-eye.htm): One can make a good case that the biblical directive about eye-for-eye justice is among the most misunderstood – and misused – texts in Scripture...and maybe not in the way you think!
- [An Interview With Author Mavis Thompson](http://www.gracecentered.com/interview-with-mavis-thompson.htm): This begins our series of interviews with Christian authors. We'll dive right in with straight-forward question and let the authors answer. These questions are for Mavis Thompson, author of the book Angels Come In Strange Disguises.
- [Federal Court Says Ground Zero Cross Will Stay](http://www.gracecentered.com/federal-court-says-cross-can-stay.htm): A federal court ruled Monday that the existence of a cross at Ground Zero does not violate the Constitution, slamming the appeal filed by the secular activist group American Atheists.
- [Red Herrings to Distract the Body of Christ](http://www.gracecentered.com/red-herrings-distract-body-christ.htm): There are a number of “issues” making waves in the media currently and over the last few years. Ordination of women, divorce rates, and others which draw us as well as the mainstream of the world away from what our primary thrust should be.
- [Faith Isn't a 'Get Out of Jail Free' Card](http://www.gracecentered.com/faith-get-jail-free-card.htm): The single greatest challenge to faith is the reality of human suffering. If the world was created by a good and loving God, why is life so hard? Why do good people get cancer or lose their jobs? Why are babies born deformed or starve to death? Why are news reports consumed with horrible accounts of deadly earthquakes and terrorist attacks? Why? Why? Why?
- [You Don't Understand God? Me Either!](http://www.gracecentered.com/how_to_trust_in_god_i_dont_understand.htm): It is hard for me to write Christian non-fiction these days, because it demands confidence in what I believe. It’s also difficult for me to engage in religious conversations with people, because they so often act as though they understand each facet of God and His will for their lives. I don’t know anyone my
- [Christian Holocaust Underway in Iraq](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian-holocaust-underway-iraq.htm): When U.S. troops invaded Iraq in 2003, there were at least 1.5 million Christians in Iraq. Over the last ten years, significantly in the last few months with the emergence of ISIS, that figure has dropped to about 400,000.
- [Two Kinds of People](http://www.gracecentered.com/two-kinds-people.htm): What is your typical reaction to the nightly news? “I never watch it,” someone says. “It’s just too depressing!” Granted. There are negative stories practically every evening. Stories about blood and gore tend to get prominent placement. What’s the newsroom creed? If it bleeds, it leads?
- [Work: Holdover from Eden](http://www.gracecentered.com/work-holdover-eden.htm): Our culture tends to view work as a curse. One should try to avoid it whenever possible. When it can’t be avoided, one should do only what is agreed to by contract in the job description. After all, one works only because it is obligatory to making money; so rear your kids to think in terms of careers that are the quickest and surest ways to get rich.
- [Man Gets 6 Years in Egyptian Prison for Liking A Christian Website on Facebook!](http://www.gracecentered.com/man-6-years-egyptian-prison-liking-christian-website-facebook.htm): An Egyptian man was convicted and sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison along with a fine of $840 dollars for violating Egypt’s blasphemy laws, which make illegal any criticism of the Islamic religion.
- [Iraq Ordering Christians to Pay Special Tax](http://www.gracecentered.com/iraq-ordering-christians-pay-special-tax.htm): Christians in a northern Iraqi city are reportedly being ordered to pay a tax in return for protection by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
- [World's First Church, Mosque, and Synagogue in One?](http://www.gracecentered.com/worlds-church-mosque-synagogue-one.htm): A project named "The House of One," is looking to create the world's first ever church, mosque, and synagogue in Berlin, Germany, where people of different faiths can worship under one roof. The group is currently raising donations...and eyebrows.
- [Court Says Atheist group must explain why Ground Zero Cross is 'offensive'](http://www.gracecentered.com/court-atheist-group-explain-ground-cross-offensive.htm): A federal appeals court said this week that an atheist group trying to keep the so-called Ground Zero Cross out of the National September 11 Memorial Museum must better explain how displaying the artifact is “offensive” and violates members’ constitutional rights.
- [Texas Church Promises Refund of Tithe if 'God Doesn't Hold True to His Promise of Blessings'](http://www.gracecentered.com/texas-church-promises-tithe-refund.htm): Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, led by Pastor Ed Young, has launched a 90-Day Challenge, encouraging members of the multi-campus megachurch to put God to the test by "bringing (their) tithes and offerings to the House." The church offers a 100 percent refund of the tithe if God doesn't provide blessings.
- [Baker forced to make gay wedding cakes, undergo sensitivity training, after losing lawsuit](http://www.gracecentered.com/baker-forced-gay-wedding-cakes-undergo-sensitivity-training-losing-lawsuit.htm): A family owned bakery has been ordered to make wedding cakes for gay couples and guarantee that its staff be given comprehensive training on Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws after the state’s Civil Rights Commission determined the Christian baker violated the law by refusing to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.
- [SHOCK: Planned Parenthood Points to Bible to Justify Abortions](http://www.gracecentered.com/shock-planned-parenthood-points-bible-justify-abortions.htm): The largely government-funded abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, is now issuing a “pastoral letter” to prospective abortion clients that claims, “The truth is that abortion is not even mentioned in the Scriptures—Jewish or Christian—and there are clergy and people of faith from all denominations who support women making this complex decision.”
- [Why I Believe God Exists](http://www.gracecentered.com/why-i-believe-god-exists.htm): Can I prove God exists by some formula in a test tube in a chemistry lab? Nope. There is no need to.
- [Teacher Says No to Bible During 'Free Reading' Time](http://www.gracecentered.com/teacher-bible-free-reading-time.htm): A Florida schoolteacher is under fire after telling one of her students he was not allowed to read the Bible during "free reading" time.
- [Professor Bans Students From Thanking God in Graduation Statements](http://www.gracecentered.com/professor-bans-students-from-thanking-god-in-graduation-statements.htm): A professor at a public university in North Carolina forbade his students from thanking God in personal statements that will be delivered during their departmental graduation ceremony on Friday.
- [Supreme Court Okays Prayer Before Public Meetings](http://www.gracecentered.com/supreme-court-okays-prayer-public-meetings.htm): The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a town in New York state did not violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on government endorsement of religion by allowing prayers before its monthly meetings.
- [Study: Internet Use Keeping People Out of Church](http://www.gracecentered.com/internet-keeping-people-from-church.htm): Fewer Americans are going to church than ever, and one reason may be because they're too busy logging onto the Internet, a new research study shows.
- [Dobson tears into Obama: 'Come and get me'](http://www.gracecentered.com/dobson-tears-obama-come-me.htm): Dobson, whose organization recently won a court fight against Obama over a mandate in Obamacare that would have required his ministry to pay for abortion pills, has not been shy about challenging the president on his abortion agenda.
- [Stop The Whining! ](http://www.gracecentered.com/stop-whining.htm): Trash-talk television, celebrity adulteries, drug-busted-and-still playing athletes, the abolition of public moral codes – all have combined to make us think we don’t have to be accountable for our behaviors. Until we reject this lie and quit whining, our culture will continue to get worse.
- [Fox Developing Series About Jesus’ Formative Years](http://www.gracecentered.com/fox-developing-series-on-jesus-childhood.htm): With popularity of Bible-themed projects showing no signs of subsiding, Fox has put in development Nazareth, follows the formative years of Jesus of Nazareth.
- [Could China Become 'world's most Christian nation' in 15 Years?](http://www.gracecentered.com/china-on-course-to-become-worlds-most-christian-nation.htm): The number of those who call themselves Christians in China is growing so steadily and rapidly that by the year 2030 it could have more churchgoers than the world's current most numerous Christian country in the world, the United States.
- [Clemson Football Accused of Promoting Christianity By Atheist Group](http://www.gracecentered.com/clemson-universitys-football-accused-of-promoting-christianity.htm): The Wisconisn-based atheist organization known as The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), sent a letter to the Senior Associate General Counsel of Clemson University attacking what it claimed to be "endorsement of religion over nonreligion" in Clemson's football program.
- [Dobson Wins Temporary ObamaCare Exemption For His Ministry](http://www.gracecentered.com/dobson-wins-temporary-obamacare-exemption-ministry.htm): Christian radio broadcaster James Dobson has won a temporary injunction preventing the federal government from requiring his ministry to include the morning-after pill in its health insurance.
- [Jesus is...](http://www.gracecentered.com/jesus-is.htm): In this post we learn who the true "Rock" is.
- [So Right You're Wrong](http://www.gracecentered.com/so-right-you-are-wrong.htm): A story from Abraham Lincoln's days as a lawyer says that Lincoln was hired to sue a fellow over a debt that totaled $2.50. He didn't want to do it. But his client insisted "principle" was at stake more than money. The two men had been friends, but the delinquent debt had changed things. Now they would be adversaries over a paltry sum of money.
- [Report: Jesus More Popular on China's Twitter Than Chairman Mao](http://www.gracecentered.com/report-jesus-popular-chinas-twitter-chairman-mao.htm): Jesus Christ is more popular on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, than Chairman Mao.
- [Christians Form Human Shield Around Church Building Under Communist Threat](http://www.gracecentered.com/christians-form-wall-around-church.htm): Christians have flocked to defend a church in eastern China after Communist Party officials claimed it was an "illegal construction" and announced plans to demolish it. Thousands of Chinese Christians have mounted an extraordinary, round-the-clock defense of a church in a city known as the 'Jerusalem of the East' after Communist Party officials threatened to
- [University Physics Group Says Ark Would Have Floated](http://www.gracecentered.com/university-physics-group-says-ark-floated.htm): Though many Christians believe the ark floated simple because the Bible says that it did, it's nice to have some third-party validation to show that God doesn't ask us to believe the improbable.
- [Why Did God Have to Come to Earth?](http://www.gracecentered.com/why-did-god-come-to-earth.htm): It seems that this time of year, a few weeks prior to Easter, questions and conversations about Jesus and the Bible take center stage. Certain TV channels like the History channel, TLC and Discovery tend to air documentaries entitled “Bible Secrets Revealed,” “Who was Jesus?” and others.
- [Christian Review of "Noah" Movie](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian-review-noah-movie.htm): The Noah movie is exactly as it purports, “a film inspired by the story of Noah.” They say they took “artistic license.” Did they ever. For those familiar with the Genesis account, the movie has several, “You’ve got to be kidding,” moments. But...
- [Carroll Commissioner 'willing to go to jail' Over Right To Pray](http://www.gracecentered.com/willing-to-go-to-jail-over-right-to-pray.htm): The American Humanist Association has sued the county commissioners in Carroll County, Maryland and a judge has ordered an injunction that the commission must not mention any specific deity or religion in their meetings.
- [Aronofsky And Apostasy: Expect Noah To Be An Anti-Biblical Biblical Epic](http://www.gracecentered.com/expect-noah-to-be-anti-biblical.htm): Darren Arnofsky’s first successful film was Pi, a brilliant and disturbing indie production which centers on the lives of obsessed mathematicians. The protagonist discovers a number, buried within the non-repeating, non-terminating number known as Pi. The discovered number is actually the name of God.
- [5 Ways To Process Problems According To The Bible:](http://www.gracecentered.com/5-ways-to-process-problems.htm): Five ways to process problems according to the Bible.
- [A Convenient Murder](http://www.gracecentered.com/convenient-murder.htm): Watching movies and television dramas over the years has made us all witness to the vicious act of ending another person’s life simply to create convenience.
- [Kevin Hart Tells Oprah About The Surprise He Found In His Bible](http://www.gracecentered.com/kevin-hart-tells-oprah-surprise-in-bible.htm): Kevin Hart Tells Oprah About The Surprise He Found In His Bible.
- [Woman Flees State To Protect Child In Her Womb](http://www.gracecentered.com/woman-flees-to-protect-child.htm): The story in the following video doesn't take place in China, where government-forced abortions are a common occurrence. It happened in the United States.
- [The Most Important of the Lord's Work](http://www.gracecentered.com/most-important-of-the-lords-work.htm): The most important of the Lord's work that you will do is...
- [What Does Your Dog Think of You?](http://www.gracecentered.com/what-does-your-dog-think-of-you.htm): He's always happy when you come home. He showers you with kisses. He loathes anyone who might pose a threat to you. He'd die for you. So what is it he sees in you?
- [What's Your Pet's Name?](http://www.gracecentered.com/whats-your-name.htm): What might your pet think his/her name is based on the words you say?
- [Full of Christ](http://www.gracecentered.com/full-christ.htm): I want to be so full of Christ that if a mosquito bites me, it flies away singing 'There is power in the blood!'
- [Minister Diagnosed With Cancer Says, 'No Compassion in the Affordable Care Act'](http://www.gracecentered.com/minister-diagnosed-cancer-says-no-compassion-affordable-care-act.htm): A minister recently diagnosed with cancer, and who is covered under the so-called Affordable Care Act" (A.K.A. Obamacare), tells a local Iowa reporter that there's "no compassion in the Affordable Care Act."
- [The Christian Civil War](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian-civil-war.htm): During the American Civil War over 600,000 soldiers lost their lives as a result of the idealistic promotion of thoughts and undertakings that were interpretations of self-interests. People were drawn onto opposing sides in which each thought they were right.
- [Should A Christian Date A Non-Christian?](http://www.gracecentered.com/should-a-christian-date-a-non-christian.htm): Should a Christian date a non-Christian? A video and discussion on this topic.
- [Home Schooling Family Allowed to Stay in US](http://www.gracecentered.com/home-schooling-family-allowed-to-stay-in-us.htm): The German family that the Obama administration threatened with deportation after they sought asylum in the U.S. because they wanted to home school their children has been granted permission to stay in the country indefinitely, according to a family attorney.
- [Nobody Knew This Toddler's Secret Talent.. Until She Stood Up In Front Of Her Church And Did THIS!](http://www.gracecentered.com/todders-directing-choir.htm): Nobody Knew This Toddler's Secret Talent.. Until She Stood Up In Front Of Her Church And Did THIS!
- ['Son of God' Producer: Hollywood Has Many Quiet Christians](http://www.gracecentered.com/son-god-producer-hollywood-quiet-christians.htm): Hollywood is getting back some of that old-time religion, thanks to its large but mostly silent community of devout Christians, says reality TV czar Mark Burnett, co-producer of the blockbuster movie "Son of God."
- [On Weddings and Conscience: Are Christians Hypocrites?](http://www.gracecentered.com/weddings-and-conscience-are-christians-hypocrites.htm): Kirsten Powers and Jonathan Merritt wrote an article for the Daily Beast [on February 23 of this year] accusing conservative Christians of hypocrisy and unchristian behavior for suggesting that some persons’ consciences won’t allow them to use their creative gifts to help celebrate same-sex weddings. Since I was a key example of this hypocrisy, I’ll respond to that charge.
- [When the Government Covers Up](http://www.gracecentered.com/government-cover-up.htm): The evidence was so clear that Jesus had arisen from the dead that the Roman government had to make up a cover-up story and say that Jesus' disciples had stolen His body away from armed Roman guards!
- [As 'Son of God' Soars, 'Noah' Attacked for Artistic License](http://www.gracecentered.com/son-of-god-soars-noah-attacked.htm): While the movie "Son of God" had a blockbuster opening weekend at the box office, the next biblical big-screen production on Hollywood's horizon, "Noah," is taking heat from some Christians for departing from the scriptural account of the Old Testament story.
- [Air Hockey Game Online](http://www.gracecentered.com/air_hockey.htm): Instructions for Air Hockey: Move your mouse in front of the puck to hit it back to your opponent. One tip for this game: Don't be quick to move. Keep your puck still and react instead of trying to anticipate. This air hockey game is pretty tough, so if you do well, email a friend
- [Online Soccer Game | The Champions 2: Euro 2008](http://www.gracecentered.com/online_soccer_game.htm): In this soccer game you play against other soccer teams from around the world.
- [Play Golf Online](http://www.gracecentered.com/play_golf_online.htm): Who needs a sunny day or "vacation time" to play some golf? You don't with this golf game you can play with your Internet browser. Tee it up!
- [Free Online Pool Games](http://www.gracecentered.com/pool_online.htm): Free Online Pool Game Instructions: To use your pool stick to strike the cue ball, hold your mouse on the stick and pull it back until you have the alignment and power you choose. Then release your mouse to strike the cue ball. That's it. Good luck!
- [Racing Online Game](http://www.gracecentered.com/racing_online.htm): In this racing game you'll play the part of a Raccoon battling other raccoons for victory. This game is similar to Mario Cart in the game play and in that you're racing in a cart.
- [Santa Claus Game](http://www.gracecentered.com/santa_clause_game.htm): Santa's reindeer are taking this Christmas off so Santa needs your help to guide his sleigh in this game!
- [Simon Game: An Online Memory Game](http://www.gracecentered.com/simon_memory_game_online.htm): Remember this memory game from the 1980s? If you don't, you're in for a treat (and a better memory too) with this arcade version.
- [Galaxy Hunter Game](http://www.gracecentered.com/galaxy-hunter-game.htm): Click to shoot at incoming enemy space craft and move your mouse to dodge fire and collisions. Enjoy the fight!
- [Star Castle](http://www.gracecentered.com/star_castle.htm): Find weaknesses in the force field to take down the mother ship!
- [Super Mario Brothers Online](http://www.gracecentered.com/play_super_mario_brothers_online.htm): A classic game for those of us who grew up with Nintendo. Mario has to rescue the princess! Get to it!
- [Jeu Chiant Game](http://www.gracecentered.com/addictive_game.htm): This game seems fairly simple. But then it begins and you realize just how challenging it is. It takes balance, thinking ahead and a steady hand. You'll want to forward this unique one to your friends.
- [Bike Games to Play Online: Motorcross Game Online](http://www.gracecentered.com/bike_games_to_play.htm): Bike Racing Game Motorcross Instructions: To move your bike forward, click and hold your left mouse button (your only button for Mac users). To turn left, move your mouse to the "left." To turn your bike to the right move your mouse to the left. Hug the turns and release the gas (your mouse button)
- [Play Car Racing Game](http://www.gracecentered.com/car_racing_game.htm): In this car racing video game you can literally smell the rubber burning. No, wait, that might be your hard drive. But you can experience all the fun of racing with none of the smells by playing this game.
- [Play Donkey Kong Game Online](http://www.gracecentered.com/donkey_kong_online_game.htm): The princess has been captured by a big gorilla and only Mario, a heroic local plumber, can save her. In this classic video game that preceded Super Mario Brothers, you've got to jump over barrels, climb ladders, dodge fire and outsmart a gorilla in order to rescue your adoring princess.
- [Ping Pong](http://www.gracecentered.com/ping_pong.htm): Ping pong in virtual reality with your computer. Use your mouse to move the paddle back and forth and react to your opponent.
- [Arizona Governor Brewer Vetoes Religious Protection Bill](http://www.gracecentered.com/arizona-governor-brewer-vetoes-religious-protection-bill.htm): Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a bill yesterday (2-26-2014) that was passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature last week. It would have allowed business owners to cite their religious beliefs as legal grounds for refusing to serve same-sex couples or any other prospective customer.
- [Homosexuality Agendas?](http://www.gracecentered.com/homosexuality-agendas.htm): Because I teach ethics and theology, I have read a great many things about homosexuality. For that matter, anyone who reads newspapers or watches TV gets lots of information on the subject these days. Most of it is agenda-driven.
- [Arizona Governor Considers Religious Protection Act](http://www.gracecentered.com/religious-protection-act-in-az.htm): Arizona Governor Jan Brewer says she will review a bill that would allow business owners to cite their religious beliefs as legal justification for refusing service to perspective customers.
- [An Overlooked Lesson from Matthew 19](http://www.gracecentered.com/overlooked-from-matthew-19-16-30.htm): The account of the rich young ruler’s interview with Jesus in Matthew 19:16-30 has been the basis for many lessons that I have taught through the years. It pictures to us an admirable, sincere, and God-fearing young man who disappointed Jesus, and us, because he loved his wealth more than his soul. He should have been willing to sell what he had and to give it to the poor in following Jesus. At least, that is what I thought!
- ['Noah' Film Attempts To Woo Christians...and Everybody Else](http://www.gracecentered.com/noah-film-attempts-to-woo-christians.htm): Hollywood has recently learned that Christians go to movies. Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ, was wildly successful at the box office and on DVD. Filmmakers, nowadays working more outside of Hollywood than within, walked away seeing dollar signs. They had learned the valuable lesson that they had been ignoring and even offending an extremely large audience base.
- ['Son of God' Movie Cuts Satan Due To Obama Likeness](http://www.gracecentered.com/son-of-god-movie-cuts-satan.htm): Producers of the new “Son of God” movie — the followup to the highly successful miniseries, “The Bible” — say they've cut out the character of Satan because he looks too much like President Obama.
- [Some "Evil" Thoughts](http://www.gracecentered.com/evil-thoughts.htm): Live long enough and we're bound to see evil at work, around us, and in us. But the true nature of evil generates debate, even in scientific circles. And our perspective has big implications.
- [Teaching Our Children To Be Respectful](http://www.gracecentered.com/teaching-children-to-be-respectful.htm): Let those of us who are parents be encouraged to insist that our children be respectful. That they develop an attitude of helping others and a mature ear to the words that come out of their mouths to others.
- [Planned Parenthood Rep. Says Christianity is "Going Down"](http://www.gracecentered.com/planned-parenthood-rep-christianity-going-down.htm): For those of us so very blessed to have raised our personal white flag in mankind’s inherently fruitless struggle against the Creator, there can be no joy in watching God-deniers continue to labor under the grandest of all deceptions. Regardless of how nasty they may be as individuals, there can be only sadness, genuine pity and prayer.
- [New Film 'Persecuted' Warns of Abuse of Gov't Power, Religious Persecution](http://www.gracecentered.com/persecuted.htm): "Persecuted," a new film that will be released on May 9, is a thriller with a political message about religious persecution and the abuse of government power.
- [Peyton Manning On Football's Importance](http://www.gracecentered.com/peyton-manning-on-football-importance.htm): By the amount of airtime on multiple networks, the money spent on security, and the attention given its TV commercials, you could have gotten the impression that nothing in all of life is so important as the Super Bowl.
- ["The Passion of the Christ" - A Review](http://www.gracecentered.com/the_passion.htm): Undeniably uncomfortable, but you need to see The Passion. If you haven't done so yet you need to see Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ." It will reinvigorate your faith and give you a much better understanding of the sufferings that Jesus went through to accomplish redemption for you and for me. Don't
- [No King In Israel (Judges 21:25)](http://www.gracecentered.com/no_king_in_israel_self_justification.htm): Judges 21:25 "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes."
- ["Light" Infantry](http://www.gracecentered.com/light-infantry.htm): Call it the art of war. No, not military strategy but the simple creativity of soldiers who used a lull in the fighting and whatever was at hand to preserve their sanity and remind themselves there was still beauty in this world. One of the best examples is in the Crkva Ruzica (Rose Church) in Belgrade, Serbia, part of the former Yugoslavia.
- [Obama To Deport Christian Family For Homeschooling](http://www.gracecentered.com/obama-to-deport-christian-family.htm): The same President who wants to grant amnesty to people who came to the United States illegally, and who just last week released thousands of illegals who had actually committed crimes, wants to deport a Christian family who used legal channels to come to the United States simply because they want to home school their children.
- [Teen Business Owners: While Growing Up](http://www.gracecentered.com/teen-business-owners.htm): When I was younger I remember teachers asking me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It was a legitimate question. They were trying to get me to think ahead, get into the practice of thinking about my financial future. This is an important aspect of growing into a well-rounded, contributing adult but let me tell you why that bothers me today.
- [Para-Sight: Seeing Spiritual Danger for What It Is](http://www.gracecentered.com/spiritual-danger.htm): Parasites are control freaks. Not only do they live off other creatures, they make them do astonishing things that are usually out of character. An example is a Costa Rican parasitic wasp that terrorizes spiders. A female wasp paralyzes a victim and lays her eggs on the spider's abdomen. When they hatch, the baby wasps feed on the blood of their host while the spider continues on like nothing's wrong.
- [Billy Graham's Prayer for the United States](http://www.gracecentered.com/billy-grahams-prayer-united-states.htm): Billy Graham's prayer for our nation (true and timely): "Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.
- [When I Die](http://www.gracecentered.com/when-i-die.htm): The older I get the more I think of dying. That seems only natural. Graduation time approaches and I need to think about it seriously. I know I’m merely one heartbeat away from stepping into a room full of angels, so what are my thoughts when I think of dying? Maybe they are not unlike your own thoughts. May I share them with you?
- [Court Says It's Okay To Fire Teacher For 'Religious Materials'](http://www.gracecentered.com/court-fire-teacher-religious-materials.htm): The Ohio Supreme Court ruled a school district justifiably dismissed a science teacher on grounds of insubordination who kept a Bible on his desk and taught his religious beliefs in class, but the majority in the 4-3 opinion was scolded by a dissenting justice for evading the constitutional issues presented by the case.
- [Coup de Grace](http://www.gracecentered.com/coup-de-grace.htm): Amazing Grace is a Christmas carol. And if you've ever wondered what's so amazing about grace in the first place, this story will help.
- [A Heavenly Christmas](http://www.gracecentered.com/a-heavenly-christmas.htm): “The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.” Thus are the words of a favorite Yuletide song. A baby in a manger makes for quite a story. Everyone loves babies. Jesus was once a baby, but he grew up and became a man. Most people can smile at an innocent child. How many can worship a crucified Savior on a cross who stated clearly that no one could approach the Father except through him?
- [Christmas Packaging](http://www.gracecentered.com/christmas-packaging.htm): Let's take the wraps off the tradition of concealing presents under decorative packaging and see if there isn't a spiritual gift inside.
- [Doomsday preacher Harold Camping dies at 92](http://www.gracecentered.com/harold-camping-dies-at-92.htm): OAKLAND, CALIF. – Harold Camping, the preacher who used his large audience that included his evangelical radio ministry and thousands of billboards to convince people that the world was ending but then gave up prophecy when his "prophesied" doomsday did not come to pass, has died at age 92.
- [The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: 4 Volunteer Vacations to Light Your Holiday](http://www.gracecentered.com/wonderful-time-year-4-volunteer-vacations-light-holiday.htm): Beyond the local soup kitchen, here are four ways you can give back this holiday season with a volunteer vacation.
- [The Fear of the Lord](http://www.gracecentered.com/fear-of-the-lord.htm): The 'fear of the Lord' is a phrase of Old Testament piety meaning that it was a fulfillment of religious obligations. But it is not just a command from the Old Testament.
- [Review of "Reckless Faith" by Beth Guckenberger](http://www.gracecentered.com/reckless-faith-review.htm): Reckless Abandon. To act without any regard for consequences. I heard this term for the first time when my husband defined this as an investment firm’s unscrupulous practice of telling the potential customer what he or she wanted to hear in an effort to collect as much money as possible from the client, layered with promises made in paradise.
- [The Mind War](http://www.gracecentered.com/mind-war.htm): It’s so easy to miss that we miss it. Our walk with God is a constant battle of the mind to overcome the evil thoughts that can invade the thinking process. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). Does any one of us think Satan is not eager to get into our minds and have us focusing on the wrong issues of life? We are at war 24/7 as we eagerly adjust our minds to think of holy matters.
- [Hollywood’s Next Big Thing: Religion](http://www.gracecentered.com/hollywoods-big-thing-religion.htm): As summer winds down, the hottest trend on Hollywood’s fall schedule appears to be religion.
- [Trust God or Be Your Own God](http://www.gracecentered.com/trust-god-or-be-your-own.htm): Abram (later renamed Abraham) is a very important man in the Biblical scheme of things because God’s promises to him recorded in Genesis 12:1-3 (and repeated multiple times afterward) set the course for human history.
- [Jehovah Jireh - My Provider](http://www.gracecentered.com/jehovah-jireh-provider.htm): Here's the funny thing about living by faith. It's easy to do when you're in desperate need. When you have nothing else to fall back on, you need faith. But when life is comfortable it kinda goes by the wayside.
- [5 Mobile Inspirations for your Christian Teen](http://www.gracecentered.com/5-mobile-apps-for-christian-teens.htm): A 2013 study by Pew Research Center reports that 25 percent of teens use a smartphone as their primary tool for social networking, Verizon reports. That is a scary number, since these sites often offer inappropriate topics too tempting for the curious teen mind to resist.
- [The Top 10 Things Churches Do To Turn People Away](http://www.gracecentered.com/top-10-ways-churches-turn-people-away.htm): This top ten list comes from years of observation. No definitive study is being referenced, but we think this is a pretty close list of actions (or not) that turn people away from church and lose members.
- [Forfeiting the Marriage Contest](http://www.gracecentered.com/forfeiting-marriage-contest.htm): Let me ask you a question about your marriage, and try to answer it as honestly as you can. Are you silently “keeping score?” In other words, do you tally your spouse’s faults and weaknesses while only taking note of your own good deeds? And once you’re ahead, do you leverage your scorecard to bully your spouse or get your own way?
- [Sen. Rand Paul Encourages Churches To Challenge I.R.S.](http://www.gracecentered.com/sen-rand-paul-encourages-churches-challenge-i-r-s.htm): In an interview with The Brody File, Sen. Rand Paul says churches in America should challenge the IRS by speaking boldly from the pulpit and not worry about the consequences. Paul says the following: “What I would say to the churches is be bold and challenge them and say in our church we’re still going
- [Kenya, Pakistan, Egypt -- it is now open season on Christians](http://www.gracecentered.com/open-season-on-christians.htm): Attacks on Christians and other minorities in the Muslim-majority world are increasing and an already terrible situation is worsening. The most recent attack was Sunday in Peshawar in Pakistan, where the historic All Saints Church was attacked by two suicide bombers, an attack for which the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. The explosions were triggered
- [Showing God Some Not-So-Common Courtesy](http://www.gracecentered.com/showing-some-not-so-common-courtesy.htm): Requests and gratitude. They form a big part of our prayers and relationship with God. But we can learn a lot by exploring the origin of “please” and “thank you.”
- [Watch (Your) Expectations in Church](http://www.gracecentered.com/watch-your-expectations-in-church.htm): Big churches have always been around, including Charles Spurgeon's Baptist Metropolitan Tabernacle in London which drew 5,000 weekly in the 1800s, as did the Angelus Temple in Los Angeles where radio evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson preached. But size isn't the issue.
- [Christian Business Hobby Lobby Wins Victory Over Obamacare Abortion Mandate](http://www.gracecentered.com/hobby-lobby-wins-over-obamacare.htm): OKLAHOMA CITY – A district judge in Oklahoma has granted the popular craft chain Hobby Lobby a preliminary injunction against the contraceptive mandate in Obamacare. Following a hearing on Friday, U.S. district judge Joe Heaton issued the injunction to the company and its owners, and then stayed the matter until October 1st in order to
- [Muslim Brotherhood to Coptic Christians: Convert or pay ‘jizya’ tax](http://www.gracecentered.com/muslim-brotherhood-coptic-christians-convert-pay-jizya-tax.htm): The Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters have began forcing the roughly 15,000 Christian Copts of Dalga village in Egypt to pay a jizya tax.
- [How Loving is it to be "Tolerant"?](http://www.gracecentered.com/is-it-loving-to-be-tolerant.htm): How tolerant! How understanding! God loves all people so why should we be cruel? Why should we correct them? People work hard and get beaten up every day so why should we beat them up on Sunday (as one popular TV preacher often says)? It isn't our place to tell them they’re sinners - they
- [Are All Sins Equal?](http://www.gracecentered.com/are_all_sins_equal.htm): It is not uncommon to hear or read the statement, "all sins are equal." In other words, if I drive one mile per hour over the speed limit, I may as well have exterminated millions of people in the eyes of God. If that’s true, we should teach our children that disobeying us by taking
- [A Biblical Basis for Breastfeeding](http://www.gracecentered.com/biblical-basis-breastfeeding.htm): Now before I start, this isn't going to be some kind of rant against formula feeding or forcing any kind of breastfeeding agenda – there are plenty of other places you could go for that. It’s just a look at breastfeeding in the Bible and using breastfeeding time for prayer. That’s all. You can breathe now.
- [3,000 Year Old Text Sheds Light On Biblical History](http://www.gracecentered.com/biblical-history-on-jug.htm): This jug dates back to the time of Kind David! Richard Freund, from the University of Hartford Center for Judaic Studies, says the inscription on the jug was found in 2012. The Hebrew writing on the jug places Israelites in Jerusalem earlier than previously thought. The jug also shows that Hebrew existed as a written
- [Order 1 Book, Get 2 Free!](http://www.gracecentered.com/order-1-book-2-free-24-hours-only.htm): Order 1 Book, Get 2 Free Order "The Last Hybrid" and get for FREE the following two e-books: Here's the book you order... "The Last Hybrid: Bloodline of Angels" written by Lee Wilson. When Hannah Sawyer dropped out of college after losing her scholarship she spent five years weaning herself of alpha males and alcohol, but
- [Generating Controversy](http://www.gracecentered.com/generating-controversy.htm): Ronaldo da Silva is one of several Brazilian prison inmates generating excitement and debate in an innovative, eye-brow-raising community service program. By riding stationary bikes hooked up to car batteries and a converter needed to power streetlights, the convicts help light their town.
- [Seeking](http://www.gracecentered.com/seeking.htm): Is there anyone else or anything else that truly delivers what Scripture says comes from seeking God? Even though most would agree that there is not, we spend so much time, effort and energy trying to find acceptance, good things, blessings and life in all the wrong places and from many people, though well intended, can't deliver on our expectations.
- [Christian Conflict Resolution](http://www.gracecentered.com/christian-conflict-resolution.htm): The last article I wrote was all about how the world will know us by the way we love them as well as each other. But we have to be honest here. We are human ... every one of us. And, as long as we are human, we will have conflict. There will be misunderstandings, miscommunications, and misattributions. What do we do to reduce the damage these things can cause?
- [How To Win Back Your Spouse - A Testimonial](http://www.gracecentered.com/how-to-win-back-your-spouse.htm): In April of 2009 our couples’ therapist asked me; “Do you want to save your marriage?” My wife and I had come to him in a state of crisis after she recently revealed her involvement in an affair. I should make clear this wasn't something she had admitted doing and now it was over. No, it was something she was currently doing without any indications she might be willing to stop.
- [Baptism as a Wedding Ceremony and God's Power](http://www.gracecentered.com/baptism-wedding-ceremony-gods-power.htm): Making the decision to become a Christian has many similarities to a marriage commitment. The Bible constantly uses marriage as a central metaphor for God’s relationship with us.
- [Valedictorian Rejects Censorship, Recites Lord's Prayer](http://www.gracecentered.com/valedictorian-roy-costnerrejects-censorship-recites-lords-prayer.htm): In what's being called a victory for freedom of religion and freedom of speech, Roy Costner, the valedictorian at Liberty High School in South Carolina, tore up his faculty-approved speech and instead recited the Lord's Prayer.
- [Your Download Links](http://www.gracecentered.com/your-download-links.htm): Okay, in order to get your free books you just have to enter an email address for us to send the download links. You will get one email from the author when the next book comes out. Get Your Download Links: Your Email Address: Preferred Format: HTMLText
- [Interrupting Negative Circles In Your Marriage](http://www.gracecentered.com/interrupting-negative-circles-marriage.htm): When my husband and I drove through Europe, we frequently found ourselves caught up on rotary traffic circles in the cities (some call them "roundabouts"). Looping about a city landmark on the inner part of a multi-lane traffic circle, we would struggle in vain to get into the outer lane in time to turn onto
- [Finding Peace In It All](http://www.gracecentered.com/finding-peace.htm): I don't generally have a peaceful life. The only time there's "peace and quiet" in my house is when it's being shouted by Reuben (he's just read a book of the same name). As you can imagine, it's neither peaceful or quiet when he does that. It's been a particularly unpeaceful week and, for once,
- [IRS: $20,000 Per Year Per Family for Cheapest Obamacare Plan](http://www.gracecentered.com/irs-20000-per-family-obamacare.htm): What is hypocritically named, the "Affordable Care Act," is quickly being realized and even promoted as anything but affordable. Now, according to a final regulation put in place on Wednesday, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says that the cheapest health insurance plan under Obamacare for a family will cost $20,000 per year, beginning in 2016.
- [Judge Removes Exemption for Objectors From Mandatory Birth-Control](http://www.gracecentered.com/judge-overturns-law-exempting-moral-objectors-mandatory-birth-control.htm): A federal judge has struck down a Missouri law exempting moral objectors from mandatory birth control coverage because it conflicts with an insurance requirement under President Barrack Obama's health care law.
- [Student Suspended For Refusal to Stomp on the Word “Jesus”](http://www.gracecentered.com/student-suspended-refusal-stomp-word-jesus.htm): Ryan Rotella, a junior from Coral Springs, said the incident began when his professor, Dr. Deandre Poole, asked students in the class to write the word “Jesus” on a piece of paper, fold it up, and step on it.
- ['Stomp On Jesus' Professor On Paid Leave For His Safety](http://www.gracecentered.com/stomp-jesus-professor-paid-leave-safety.htm): Deandre Poole, the professor who told his students to write "Jesus" on a piece of paper, then ordered them to stomp on it, is on paid leave reportedly for his own safety.
- [Jobless Rate Hits Four-Month High](http://www.gracecentered.com/jobless-rate-hits-four-month-high.htm): For the third straight week, the number of Americans filing for new unemployment rose. Thursday's increase was quite dramatic.
- [Track Team Banned From State Title After Runner Thanks God](http://www.gracecentered.com/track-team-banned-after-thanking-god.htm): Derrick Hayes, the anchor of his high school track relay team crossed the finish line first and then pointed skyward, pointing to heaven as a way of thanking God. That religious gesture stripped his team of their victory.
- [Court Dismisses Obamacare Lawsuit Against Bible Publisher](http://www.gracecentered.com/court-kills-obamacare-lawsuit.htm): On Monday, the Obama administration's lawsuit against Bible publisher Tyndale House Publishers was dismissed. The Obama administration had filed suit because Tyndale House Publishers had refused to implement the Obamacare requirement to pay for employees’ birth control, including potential abortions. “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,”
- [Texas Judge Rules Cheerleaders Can Display Bible Verses at School Sporting Events](http://www.gracecentered.com/texas-judge-rules-cheerleaders-can-display-bible-verses.htm): In what is being called a victory for religious freedom, a Texas judge ruled Wednesday that it was constitutionally permissible for Kountze High School cheerleaders to display banners with Bible verses at school sporting events.
- [Win A Novel!](http://www.gracecentered.com/win_a_novel.htm): The founder of GraceCentered.com, Lee Wilson, is also an author and his latest book is a paranormal romance that releases next week. You can register to win a FREE copy - just Click Here. The description and more information is below: When Hannah dropped out of college after losing her scholarship she spent five years
- [By Our Love](http://www.gracecentered.com/love.htm): When Jesus was teaching His disciples He made it clear that whatever else was a measure of our Christianity, "they" (meaning unbelievers) would know we were His followers because of our love (John 13:35). But what did He really mean by that?
- [Clear Instructions On Transparency](http://www.gracecentered.com/read-between-the-lines-church.htm): Two Belgian architects have a scheme to make people think differently about religion, but you can see right through their intentions — their church is transparent.
- [Opening Up Your Home](http://www.gracecentered.com/opening-home.htm): I was sitting in a market research focus group in late 2007 when the question came up "what does your home mean to you?" The answer they were looking for was something along the lines of "a place where I can use my favorite floor cleaner" but to me, it was a deep and complex question, mirroring my deep and complex relationship with the whole concept of "home" at the time.
- [One Night with the King - A Review](http://www.gracecentered.com/one_night_with_the_king.htm): One Night With The King quietly came out a couple of weeks ago. It is a love story based on a novel called "Hadassah" about Esther and Xerxes. Esther is played by a newcomer Tiffany Dupont and actors John Rhys-Davis who played Mordecai (also the Egyptian in the Indiana Jones movies and Gimli in Lord of the
- ["Current" Research](http://www.gracecentered.com/current-research.htm): The world will soon be radically altered by astonishing new batteries, and the atmosphere in the scientific community is, well, electric!
- [Experiencing Christ](http://www.gracecentered.com/experiencing-christ.htm): If Jesus did, in fact, come to give us life to the full (which I believe to be true) and we are supposedly in some way connected to Him (or a Christian), then why do so many Christians live lives that are not full of life, joy and love.
- [Robber Begs Forgiveness From Church](http://www.gracecentered.com/robber-begs-forgiveness-from-church.htm): Last year Kevin Harris broke into a church building in Georgia and stole members' credit card information, office equipment and over one thousand dollars from the church safe in order to fund his drug addiction.
- [Eagles Must Choose Life Or Death](http://www.gracecentered.com/eagles-decide-to-live-or-die.htm): The bald eagle is the longest living bird on earth. The story of its life might just fascinate you. Especially the decision it has to make in its forties in order to continue living.
- [Beauty Wrought of Suffering](http://www.gracecentered.com/beauty-wrought-suffering.htm): I've been thinking a lot about Isaiah 43 this week. The first four verses especially are speaking to me. A lot of people have the tendency to think that their Christianity should protect them from the ugly things of life. "I know that I had a lot of tough times when I was 'out in
- [Where Is God When Tragedy Strikes?](http://www.gracecentered.com/where-is-god-when-tragedy-strikes.htm): Like much of the nation, I watched in horror yesterday as the news anchors reported the murders at Sandy Hook Elementary School. My stomach ached every time they mentioned that most of those killed were children. For the parents who lost children, I am simply crushed.
- [Today's Parenting Sermon Was Not From The Preacher](http://www.gracecentered.com/parenting-sermon.htm): This morning while in worship service at church I saw a young mother in front of me. I have watched this young lady grow from a child herself into a loving mother. She and her husband sat there with two small boys. I watched her as the youngest climbed around on her and the chairs. He was very quite while doing this. The only one that might have been inconvenienced or disturbed was his mom.
- [Is God Real? ](http://www.gracecentered.com/is-god-real.htm): Debbie was sure she was right. There was no God. And if we cared to take Debbie’s challenge she could prove it.
- [This Young Man Broke A Record](http://www.gracecentered.com/jason-mcelwain-broke-record.htm): You've got to see how Jason McElwain, a high school senior diagnosed as autistic, plays his first basketball game in style. He doesn't just play or score a token basket, he breaks a school record with only a couple of minutes to play!
- [The Holy Moly Moment](http://www.gracecentered.com/holy-moly-moment.htm): Have you ever had a "holy moly!" moment? I've been in the habit for years of using the term "holy moly" when something astonishing happens and I guess Caden picked that up from me.
- [The Chicken Church](http://www.gracecentered.com/chicken-church.htm): Critics of the Chicken Church say its architect inadvertently laid an egg. A photographer had noticed that, from just the right spot, its highest windows resemble eyes, and some roofing tiles have the look of wings and a beak.
- [Christian Trends: From Baby-Boomers to Millenial Christians](http://www.gracecentered.com/10_christian_trends.htm): The world is changing … fast. Born in 1953 and 1958, we are Baby-Boomer Christians. My children were born in the 1980s, which makes them Millennial Christians. Baby Boomers were the biggest generation of Americans, but Millennials are even bigger. Born from 1978 through 2000 they are the emerging opinion leaders and shapers of our culture. Along with my
- [Love Is...](http://www.gracecentered.com/love-is.htm): During the 1970's my grandmother clipped "Love is" cartoons from the daily newspaper. Just in case you don't remember (or if you are too young to know what I am talking about) it was a cartoon created by Kim Casali. The cartoons originated from a series of love notes that Grove drew for her future husband, Roberto Casali.
- [Shock: Rick Warren's Son Commits Suicide](http://www.gracecentered.com/rick-warren-son-commits-suicide.htm): The Saddleback Church says that Rick Warrnen's youngest son, Matthew Warren has committed suicide. He was 27 years old.
- [These Jewellery Cases Hold a Surprise ](http://www.gracecentered.com/jewellery-cases-hold-surprise.htm): Using a lowly insect favored as bait by trout fisherman, Hubert Duprat is reeling in a high-class clientele who've fallen for his venture, hook, line and sinker. The 55-year-old French artist is creating priceless jewelry — and controversy — by using the caddisfly, a small, winged insect related to the butterfly. Here's how, and what
- [A Gift From God](http://www.gracecentered.com/gift-god.htm): The wind harshly blew through a cloudy gray Kansas City sky. Snow was on its way, as a cab passed, an occasional horn honked and the beat of footsteps pounded against a brick sidewalk. The footsteps almost sounded like music if you listened to them long enough, some soft, some hard. It was there, with
- [Child-Proofing Your Marriage](http://www.gracecentered.com/child-proofing-marriage.htm): Having a baby turns your marriage upside-down. There's no denying it. You take on these new roles of "Mommy" and "Daddy" and within that, it can be hard to relate to each other. You can feel more like colleagues working together on an important project than lovers. But it's important to remember your real relationship. So how do you do that?
- [Ten Ways For Husbands to Nurture Romance](http://www.gracecentered.com/ten-ways-nurture-romance.htm): Keeping romance alive is important in a marriage. Have you ever wondered why romance novels account for 48.6 percent of the mass market (paperback) book sales in the United States? Or why soap operas are so popular?
- [Filling Up On The Right Stuff](http://www.gracecentered.com/filling-stuff.htm): Most people like the feel of a full fridge, but I like to have an empty one. Why? Is it because I am so super-spiritual that I fast constantly and food is just a barrier to achieving total spiritual purity? Nah, that's not quite me.
- [Being a Gracious Parent](http://www.gracecentered.com/gracious-parent.htm): I'm not a parent that other parents envy. No one ever wants to swap kids with me. Even a dad who told me that Eva was cuter than his baby gave up any ideas of switching once he'd spent a few hours with her.
- [The Problem With Idolizing Sports Stars](http://www.gracecentered.com/problem-with-idolizing-sports-stars.htm): Over the last two weeks, I've been following an unfolding court drama in South Africa. The South African case involves global Paralympian sprint runner Oscar Pistorious, who not only competed and won against able bodied men in the 2012 Olympics, but had fought and changed sprint racing rules for all paralympic competitors after him. He
- [The Importance of Wisdom](http://www.gracecentered.com/importance-wisdom.htm): From the time we get up in the morning until we go to bed at night we are bombarded with information from the television, radio, books, movies, and newspapers. But is information the same thing as wisdom?
- ["Tag" Lines](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag-lines.htm): Game on! Brian Dennehy plays tag with nine of his friends. But he's no kid, and the game has been going for 23 years! What started as a teenage diversion has lasted through college and careers, marriages and multiple cities. Dennehy and his buddies began the game during high school in Spokane, Washington, running around
- [The Debt Trap](http://www.gracecentered.com/debt-trap.htm): Have you seen "Brave Heart,” the movie with actor Mel Gibson? Gibson plays the role of William Wallace, a 13th century common man who rallied his fellow citizens to fight for their freedom against a cruel English ruler determined to inherit the crown of Scotland. Throughout history, people in positions of power like the English
- [Worship From The Sidelines - How To Do Church With Small Children](http://www.gracecentered.com/worship-sidelines-church-small-children.htm): Like many things I write about, this isn’t something that I in any way have nailed. It’s a learning curve. And sometimes it feels like I’m strolling up that curve, enjoying the view and other times I am scrambling up it with an ice pick, while dragging behind me a buggy laden with all manner of
- [Capacity for Parents](http://www.gracecentered.com/capacity.htm): Every week, I meet with two other mothers (K&K) to pray. Between us, we have a gaggle of small children and our constant prayer is “Lord, increase my capacity to deal with my children”. Just what does that mean? I am currently in the crawling baby/active 3-year-old stage, which is particularly trying. The baby has
- [Getting It In the Neck](http://www.gracecentered.com/fine-wine-faith.htm): Pop a cork and let's toast the lowly wine stopper. Made from the bark of an oak found in southwest Europe and northwest Africa, cork is prized for it's elasticity, buoyancy, and ability to form a near-perfect, impermeable seal.
- [Man With No Arms or Legs Shares Gospel With Oprah](http://www.gracecentered.com/nick_vujicic_was_born_with_no_arms.htm): Nick Vujicic was born with no arms and no legs. Growing up, he was tormented by the children in his school for his deformities. As a teenager he was suicidal and couldn't stand his life. But that's not the Nick of today. You've got to see this!
- [On the Horns of a Dilemma](http://www.gracecentered.com/horns-dilemma.htm): It was the very picture of stupidity. Last week in a South African game reserve, 24-year-old Chantal Beyer and her boyfriend were with several other young people when guide Alex Richter stopped their vehicle and had everyone get out for a photo op with two white rhinos.
- [Is Gun Control The Answer?](http://www.gracecentered.com/is-gun-control-the-answer.htm): Just a few weeks ago we were reminded, yet again, of the darker side of our human nature. Dozens of innocents, mostly small children, were mowed down by a madman equipped with awesome firepower. And once again we are left to ask, what happened? And how can we keep it from happening again? Well, I
- [Give It Up](http://www.gracecentered.com/give.htm): Here are some things we might wish to give up this coming year. These aren't "resolutions" so much as they are life adjustments. Consider.
- [Too Serious to Take Too Seriously](http://www.gracecentered.com/tvsitcoms.htm): I'm in television sitcom recovery. I've been hurt deeply, emotionally scarred by heartless producers who cancelled my favorite shows without popular permission, insensitive to my basic need for superficial reality and vicarious exploits. Don't they know I'm still attached? My childhood was traumatized when the Honeymooners ended. I never really got over the war ending
- [Going to a White Church](http://www.gracecentered.com/going_to_a_white_church.htm): Or click here to hear a white brother's take on going to a black church.
- [Thirteen Spiritual Encouragements for 2013](http://www.gracecentered.com/thirteen-spiritual-encouragements-2013.htm): I'll be honest and tell you that if this was 2015, there would be 15 encouragements. With that disclaimer aside, I wanted to look into one of the most positive and encouraging books of the New Testament to gain some insights on the attitudes and actions that will help Christians make the most of their year.
- [An "Inside" Job For God](http://www.gracecentered.com/inside-job-god.htm): Forger Carmelo Soraci found redemption in 1939 in New York's Clinton Correctional Facility when approached by Father Ambrose Hyland, the chaplain. The clergyman wanted to build the first church in any U.S. prison and dedicate it to Dismas, the traditional name of “the good thief” crucified with Christ.
- [Paul's Short List](http://www.gracecentered.com/pauls-short-list.htm): In Romans six we find one of Paul’s shorter lists. It contains only three words. Though some have found fault with my reasoning, I find in this tripartite list the very essence of the gospel. Jesus lived a perfect life so that he might die, be buried and then rise from the tomb.
- [The Many Falsehoods of Kwanzaa](http://www.gracecentered.com/falsehoods-kwanzaa.htm): The holiday of Kwanzaa is now upon us. This seven-day feast (Dec. 26-Jan. 1) was devised in 1966 by Professor Ronald Everett of California State University at Long Beach, to instill a sense of cultural pride among African-American families. (He has since invented an “African” name for himself, meaning “master teacher.”) In recent years, Kwanzaa
- [Privacy Policy](http://www.gracecentered.com/privacy_policy.htm): We greatly value your privacy as we do our own and would never give or sell your information to another party. We collect your email address only upon registration at our message forum or if you purchase a book from our bookstore and use your Paypal account to purchase. Google Ads The Google Ads that
- [Submission Instructions](http://www.gracecentered.com/submission-instructions.htm): Want to become a writer for a high-trafficked Christian website? We're looking for Christian men and women who are passionate about writing and building their audience. Requirements for contributing authors 1. Willing to post at least a couple of original articles (not duplicated anywhere else on the web) per month. This is because we're looking
- [The Treasures in Your Heart](http://www.gracecentered.com/treasures-heart.htm): But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart (Luke 2:19). Luke gave us this insight into Mary's heart right after the account of the visiting shepherds. Scripture does not tell us at what times of Mary's life these things would be brought to mind but no doubt there were lonely times when she needed reassurance.
- [More Than Conquerors ](http://www.gracecentered.com/more-than-conquerors.htm): “In all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of
- [More Than Sappy Christmas Sentiments](http://www.gracecentered.com/sappy-christmas-sentiments.htm): Imagine giving someone you love a Christmas gift that sums up their true identity and their entire life. That's exactly what happened when the Wise Men gave the infant Jesus their gifts. But the power behind that story is lost on us because we know nothing about myrrh and frankincense. Both are fragrant resins from
- [Please Don't Have A Safe Christmas](http://www.gracecentered.com/safe-christmas.htm): Christmas is a gift to online fraudsters. Scammers know we're spending more time on the Internet, shopping or paying bills, so they're perfecting ways of stealing your money or identity.
- [Mini Golf Games. Miniature Golf Game for Free](http://www.gracecentered.com/miniature_golf_game.htm): Mini Golf Game Instructions: After you've dropped your ball on to the tee, use your mouse to position your putter so that the yellow line is pointed in the direction of your target (the hole for example). Then pull the mouse backwards to choose the amount of power you want to put into the putt.
- [007 Leadership](http://www.gracecentered.com/007-leadership.htm): I can think of many reasons why James Bond appeals to moviegoers. Each film features his unequaled skills as one of Britain’s greatest spies. He has unusual weapons, often disguised in creative ways. He breaks the rules but still gets the job done. There is always humor, much of it subtle, sometimes cheesy.
- [Under My Thumb](http://www.gracecentered.com/under-my-thumb.htm): “Your counselor told her that I have her right under my thumb.” He pushed his coffee cup aside and ground his thumb into the table. I could not tell if he agreed with the analysis or if he resented it.
- [Why The World Needs Christmas](http://www.gracecentered.com/why-the-world-needs-christmas.htm): If there ever was a time when the world needs Christmas, it is now.
- [Don't Worry - Be Happy?](http://www.gracecentered.com/worry-happy.htm): “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6) Disregard the title of this article. I am not a happy camper. I don’t think I’ve ever been. But I’m content. I may not have been all that content as a younger man, but in my more mature years I have come to realize that contentment
- [Social Network Nativity Story](http://www.gracecentered.com/digital_nativity_story.htm): This video is a modern retelling of the Nativity story in a digital world that imagines what the first Christmas might be like if Joseph and Mary had Facebook.
- [Jeff Walling Books and DVD's](http://www.gracecentered.com/jeff_walling.htm): Jeff Walling received early ministry training from his father who was also a preacher. Walling later earned his Bachelor's degree from the University of California at Irvine in speech and communications. His graduate level work in religion has been at Pepperdine University. Jeff served as the president and founder of Western Christian Ministries and is
- [Mom Song Video](http://www.gracecentered.com/mom_song.htm): This Mom Song is a clever song about the duties, honors and frustrations of being a mom for only one day.
- [Out of Sorts](http://www.gracecentered.com/outosorts.htm): My recently graduated son has a job – sort of. He is playing baseball for a living – sort of. He shipped out this week for Idaho Falls, a great American city – sort of. Now property of the Kansas City Royals, he is on his own – sort of. Anyway, he is excited about
- [Overcoming Pornography Addiction](http://www.gracecentered.com/overcoming_porn_addiction.htm): I am continually shocked to discover that many people who read and study the bible, believe in the existence of the devil and claim to be long-time Christians; fail to strategize and develop plans for standing firm against the enemy. We are in a spiritual war, and a battle strategy is essential for obtaining victory.
- [What is Faith?](http://www.gracecentered.com/what_is_faith.htm): Faith - It used to mean - well, not much. I remember hearing the word "faith" way back when I was going to church as a “not even in kindergarten yet” little boy, and that's as far back as I can remember anything. I think that’s because when it comes to church lingo, "faith" is
- [Looking for Donkeys, Finding a Crown](http://www.gracecentered.com/donkeys-2.htm): The day had begun with no hint of what was to come. Saul, the son of a farmer and rancher named Kish, was looking for some donkeys that had wandered away from their pasture. Though he had initially enjoyed the break from his daily routine, Saul was now ready to get back home. But the
- [Get A Life!](http://www.gracecentered.com/get_a_life.htm): (John 10:10) "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." The basketball teams from two small-town high schools met for a ball game this past week. The game was called at the end of the third quarter because of
- [Laugh About the Ruts](http://www.gracecentered.com/laugh.htm): My longtime friend and I were laughing about our time in seminary together when he reminded me of his wife's reluctance about leaving her home and moving to Texas. "Ever noticed those two deep ruts along I-35 between Minneapolis and Wichita?" he asked. "They are from my wife's heals as I drug her south!" "So
- ["Expelled" Movie by Ben Stein](http://www.gracecentered.com/expelled_movie_with_ben_stein.htm): Watch Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed by Ben Stein What Happened to Freedom of Speech? In a Major Motion Picture Release Ben Stein exposes the frightening agenda of the “Darwinian Machine” in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. (LOS ANGELES, Calif.) August 28, 2007 – It’s a movie that Ferris Bueller would take the day off to go
- [The Roar of the Lamb: A Balanced View of God](http://www.gracecentered.com/the_roar_of_the_lamb.htm): One thing I've noticed in working with churches around the country is that many Christians have an unbalanced view of God. In today's "culture of tolerance," many have assumed God is just as tolerant and unbothered by sinful behavior as is politically correct at the moment. We've presented a picture of God as being full
- [Marshall Keeble the Evangelist of the 1940s](http://www.gracecentered.com/marshall_keeble.htm): Bro. Keeble was successful beyond anyone's expectations! It was not unusual for him to baptize as many as a hundred people in a single gospel meeting.
- [I know I'm supposed to, but...](http://www.gracecentered.com/supposedto.htm): Recently my wife went to the Ladies’ Retreat at Pine Haven Camp in Northern Minnesota, leaving on Friday morning and returning Sunday afternoon. On the Saturday she was gone I decided to take our six-year-old Micah to the Camp Snoopy amusement park at the Mall of America for a “guy’s day out” while his mom
- [You Only Live Once](http://www.gracecentered.com/you_only_live_once.htm): “You only live once,” proclaims the smooth and persuasive radio voice of the Cadillac salesman, “but if it’s done right, once is enough.” For thousands of years, profound philosophical platitudes occupied the domain of poets, sages, and prophets. Recently, their station has been usurped by advertisers striving to create the perfect jingle. The complexities of
- [The Muddle of the Road](http://www.gracecentered.com/muddle-road.htm): There was a time when left was right, and the right was left. I'm talking about the early days when people first decided which side of the road to drive on. But strangely enough, that debate was linked with the design of early castles. Confused? As Colorado preacher Patrick Mead has rightly pointed out, when
- [How to Rescue Fallen Church Leaders](http://www.gracecentered.com/how_to_rescue_fallen_church_leaders.htm): So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! (1 Corinthians 10:12) If we knew the actual numbers, we would not like them. Every year in nearly every denomination, men or women who are in some role of church leadership commit immorality that costs them their positions and puts their
- [Play Checkers Online](http://www.gracecentered.com/checkers_online_game.htm): This is the classic "king me," checkers with double jumps and all the strategy you can muster.
- [You Best Pay Attention](http://www.gracecentered.com/you_best_pay_attention.htm): My journey from the world of pagan rhythms to Christian harmony resembled the circuitous route of little boy Billy in the Family Circus. It zigged and zagged and only briefly followed the mainline course. Folks get Jesus by different ways and means. Some, I think, are born disciples. Others are hatched. I morphed. I've heard
- [Worship As A Lifestyle](http://www.gracecentered.com/worship_as_lifestyle.htm): The ancient prophets of Israel, handpicked by God and ungroomed by the world (“men of whom the world was not worthy”), seldom received a warm and hearty welcome from their contemporaries. Folks wanted little of what they were selling. Prophets lived on the margins of culture as antagonists and reformers more interested in God’s ethic
- [Need To Yawn?](http://www.gracecentered.com/yawn.htm): Sometimes yawning can be helpful, like when you need to "pop" your ears during a flight. So here's a video that will make anyone yawn who sees it.
- [X-Men 3: The Last Stand](http://www.gracecentered.com/x-men3.htm): "X" marks the spot – and "X3" was supposed to mark the spot where a popular superhero movie franchise died. It turns out rumors of its death were greatly exaggerated. X-Men 3: The Last Stand, the latest and expected-to-be-not-so-greatest installment of the popular movie trilogy based on the even more popular comic book series is
- [Word Perfect](http://www.gracecentered.com/word_perfect.htm): It’s not a misatke. Aoccdrnig to a rsereach at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltsteer are in the rghit pclae. For those of us who struggle with great personal imperfection, the meaning of grace, and
- [Women in Ministry? Absolutely!](http://www.gracecentered.com/women_in_ministry.htm): When I first realized how clear the Bible is concerning women in ministry, I was awe struck. I thought, "How in the world could we have missed this?" I started to understand how simple it is to miss. When we are taught to accept a "non-truth" as being God's truth, we will then become blinded
- [Wladyslaw Szpilman](http://www.gracecentered.com/wladyslawszpilman.htm): Exactly four years ago today (on July 6, 2000) a great man passed quietly from this life at the age of 88. His name was Wladyslaw Szpilman and he lived most of his life in the city of Warsaw, Poland. He was known and loved throughout the rest of the world by those who shared
- [A Wife is a God-Given Gift -- And Should be Treated Like One](http://www.gracecentered.com/wife_is_gift.htm): I am sorry to say that for many years I had an incorrect perspective of my wife, and women in general. Over time the enemy used my addiction to Internet Porn to pollute my mind, and to corrupt my thoughts as to why women exist. I viewed women as objects who were solely created to
- [Reclaiming My God-Given Role as Spiritual Leader](http://www.gracecentered.com/spiritual_leader_role.htm): One of the most significant things I learned during my addiction, which is probably true with any addiction, is that it removed me from the position of spiritual leader of my household.
- [10 Things Guys Wish Women Knew About Men](http://www.gracecentered.com/what_men_wish_women_knew_about_men.htm): It is likely no surprise to you that God has wired women and men differently. We all recognize some of these differences, but others often hide in plain sight. Shaunti Feldhahn, a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist, author and speaker recently wrote a fantastic book, For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner
- [What Matters More?](http://www.gracecentered.com/what_matters_more.htm): Leviticus 24:5-9 relates a Torah rule about worship protocol. The priests were to prepare a dozen loaves of fresh bread every week. They were to be placed on the golden table before Yahweh on the Sabbath. When the weekly replacement occurred, the priests could eat the bread being removed. The law was clear: no one
- [What Am I?](http://www.gracecentered.com/what_am_i.htm): Quite often in sharing my personal testimony with people about my addiction to porn I am asked, “So what do you consider yourself to be?” They ask questions like, “Do you still consider yourself to be an addict?” “Will you always be an addict?” “How do you describe yourself?” Rather than trying to rely on
- [Unnoticed (Not Rated by the MPAA)](http://www.gracecentered.com/unnoticed.htm): You know you've arrived as a film critic when you land your first invite to a premiere. Living in West Texas, I seldom even get a chance to sneak films before they're released to the general public, let alone screen a film with the entire cast and crew. Needless to say, when David Sean Stringer
- [Unfairnotright 911](http://www.gracecentered.com/unfair.htm): This is a sad time for America. We have a political party trying to transform some of America's worst days into political gain. They are inflicting emotional pain and promoting unprecedented dissent among its citizens. Every day these people try to take something as devastating as war and manipulate it for their own gains with
- [Check Under the Hood](http://www.gracecentered.com/under_the_hood.htm): "To tell the men from the boys, check the price of their toys!" I motored into the shiny, new Quik Trip the other day with ulterior motives. Disguising my true intentions with a generous offering to the pump gods, I looked both ways to make sure the coast was clear and hustled inside to fill
- [Tsunamis, God, and Your Compassion](http://www.gracecentered.com/tsunamis_and_god.htm): The World Health Organization estimates that well over 500,000 persons have been injured and are in need of medical care across several Asian nations. A 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the tsunami that resulted from it devastated regions of Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, and other countries in the region. At this writing, the death toll is over
- [A Review of "The Village" (PG-13)](http://www.gracecentered.com/thevillage.htm): Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice and it's shame on you. Or is it the other way around? Okay. Take what I wrote, reverse it, and somewhere in between you will find M. Night Shyamalan's plight. He fooled us out of the starting gate, but the King of Plot twists shan't be-a-foolin'
- [The Center of the Universe](http://www.gracecentered.com/center_of_the_universe.htm): Today my mind was sent to reflecting on Geocentricism (earth-centered universe) and Galileo simply came along for the ride. Galileo fought a serious and costly battle for the right to search for truth opposed to superstition and status quo tradition. There were those, in his day, who thought all truth was already taught in some
- [The Ring Two (R)](http://www.gracecentered.com/the_ring_two.htm): Interestingly enough, a ring does have a hole in it; a big, huge, enormous hole that we really don't pay much attention to because the outer edge shimmers so brightly. Such was the case with the Japanese "Ringu" and its Americanized counterpart "The Ring," but there isn't just one hole in this follow-up. There are
- [The Pulpit](http://www.gracecentered.com/the_pulpit.htm): May I share some random thoughts about pulpiteering? Do we really speak where the Bible speaks and remain silent where it is silent? Perhaps on days beginning with T: today/tomorrow. But I find ourselves using terms like "pulpit" and "pew" and "preaching" as if all three were biblical terms. Perhaps one is--preaching. But what is
- [In God's Presence](http://www.gracecentered.com/the_presence_of_god.htm): Psalm 16:11 In Your presence is fullness of joy. I turned on the light and reached for the ringing phone on my nightstand. "Hello?" "Tonya, it's Mom. Sorry to wake you up so early, Honey, but I wanted to let you know that grandpa died." I hauled my huge pregnant body out of my warm
- [Spider-Man 3](http://www.gracecentered.com/spider_3_movie_review.htm): Spider-man 3 is the third installment in the Spider-man Trilogy. It is written and directed by Sam Raimi and has Toby Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco reprising their roles. Thomas Haden Church and Topher Grace also star in this installment as the Sandman and Venom respectively. It was released with a plethora of media hype in
- [The Good Shepherd](http://www.gracecentered.com/the_good_shepherd.htm): The Good Shepherd was directed by Robert De Niro (his second directorial effort after A Bronx Tale) and stars Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, and De Niro himself, in addition to an extensive supporting cast. The film, which was rated "R" for "some violence, sexuality and language" by the MPAA, is advertised as telling the untold
- ["The Nativity Story " (PG) - A Review](http://www.gracecentered.com/the_nativity_story.htm): “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world” (Luke 2:1). When a movie is made of a Biblical story, it is subject to the interpretation of the director and screenwriters. When it is made of a story with little dialogue, the interpretation is even more
- [The Incredibles (PG)](http://www.gracecentered.com/the_incredibles.htm): What are the secret ingredients to Pixar's critical and box office success? For the sixth straight time Pixar Studios has cranked-out a huge hit and Disney executives better be taking notes. Disney hasn't produced a decent animated story in a decade. They seem quite content to torture parents with inane sequels ("Cinderella 2") or trite
- [The Grace of God](http://www.gracecentered.com/the_grace_of_god.htm): The grace of God is a concept that we often throw around in our speech. We quote John Bradford who said, "There but by the grace of God go I" when we see less fortunate people and some of us mistakenly say that we've "found grace" when we decide to ease up on our convictions.
- [The Bourne Supremacy (PG-13)](http://www.gracecentered.com/the_bourne_supremacy.htm): "They should have left him alone," but aren't we so glad they didn't? Matt Damon returns as Jason Bourne (or so he thinks) in "The Bourne Supremacy." "The Bourne Supremacy" is the second big screen adaptation of the classic espionage and intrigue novels penned by Robert Ludlum. When last we left Bourne, he and gal-pal
- [Activate Your Subscription](http://www.gracecentered.com/thank_you_.htm): You're Almost Done - Activate Your Subscription! You've just been sent an email that contains a confirmation link. In order to activate your subscription, check your email and click on the link in that email. You will not receive your subscription until you click that link to activate it. If you don't see that email
- [Thank You!](http://www.gracecentered.com/thank_you.htm): Your order has been received. Thank you for visiting Grace-Centered and for your book order! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to stay up to date on Christian news, Church issues, Bible study and devotionals.
- [The Terror of Being Lost](http://www.gracecentered.com/terror_of_being_lost.htm): Lost is such a lonely word. I was 5 years old. Mother and I were in the Danner's Dime Store on Indiana Avenue in Fountain Square, Indianapolis. She was lost. I was in the toy section having a ball. My demands were few: just one each of the playthings on display that would make one
- [The Ten Commandments](http://www.gracecentered.com/tencommandments.htm): The following ten commandments were given to Moses by God. Moses returned to the Children of Israel and gave them the following commandments as listed in Exodus 20 of the Bible. First Commandment: "You shall have no other gods before Me." Not only does this mean that God does not want us to put
- [Taking the Kingdom by Force (Matthew 11:12) ](http://www.gracecentered.com/taking_the_kingdom_by_force_matthew_11_12.htm): Have you ever been under fire? I'm not necessarily referring to being literally shot at by an enemy, although I can attest to the fact that this is not a pleasant experience (having been in a good many "fire fights" while a gunner for a helicopter attack squadron in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam).
- [The Great Commission and Ronald Reagan](http://www.gracecentered.com/great_commission_and_ronald_reagan.htm): It was a sentimental sight. With a spring in his step, yet surely an ache in his heart, the 40th President of the United States walked toward the helicopter that was to take him. He didn't look back, only clung to Nancy's hand and pressed forward as he had done so often during the past
- [Affirmative Action vs. Race Preferences](http://www.gracecentered.com/affirmative_action_vs_race_preferences.htm): Monday, June 23, 2003, was an unusually sad day for me. On that day the Supreme Court disregarded the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and upheld the University of Michigan Law School’s skin color preference admissions policy. By a vote of 5-4, the Court ruled that black applicants may be given an advantage over
- [How Modern Liberals Think](http://www.gracecentered.com/modern_liberals.htm): How modern liberals think is a video provided by the Heritage Foundation. To share this with your friends, email them the following website address: http://www.gracecentered.com/modern_liberals.htm
- [Suicide Is Not The Answer](http://www.gracecentered.com/suicide_is_not_the_answer.htm): Pain, sorrow and depression is often used, I believe, by the enemy to lead people in addictive behaviors to a point where they seriously consider taking their own lives. While steeped in my addiction to Internet Porn there were times that I became very depressed. I felt hopeless. I also felt compelled to take my
- [Stop Controlling Me!](http://www.gracecentered.com/spouse_controlling_me.htm): She could not look people in the eye as they greeted her. Head down, shoulders slumped; she headed to the nearest open seat and quietly slid into it. Her husband was a study in contrast. Confident, gregarious, he firmly shook hands and made polite small talk before striding over to sit beside his wife. Years
- [Spontaneous Disclosure](http://www.gracecentered.com/spontaneousdisclosure.htm): It's sometimes a tough call -- when to keep a thing to yourself or when to disclose it. The issue isn't revealing it to God, of course, for everything is open to him. It's the matter of sharing with a human being who might not keep the matter in confidence or use the information with
- [Spider-Man 2](http://www.gracecentered.com/spiderman2.htm): Tobey Maguire returns as Peter Parker, a young adult struggling to find balance between his secret life of fighting evil and his somewhat traumatic personal life.
- [Life's Grandest Construction Project](http://www.gracecentered.com/sonogram_camera_and_abortion.htm): Attached to an e-mail from my son last night were photos of our new grandson, still safely lodged in the womb of our daughter-in-law, waiting an August 11 delivery. These photos were taken by an advanced General Electric Sonogram Camera at the Tennessee Women's Care Center in Nashville. The images clearly show a little person
- [How to get a soccer partner](http://www.gracecentered.com/soccer_partner.htm): A clever idea on how to get a soccer partner so you don't have to kick the ball alone.
- [Connections Sustain Life](http://www.gracecentered.com/small_groups_connect_life.htm): There is an axiom in mathematics that a sum cannot be greater than its parts. While I don’t want to argue with it as a principle of mathematics, I know it doesn't hold in relationships. And relationships can’t be reduced to formulas anyway. I have been in too many groups – some large, some small – where
- [Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (PG)](http://www.gracecentered.com/sky_captain.htm): Correction! This is not the digital age. This is the dawning of the Age of the Geek, a time when computer dweebs will rise up to exact much-needed revenge over the artistic, the talented, the technically trained, and the good-looking. We are living in a twisted world, a world in which a nerd who
- [Sin Cities of the Ancient World](http://www.gracecentered.com/sin_cities.htm): Let’s begin with a trick question. Tyre and Sidon are: A) Secret herbs in a new diet pill. B) NASCAR combatants. C) Hurricanes brewing in the Atlantic. D) Twin sons of a groovy Hollywood couple flirting with marriage. E) Tired and sighing customers gasping at their utility bills. F) New Age paleontologists seeking grant money
- [A Silly Idea (The Origin of Silly Putty)](http://www.gracecentered.com/silly_putty.htm): Everybody thought Peter Hodgson was crazy when he started selling what would come to be known as Silly Putty. But the earnest entrepreneur knew exactly what he was doing when he put all his eggs in one basket. An advertising copywriter, Hodgson could see the moldable material had an obvious use that even its inventor
- [Shrek (PG) ](http://www.gracecentered.com/shrek.htm): "Shrek 2" starts amazingly slow with a plot so contrived it appears destined for purgatory-that ethereal realm of mediocrity where all sequels seem to go. Except "Empire" of course. And "The Godfather Part II". And "Aliens". And. Well, okay. So a few sequels manage to escape the clutches of oblivion to stand on their own
- [She Sat in a Pew](http://www.gracecentered.com/she_sat_in_a_pew.htm): They sat on a bus while she worshiped Jesus. They had traveled far and felt a need to relax. She had worked all day, every day, all week and yearned to join in a celebration of praise. She heartily sang those simple songs requiring little or no musical skill, losing herself in worship of her God. They saved their voices
- [Shaking the World's Assumption](http://www.gracecentered.com/shaking_assumptions.htm): When Mahatma Ghandi wanted to give his country a thirst for freedom, he used salt. Salt was not only abundant in India, but essential to life in a tropical country where work in the hot sun depleted the body of its reserves. But when the English first took over the nation, colonial officials passed a
- [The Serenity Prayer](http://www.gracecentered.com/serenity_prayer.htm): God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not
- [Separation, Divorce, Morality and Dinesh D'Souza](http://www.gracecentered.com/separation_divorce_and_dinesh_dsouza.htm): Is it okay for a married but separated person to date other people? The question definitely is not new. The situation that brought it to the forefront is not unique. Lillian Kwon’s Christian Post article begins “Dinesh D'Souza, president of The King's College and co-producer of ‘2016: Obama's America,’ is facing scrutiny for his relationship
- [Are the Scriptures "Subject to Interpretation?"](http://www.gracecentered.com/scriptures_subject_to_interpretation.htm): A reason some Christians say that the Scriptures are “subject to interpretation” or “it’s a matter of how you interpret the Bible,” or “you believe your way and I’ll believe my way” is sometimes because they do not know God’s heart or His intentions regarding what He said. The teachers of Jesus’ day did not
- [Saved](http://www.gracecentered.com/savedmovie.htm): In the wake of the “Fahrenheit 9/11” furor followed so quickly by the national release of the next chapter in the life our favorite web-slinging superhero most folks probably haven’t heard of this film. “Saved!” simply became lost in the shuffle a midst all the hullabaloo and things that seemed so controversial four weeks ago now seems
- [Rocky Balboa](http://www.gracecentered.com/rocky_balboa.htm): Rocky Balboa is the sixth and final installment of the “Rocky films.” It was written and directed by Sylvester Stallone, who stars the title character.
- ["The Matrix Revolutions" - A Review](http://www.gracecentered.com/matrix-revolutions.htm): Consider three things before delving into this review. First, when The Matrix was released, the flick defied convention by skewing our former acuity.
- [Salvation is Only Part of the Battle](http://www.gracecentered.com/salvation_part_of_battle.htm): As Christians we hear many sermons, messages and preaching about salvation. “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4). The message of salvation by God’s grace, through our faith in Jesus Christ, is the foundation or
- [Ruin and Rescue](http://www.gracecentered.com/ruinandrescue.htm): We live in an evil age. One generation always seems to think it has a monopoly on dissipation and ugly behavior. Perhaps ours is no worse than that of the early church, or that of Gomorrah’s era. As many of us flounder in our own misbehavior, our affluence drives from our minds the thought of
- [Rubble Reality](http://www.gracecentered.com/rubble_reality.htm): Disembarkation from the 747-400 occurred at 5:33 am and now I'm sitting in the exact same seat I occupied ten days ago, and though it feels the same, the surroundings feel different. I'm at the beautiful JFK terminal in New York waiting for a connecting flight back to DFW after a ten-day blitz of the
- [Rules of Engagement](http://www.gracecentered.com/romans_14_11.htm): “Let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way” (Romans 14:11). Unless a brother denies Christ, has a factious attitude, is immoral, perverts the gospel, practices idolatry, eats things strangled and blood, is greedy, slanders, swindles or refuses
- [What if We're Right?](http://www.gracecentered.com/right_about_culture_war.htm): Growing up male in the days before clearly defined political correctness and finely tuned international sensitivity training, we boys spent much of our free time playing war. Sometimes we were equipped with reasonable facsimiles of firearms, like those carried by real soldiers and cowboys. And other times we used sticks, pipes, baseball bats and clothes
- [A Return to Pentecost](http://www.gracecentered.com/returntopentecost.htm): Several years ago, I heard the story of Larry Walters, a 33-year-old man who decided he wanted to see his neighborhood from a new perspective. He went down to the local army surplus store one morning and bought forty-five used weather balloons. That afternoon he strapped himself into a lawn chair, to which several of
- [Rendering Unto Caesar](http://www.gracecentered.com/renderinguntocaesar.htm): As we draw closer to another presidential election, the lines of demarcation within churches are becoming exceedingly clear. Political agendas are running roughshod over theological ideals while Christians quote scriptures to justify their actions, or lack thereof. As the lie of “separation of church and state” continues to maintain traction in the church, there is
- [Remember 911](http://www.gracecentered.com/remembering911.htm): Remember the sunshine. Remember the smell of the morning air. Remember the hope of that bright autumn day. Remember….. "It kept getting worse." (NY Times 9/12/01) No other words describe that morning better. On that day my wife, Karen, and I were living in Brooklyn, NY about one mile from the World Trade Center; we
- [Mary, Mary? Quite Contrary!](http://www.gracecentered.com/religious_images_and_hoaxes.htm): I wonder about the freaky image burned into the Shroud of Turin – could it be the crucified Jesus Christ? I wonder about the dark speck in the satellite photo of Mt. Ararat – could it be the gopher wood remains of Noah’ s Ark? I wonder about the legends surrounding the shadowy character who
- [Recovering an Identity](http://www.gracecentered.com/recovering_identity.htm): V.R. Roskam of Wheaton, Illinois, visited Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, three years ago. He and his wife, Martha, were browsing at a souvenir stand. They spotted a wicker basket with a number of items – 37 as it turned out – that looked familiar. They were dog tags lost by U.S. soldiers during the
- [Looking For Reasons to Laugh](http://www.gracecentered.com/reasons_to_laugh.htm): Some days it's hard to get out of bed -- much less laugh. But haven't you noticed how much better a day goes when laughter is scattered through it? You know it's going to be a bad day when... --Your knees buckle but your belt won't. --You sink your teeth into a steak and they
- [Reaping Destruction ](http://www.gracecentered.com/reaping_destruction.htm): Before I established a relationship with Jesus Christ, and accepted Him as my Lord and Savior, I thought that I was a good person. I was nice to people for all intents and purposes. I managed to stay away from drugs and alcohol, and I never got into any trouble with the police. I was
- [Faith: Feel Versus Real](http://www.gracecentered.com/real_faith.htm): There's nothing quite like the sensation that jets up my spine when I hear a firey preacher speaking of the awesome power of God. There's also no emotion equal to the feeling that produces tears in my eyes during a passionate praise song in which the entire church is singing with all they've got. Those are certainly
- [Ronald Reagan, America and Me](http://www.gracecentered.com/reaganamerica.htm): President Ronald Reagan embodied the reasons why I emigrated to the United States from England and eventually became a naturalized American citizen. In 1976 while still living in England I placed my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and became a born again Christian. In 1978, looking for a country whose people affirmed the values
- [Reaching Out To Your Community](http://www.gracecentered.com/reachingout.htm): Many churches want to do something to reach out to their community and make a difference in the lives of their friends and neighbors, but don’t know exactly how to go about it. Acts 1:8 Ministry has introduced a plan for the local church to do just that. Local churches can use Acts 1:8 Ministry’s
- [Radiology Today](http://www.gracecentered.com/radiology_today.htm): Preparing for major surgery (they are all major when they are mine) often proves more difficult than surgery. It certainly takes longer. I've concluded that the medical establishment prefers not to work with sick and hurting people – too messy, too risky. But they must; we’re their largest clientele. However, they possess leverage. They control the hospitals
- [Proverbs on Prosperity](http://www.gracecentered.com/proverbs_money_prosperity.htm): Several men in the locker room of a private exercise club were talking when a cell phone laying on the be"nch rang. One man picked it up without hesitation, and the following conversation ensued: "Hello?" – "Honey, It's me." – "Sugar!" I'm at the mall two blocks from the club. I saw a beautiful mink
- [Adorned with Proper Apparel](http://www.gracecentered.com/properapparel.htm): I was raised in northwestern New Mexico, near the four-corners area on the Navajo Indian reservation. From the time I was about 4 or 5 years old until I graduated from high school, this vast area was my home. Such places as Shiprock, Sheep Springs and Naschitti (which means "badger") hold many fond memories. I
- [Nothing Out of Bounds in Prayer](http://www.gracecentered.com/prayer_in_his_name.htm): "If you ask anything in my name, I will do it"...If you ask anything in my name....If you ask anything in my name....Whether it was these particular words from John 14 or others like them in John's Gospel, I have spent many more years explaining what the words do not mean rather than thinking about
- [I Was an Enemy of God](http://www.gracecentered.com/an_enemy_of_god.htm): James 4:4 says, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” Yes, that was me for most of my life. I was a friend of the world, and an enemy of God! I
- [Play Deal or No Deal Online](http://www.gracecentered.com/play_deal_or_no_deal_online.htm): Deal or No Deal Instructions: Click on the case you want and the rest should be self explanatory if you are familiar with the Deal or No Deal Game show.
- [God's Plan of Salvation](http://www.gracecentered.com/plan_of_salvation_christian.htm): God created the world to be a wonderful place, and things started out that way. But man had free will, and soon rebelled against God. This rebellion (sin) separated men and women from God. Even with that, God still desired a close relationship with all men and women. But, he could not be near sin.
- [Phony Matrimony](http://www.gracecentered.com/phony_matrimony.htm): I know firsthand of a handsome young man just this side of maturity who recently leased a new luxury car with a sticker price twice his annual income. Cruising down the freeway a few days later, he caught the eye of some teenage girls who fancied his polished machine. They stopped. They talked. They flirted
- [One Sneeze from Barbarism](http://www.gracecentered.com/one_sneeze_from_barbarism.htm): One winter’s day in December 1955 a diminutive southern seamstress got on the bus as was her usual routine. She sat down in a seat behind the driver. He insisted that she move to the back of the bus or he would call the cops and have her arrested. She chose to stay in her
- [Oxymorons](http://www.gracecentered.com/oxymorons.htm): Words fascinate me. I enjoy playing with words. I love to collect axioms, slogans, sentence sermons, proverbs, Yogi Berra-isms and such. I even have a collection of oxymorons, those quaint and absurd combinations of self-contradictory words. Expressions like week day. Right. I have over 900 of them so far. Stay with me. Okay, I know
- [Perceiving What Has Always Been There?](http://www.gracecentered.com/perception_of_what_god_said.htm): Many today are bantering around the slogan "God said it, I believe it, and that settles it." Apart from being simplistic, and even bordering on deception, this sloganeering completely misses the point. We believe whatever "it" is that God has said. I, for one, will go on record as believing anything that comes from the
- [Othello Board Game](http://www.gracecentered.com/othello_board_game.htm): You'll move first in this game based on Shakespeare's famous story.
- [Cashing in Your Chips](http://www.gracecentered.com/oldestpersoncashinginchips.htm): The oldest person in the world isn't anymore. Three times this year I've seen headlines reporting that the world’s oldest person is currently dead. I don’t mean the same oldest person died three times, but that three different oldest persons have died. The life expectancy of the oldest person in the world is shorter than most everyone
- [Newsweek's Slander of Christianity.](http://www.gracecentered.com/newsweeksslander.htm): Where is the line? When do we finally step out in boldness and say, “That’s it. Stop it. We’re not lying in spiritual lethargy anymore and we will now speak out. It’s time you hear what we have to say.” Do we as Christians intend forever to ignore the slander of those who ridicule us,
- [So You're A New Parent](http://www.gracecentered.com/newparent.htm): When my wife announced she was pregnant with our first child, I felt an unbelievable amount of pressure, fear and responsibility. I felt that way, not because of what I knew, but because of what I didn't know. I didn't know what to expect so I made some incorrect assumptions. I thought my life was
- [Murmuring Members](http://www.gracecentered.com/murmuring_church_members.htm): We might as well be perfectly honest here and speak very frankly -- virtually every congregation, whether large or small, whether "liberal," "mainstream" or "conservative," contains a hardened handful who seem to feel "led of God" to criticize and castigate everyone and everything around them.
- [Never Easier Than Right Now](http://www.gracecentered.com/never_easier.htm): Over the years and across the broad plains of conflict and disappointment, I've noted a giant disconnect among folks struggling to understand the direct relationship between investment and return. It's apparently a very complex concept, antagonistic to our natural impulses. Over the years and across the broad plains of conflict and disappointment, I've noted a
- [Hostage (R)](http://www.gracecentered.com/hostage.htm): Bruce Willis, sporting the comb-over of the new millennium, salvages what is an otherwise pedestrian story of families in crisis. Give Willis his props. The guy not only has the guts to embrace male-pattern baldness whole-heartedly (he isn't even afraid to grace the big screen sans toupee), but it is clear that he has spent
- ["I Robot" (PG-13) - A Review](http://www.gracecentered.com/i-robot.htm): In the not so distance future, when Lake Michigan is all dried, Will Smith will once again save planet Earth from our worst nightmare--killer robots. Mr. July makes his presence felt once again in the sci-fi adventure, "I, Robot." As Detective Del Spooner, Smith wisecracks and struts his way towards mankind's salvation with his singular
- [Napoleon Dynamite (PG)](http://www.gracecentered.com/napoleon_dynamite.htm): "Napoleon Dynamite" is destined to become a cult classic. The simplistic beauty of this film belies the notion that big name stars, big time directors, big city locales, and big dollar budgets hold the keys to big box office bank.
- [Our Muslim Neighbors](http://www.gracecentered.com/muslimneighbors.htm): Believe it or not, we have a few things in common with our Muslim community. We are all created in the image of God. We all believe in a Supreme Being. They call him Allah. We call him Yahweh. They trace their faith back to "father" Abraham as do we. We follow the teachings of
- [Misery Loves Company](http://www.gracecentered.com/miserylovescompany.htm): Henry David Thoreau said, “If misery loves company, misery has company enough.” The truth in the first half of this statement is seen in our daily political climate. It seems while statistics show evidence of a robust economy, even under the scrutiny of the Misery Index, those who oppose the present administration attempt to drag
- [Measuring Your S.Q.](http://www.gracecentered.com/measuringsq.htm): By their own admission, the men who devised the modern I.Q. test weren't very smart about it. In 1904, the French government hired psychologist Alfred Binet to find a way to identify learning-impaired children. But the researcher assumed smarter kids would have bigger brains, hence larger heads. He was wrong. Eventually, Binet and a friend
- [Hero (PG-13)](http://www.gracecentered.com/hero.htm): There is artistry to film making we Americans just don't seem to get. Hollywood doesn't get it because they are constantly worried about demographics and the bottom line and the general public doesn't get it because as consumers we seek out mindless forms of entertainment. I mean, how else do you explain the huge success
- [Maze Game](http://www.gracecentered.com/maze_game.htm): Do you like mazes? How about mazes that make you think more than your average, typical, boring maze? This this is the game for you.
- [Made in His Image](http://www.gracecentered.com/made_in_his_image.htm): Christianity begins and ends with a spirit of intentionality. “In the beginning, God….” signals that an intelligent force acting on purpose sponsors all that we can see and know. Design, balance, and order witness to our logic that things hold together by a power greater than us. Our inherent concept of beginnings testifies that our
- [Peter Did Not Know What He Was Saying](http://www.gracecentered.com/luke_9_33_peter.htm): Luke 9:33 - As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters - one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (He did not know what he was saying.) Jesus had taken Peter, James, and John with
- [Loving A Wife](http://www.gracecentered.com/loving_a_wife.htm): Everybody called him Skeet. I knew him only in passing. He was a member of the college-town church I attended during my student days. I never did learn his first name, nor did I ever learn why he was called Skeet. He was a crusty old gentleman who had worked as a roughneck in the
- [Heaven Power Points for Sermon](http://www.gracecentered.com/heaven_power_points.htm): Joe Beam and Lee Wilson presented a study of Heaven at Pepperdine and Lipscomb Universities in 2006. The study was based off their book, The Real Heaven: It's Not What You Think that was released in 2006 (They expanded the book in 2010 and released it under the title, "The True Heaven"). Due to requests,
- [Love Does Not Confuse](http://www.gracecentered.com/love_does_not_confuse.htm): Have you ever noticed that we live in a world which is constantly in flux due to changes in opinions? We can’t tell if we’re coming, or going. Something we may feel adamant about one year could be the antithesis of our truth the next. For example: We have been stressed about cholesterol for almost
- [Living by the Spirit](http://www.gracecentered.com/living_by_holy_spirit.htm): Most of my life I have felt the presence of a battle being fought within the deepest portion of my soul. It started when I was thirteen, as a result of my cousin sharing his dad’s stash of Playboy magazines with me. The sinful desires of my flesh screamed out to be satisfied every day
- [Live Like You Were Dying](http://www.gracecentered.com/live_like_you_were_dying.htm): "You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14b). "Man, what ya say when you get that kind of news? So I went sky divin'; I went Rocky Mountain climbin'; I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Man-chu." So go the words of a popular country song.
- [Little Foxes Can Ruin Our Marriages](http://www.gracecentered.com/little_foxes_ruin_marriages.htm): I asked a girlfriend who was recently divorced, "When did you first notice that your marriage was in trouble?" She replied, "Looking back, I see that it had been slowly crumbling away for years. It happened so gradually that I can't even tell you when we stopped having fun or when we stopped holding hands.
- [Listening Ears](http://www.gracecentered.com/listening_ears.htm): My husband, Ron, is a tax accountant, and during his busy season-January through April 15-he works from 7 A.M. to 9 P.M. without a single day off. I've learned to listen to his hints about what would make his life easier. He even jokes that, for those months, I seem to turn into a magic
- [Maybe It's Like Baseball](http://www.gracecentered.com/like_baseball.htm): Okay. We’re at the halfway point of the baseball season. And the Yankees are playing more respectably. So maybe that’s why it occurred to me that a lot of our experience of religion is like baseball. In baseball, fans and fanatics have a lot in common. A real baseball fan is someone who really knows
- [Life and Death](http://www.gracecentered.com/life_and_death.htm): Have you listened to the radio lately? No, not just listening to the beats or providing background noise. Have you heard the words being spoken to our American culture? Consider the following lyrics: “Maybe we've been livin’ with our eyes half open Maybe we're bent and broken, broken We want more than this world's got
- [Let Go and Let God](http://www.gracecentered.com/let_go_and_let_god.htm): It’s been said, and I’m sure that you've heard many times, that the middle letter in the word sin is “I”. Sin is manifested when each of us tries to control our own lives. Ask me how I know! The problem that I had before I surrendered my life to Christ was that I wanted
- [Leaving the Darkness](http://www.gracecentered.com/leaving_darkness.htm): I can’t honestly say I didn't know better. I went into the relationship with my eyes open. I read the books, watched the training films, even listened to Neil Sperry’s home gardening radio show once. I was properly warned, but improperly prepared. I knew there were potential risks. I didn't buy my deck plants last spring unaware that difficult
- [Why Do People Leave Church?](http://www.gracecentered.com/leavingchurch.htm): After 30 plus years in full time ministry it is difficult for someone like me to not be personally offended at those who come into the fellowship of the body of Christ and then, for whatever reasons, decide to drop out. Amazingly, those often given the most attention and fussed over to a fault are
- [Ladder 49 (PG)](http://www.gracecentered.com/ladder_49.htm): "Ladder 49" stretches out in search of reason and purpose; it extends shooting for comedy, it distends further towards drama, and elongates seeking the penthouse of superlative action, but in the end it lands squarely in the bargain basement. This is a film that clearly over-extends its limited reach. I guess you could say that
- [Know God; Know Peace](http://www.gracecentered.com/know_god_know_peace.htm): On the first day of first grade, I couldn't read, write, or count past my fingers, but I was already a crackerjack at playing "Cowboys and Indians." Recess was my best subject from the very beginning. It was a simple game. The kids in power (older, bigger, faster on the draw, or simple proprietors of the home
- [The Kingdom of God is Like... ](http://www.gracecentered.com/kingdomofgod.htm): The Kingdom of God is like Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Have you ever noticed that whenever Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God in scripture, he doesn't talk about worship services, church buildings and Bible study? He instead seems to relate it to the ideology of restoration, redemption, and wholeness. I have a confession to
- [Junk-Food Marriages](http://www.gracecentered.com/junk_food_marriages.htm): In this fast-food era of pizza delivery and speedy drive-through meals, it's easy to forgo a sit-down "real silverware" dinner. We often sacrifice nutrition for convenience. Unfortunately, some of us have transferred this fast-food lifestyle to our marriages. Our bodies' immune systems will start to falter if we're living on junk-food diets. And if we
- [John Gray - Christian Comedian](http://www.gracecentered.com/john-gray-christian-comedian.htm): To share this with your friends, email them the following website address: http://www.gracecentered.com/john_gray.htm
- [Jigsaw Puzzles](http://www.gracecentered.com/jigsaw_puzzles.htm): Instructions for Jigsaw Puzzles: Use your mouse just as you would use your hand to assemble the pieces of the puzzle. Refresh this page to get a new puzzle.
- [God Provides a Greater Grace](http://www.gracecentered.com/greater_grace.htm): I searched the websites of the major George's (Gallup, Barna, and Curious) this morning hoping to find data regarding an important matter. I'm curious to know if balky American sinners have ever been polled to reveal their least favorite Book of the Bible. There are plenty of candidates. Leviticus is bound to get some votes
- [I'll Fly Away Lawsuit](http://www.gracecentered.com/ill_fly_away_lawsuit.htm): 7/13/2011 - Nashville, Tennessee, known as music city, is the stage for a lawsuit centering around one of the best loved hymns of all time. And it's a family fued. Albert Brumley wrote and composed the well known hymn 'I'll Fly Away' eight decades ago on a cotton field in Oklahoma. Little did he know
- [The Image of God](http://www.gracecentered.com/image_of_god.htm): “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26). Most of us have imagined what God might look like. God even speaks to us in human terms so we can at least catch a glimpse of his persona. He tells us he walked with Adam. He tells us he spoke with the
- [How Love Behaves](http://www.gracecentered.com/how_love_behaves.htm): "God is love" (1 John 4:8,16). "Love is from God" (1 John 4:7). "His love is perfected in us" (1 John 4:12). "Perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). "The one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. He has given us of His Spirit" (1 John 4:16,13). "The
- [Can't Miss Holiday Flicks](http://www.gracecentered.com/holiday_flicks.htm): 'Tis the season to be jolly, and if there's one thing a fat man like me knows all about, it's how to be jolly. If you're anything like me, you're eating too much turkey, drinking too much eggnog (non-alcoholic, of course), and traveling to celebrate this jubilant holiday season. And, if you're like this fat
- [From Helpful to Harmful](http://www.gracecentered.com/helpful_bronze_serpant.htm): I don't remember when I first decided that I was afraid of snakes, but as I have grown older my phobia has only become worse. It is no comfort to me to be told that a particular snake is non-poisonous or even "harmless." I have always believed that the only good snake is a dead
- [Your Heavenly Citizenship](http://www.gracecentered.com/heavenlycitizenship.htm): In whatever countries of the world we live, Christians hold dual citizenship. We may be citizens of first-century Rome, eighteenth-century England, or twenty-first century America. But we also know that "our citizenship is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20). So how are we supposed to handle our dual responsibilities? In his famous salt and light metaphors, Jesus
- [Can't Have it Our Way](http://www.gracecentered.com/have_it_our_way.htm): As we survey the terrain stretched before us, looking carefully for the best route to the Promised Land (one that avoids the dreaded swamps of extremism as well as the life-threatening bogs of mediocrity), we first examine the courses plotted by the pilgrims who have preceded us. Why stray off the beaten path? We return
- [The Gospel of Happiness?](http://www.gracecentered.com/happiness_gospel.htm): Billy Graham - True Happiness
- [Hail to the King](http://www.gracecentered.com/hail_to_the_king.htm): What goes up must come down, but not always right away. Consider the case of the human hailstones. As most of us learned in grade school, hailstones are formed during thunderstorms when falling ice crystals are repeatedly tossed skyward by updrafts, forming successive coats of ice before plunging to the ground. But your teacher probably
- [The Greatest Action Story Ever Told](http://www.gracecentered.com/greatest_action_story.htm): What do you think? Is The Greatest Action Story Ever Told video blasphemy or a blessing? Discuss it here.
- [Grace--The Taproot of Christian Ministry](http://www.gracecentered.com/grace_taproot.htm): No question about it! Effective Christian ministry is rooted deep in the grace of God. To begin anywhere else is to begin at the wrong place. God's grace has been "lavished upon us." (Ephesians 1:7-8) No wonder we sing about the "amazing" grace of our God! Has God's abundant grace touched your life? Do you
- [When Good Cells Go Bad](http://www.gracecentered.com/good_cells_go_bad.htm): Imagine for a moment that the highly skilled disease-fighting cells serving as military reservists in your blood stream one day receive an urgent summons from control central to grab their weapons and hustle to the front line. Trained to engage the enemy, and battle-hungry from languishing at boring desk jobs, they relish the prospect of
- [Got Grace?](http://www.gracecentered.com/got_grace.htm): Paul was a boaster. He boasted, of course, only in the cross of Christ and what it means. There is no boasting on a personal level regarding our salvation. As difficult as it is for some of us, including myself, to divest ourselves of the notion that we can somehow put God in our debt
- [The Gospel of Grace and Redemption](http://www.gracecentered.com/gospel_of_grace.htm): In my Christian tradition, we recently rediscovered grace (cut us a little slack...we're a few years behind other groups on a few things). The results have been interesting as people adjust to different views and opinions. One segment of "us" dug in their heels because the shift was just too different from what they had
- [Going to a Black Church](http://www.gracecentered.com/going_to_a_black_church.htm): Or click here to hear a black brother's take on going to a white church.
- [God of Tragedy](http://www.gracecentered.com/god_of_traged.htm): In the last couple of months, I've seen several tragedies befall families near me and mine. At church, we had one three year old who had to get his foot amputated after a lawn mower accident. Another child was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. A friend from high school and college gave birth to a baby
- [The God of My Backyard...and Spiders](http://www.gracecentered.com/god_of_my_backyard.htm): Spiders deserve better. For too long they have been treated like common insects, persecuted and maligned. Stop the hate! Put down that can of pesticide. Lay aside the swatter. Put the vacuum cleaner back in the closet. Stop shaking and get down off the counter. Control your primal urges. Master your fears. Subdue the need
- [The Glory of the Cross?](http://www.gracecentered.com/glory_of_the_cross.htm): "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…" (Galatians 6:14). Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn tells of the following episode in his Gulag Archipelago. Sick with fever and broken in spirit Solzhenitsyn was forced by the gulag authorities to work day after day. One day, overcome with anger mixed with deep depression,
- [The Fruit of the Spirit](http://www.gracecentered.com/fruit_of_the_spirit.htm): Jesus is our Life (Colossians 3:4). The Fruit of the Spirit is the foundation of our life in Christ Jesus on which all things rest. The Fruit of the Spirit in our lives affects everything we do and say and the way we rationalize things; without it, everything is affected by sin. Walking in the
- [Friday Night Lights Movie Review](http://www.gracecentered.com/friday_night_lights.htm): How often does a small-town writer get to sit down and write a review about a film detailing events that actually took place in his hometown? My house is just blocks away from Odessa Permian High School with Ratliff Stadium looming on the horizon just up the road. In my living room I notice my
- [The Fisherman Who Never Fished](http://www.gracecentered.com/fishersofmen.htm): "As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men'" (Mark 1:16-17). Behold, a man went forth to fish. "But before you wet your hook," someone counseled,
- [Fireproof Movie Review](http://www.gracecentered.com/fireproof_review.htm): If you've never heard of "Fireproof" the movie, that could mean you are not a member of a faith-based community. On the other hand, it just might mean that you haven't stumbled upon this new release that packed the 839 theaters where it opened over the weekend. Ever heard of the Sherwood Baptist Church in
- [Feel Versus Real](http://www.gracecentered.com/feel_versus_real.htm): There's nothing quite like the sensation that jets up my spine when I hear a fiery preacher. There's also no emotion equal to the feeling that often produces tears during a passionate praise song in which it seems the entire church is participating with all they've got. Those are certainly highlights of my Christian walk. They're certainly
- [A Faulty Line of Reasoning](http://www.gracecentered.com/faulty_reasoning.htm): There’s no getting around it: the Nazis got around it. This is the story of the Maginot Line. Bloodied and embittered after the staggering losses of the First World War, France vowed she would never again be invaded by the Germans next door. So between 1930 and 1935, War Minister Andre Maginot oversaw construction of
- [Evidence for Intelligent Design](http://www.gracecentered.com/evidence_for_intelligent_design.htm): A video by Dr. Frank Turek, author of "I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist" discussing the complexity of living things.
- [Example101](http://www.gracecentered.com/example101.htm): “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21). The poet penned: “Of much advice, I've had an ample; ‘twas just advice, but bad example.” Leslie Flynn tells of a Christian baroness living in the highlands of Nairobi, Kenya. She had employed a young national to be her
- [Exodus Bible Study](http://www.gracecentered.com/exodus_bible_study.htm): The theme of the Bible is redemption and Exodus certainly has a lot to say on that subject as it tells the story of how the children of Israel were redeemed from slavery. The theme of the Bible is redemption and Exodus certainly has a lot to say on that subject as it tells the
- ["Facing the Giants" (PG) - A Review](http://www.gracecentered.com/facing_the_giants_movie_review.htm): I don’t like football. Which is why I wasn't really looking forward to watching the movie Facing the Giants (rated PG), written and directed by Alex Kendrick, who also plays the leading role in the film. The general plot is described as “a losing coach with an underdog football team faces [his] giants of fear and failure
- [Faith As A Moving Target](http://www.gracecentered.com/faith_a_moving_target.htm): The New Testament occasionally speaks of faith in terms of a fixed vein of truth. As such, it is to be sought and mined by the diligent. This is the sense of the term at texts such as Jude 3, where Christians are told to “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted
- [Evan Almighty](http://www.gracecentered.com/evan_almighty.htm): Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman star in Evan Almighty, a modern day Noah's Ark. You might remember Evan from the first of this series, Bruce Almighty. Evan was the reporter who lost his job when Jim Carrey's character (Bruce) misused the powers "God" (Morgan Freeman) had allowed him to use for a day to see
- [Ephesians Bible Study](http://www.gracecentered.com/ephesians_bible_study.htm): The church at Ephesus had its beginning during Paul’s third missionary journey. He stayed there for two years preaching the gospel not only in Ephesus but through out Asia (Acts 19:10). Paul left Ephesus and went to Greece. After that he determined to go to Jerusalem. On his way he stops in a port city
- [Emotionalism in Christianity](http://www.gracecentered.com/emotionalism_in_christianity.htm): We serve a God of emotions. Every emotion humans experience our heavenly Father has revealed of Himself. Some of us are more emotional than others. A few of us are able to guard our emotions quite well and may give the impression we are cold--even heartless.
- [Donkey O.T.](http://www.gracecentered.com/donkey_ot_galatians_5_1.htm): Forgive me, but this week’s parable might just make an ass (donkey) of you. In this story about donkeys in Ethiopia, there are great parallels between those beasts and a small band of believers in so many churches. See if you can spot the many ways in which you, perhaps, are just like the four-footed
- [A Cutting Assessment](http://www.gracecentered.com/blood_letting.htm): Let the blood. That used to be the solution to almost every medical problem. Bloodletting was the practice of cutting into a patient’s arm and draining out the buildup of “bad blood” that was thought to cause disease. If that idea sounds primitive, it’s because it came from the ancient Greeks who believed the body
- [The Calling of Cicadas](http://www.gracecentered.com/calling_of_cicadas.htm): Their buzz-saw song is part of summer’s soundtrack. On a hot day, the long, loud cry of the cicada cuts through the quiet with an intensity greater than the insect’s size. Next to one type of termite, cicadas (suh-KAY-dahs) are the longest-living insects but it’s the nature of their life cycle that makes them so
- [Cat-echism](http://www.gracecentered.com/catechism.htm): Let’s put the emphasis on the cat in catechism, a fancy word that simply means religious instruction. We can learn a lot about faith from felines. Though cats have only been domesticated for half as long as dogs, they’ve held a place of honor and affection in many cultures, from ancient Egypt — when cats
- [Characteristics of God](http://www.gracecentered.com/characteristics_of_god.htm): “In the beginning God…” (Genesis 1:1a) Some of us can almost wrap our minds around the concept of an eternal God. Those who can’t however, often grasp the concept of “eternal matter” somehow arranging itself into the complex cosmos in which we live. To me that seems to require a great deal more faith than
- [What if God Kept a Record of Our Sins?](http://www.gracecentered.com/does_god_keep_records.htm): Ours is a record keeping society. Paperwork must be created and kept on everything from purchasing tooth picks to credit card receipts. When you need to buy a new washing machine, you must fill out paperwork on you whole family history. Then that company will check with another company to find out more records. They
- [Good Thinking: Bibles and Couples](http://www.gracecentered.com/bible_and_couples-htm.htm): Sitting at lunch last Sunday with a bright and energetic couple on the brink of marriage, we engaged in a conversation that ranged from the hapless Rangers to surviving the honeymoon. Excited, yet a touch anxious, they had concluded together in their pre-marital discussions that church needed to be an important part of their new
- [Do Not Microwave the Phone](http://www.gracecentered.com/do_not_microwave_the_phone.htm): (Proverbs 9:10) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. I bought a new cell phone a couple of weeks ago. Even though it is a low-end phone, it still has enough bells and whistles that I thought it a good idea to read through
- [Do You Want A Reward?](http://www.gracecentered.com/do_you_want_a_reward.htm): As I listened to the conference speaker encourage us to serve the Lord by picking up after our spouses, I wondered if my husband had secretly paid her. Upon arriving home, I immediately noticed his shoes lying on the living room floor. Knowing I was being tested, I swooped down, gathered them in my arms
- [Damaged Goods and Church Leadership](http://www.gracecentered.com/damaged_goods_and_church_leadership.htm): I have been reflecting on the unusual pattern I have noticed in Scripture . . . the type of people God almost always uses to provide leadership among his people. This is the one pattern that we usually disregard in Scripture. While I grant that God wants his leaders to be men, and women, of
- [Denominational Disorder](http://www.gracecentered.com/denominational_disorder.htm): The number of disorders that are presently recognized by the medical and psychological communities is staggering. People are being diagnosed in record numbers and being properly (or improperly) medicated and counseled to deal with their problems. I’ve recently read of everything from Histrionic Personality Disorder to Intermittent Explosive Disorder to Translocation Chromosome Disorders (say that
- [Abortion: Does It Really Matter?](http://www.gracecentered.com/abortion_does_it_really_matter.htm): Within the Christian community there is a subtle but distinct lack of concern for the growth of abortion which finds its roots in apathy. The mentality is one of what other people do with their bodies has no effect on us as individuals. This is such a multifaceted flawed philosophy that only 2 points will
- [Broken Shepherd's Staffs (Zechariah 11)](http://www.gracecentered.com/broken_shepherds_staffs.htm): The name Zechariah -- Hebrew: Zekar-yah -- literally means "Yahweh has remembered." This was a very common Hebrew name, and we find almost thirty different men with this same name mentioned in the Bible, "presumably," declares one commentator, "because the Lord had remembered the prayers of the parents for a baby boy." That, however, may
- [Camping Adventure](http://www.gracecentered.com/camping_adventure.htm): "Pumpkin, I've got good news, we're going camping." My husband of only three months excitedly informed me. Dread quickly overwhelmed me. "But Ron," I told him, "I've never camped before." "Don't worry, sugar, I'll take care of everything," he promised. "Look," I sweetly said, "in my family roughing it meant sleeping with a window open
- [Delta Farce](http://www.gracecentered.com/delta_farce_movie_review.htm): Delta Farce was written by Bear Arnold and directed by C.B. Harding. It stars Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy, DJ Qualls, David Trejo and Keith David. Larry the Cable Guy and Bill Engvall starred together (along with Jeff Foxworthy and Ron White) in “Blue Collar Comedy Tour” and “Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again.” This was a
- [Deception of Perception](http://www.gracecentered.com/deception_of_perception.htm): In the early years of my adult life, I worked for a petroleum and chemical transport company on the Gulf Coast. My duties entailed loading and unloading ships, barges, trucks, and rail cars with products that were stored on site.Loading rail cars was the job I least enjoyed because it required climbing ladders positioned up the sides of the
- [Highway to the Danger Zone](http://www.gracecentered.com/danger_zone.htm): “Hey, buddy, over here,” I heard a voice whisper from the shadows. “How much?” I asked. “How much you got?” the man in the black ski mask responded. “Fifty bucks,” I said, unwilling to disclose the real count. “Okay,” he told me, “that will get you two sets.” “Two sets!” I exclaimed, “That’s outrageous!” “Maybe
- [Alexander and the Great](http://www.gracecentered.com/alexander_and_the_great.htm): On the day he was born, signs and wonders foreshadowed greatness. His teenage intelligence astounded the greatest teachers of his nation. Though born a King, he renounced ease and comfort. Calling himself the Son of God, he preached unity among his followers then died at 33, head of the most powerful kingdom on earth. No,
- [The Bible Buying Season](http://www.gracecentered.com/bible_buying.htm): Christmas-shopping season is here. And I’ve already been asked the question that comes every Christmas and graduation season: I’m giving Sara a Bible. Which one should I buy? There are so many translations. So many bindings. So many editions. Which is the best one to buy? For purely practical reasons, don’t get one so big
- [The Bronze Serpent](http://www.gracecentered.com/bronze-serpent.htm): Enrich Fromm [1900-1980], in his highly acclaimed work Psychoanalysis and Religion, which is rather fascinating reading by the way, astutely observed, "Religion is any system of thought and action shared by a group which gives the individual a frame of orientation and an object of devotion." When reflecting upon these thoughts one is tempted to
- [Church and State](http://www.gracecentered.com/church_and_state.htm): A dear brother in Christ from the great state of Alabama recently wrote, "Al, I am active in the Republican Party. Many years ago I was criticized (though not by name) in a sermon because I spent time in political activity, rather than spending all my time in church related activities. The preacher apparently believed,
- [Church Bloopers](http://www.gracecentered.com/church_bloopers.htm): Church Bloopers Video: Since the church is made of a people and people aren't perfect, lots of funny things can happen in church. We've likely all had those moments in church when we tried not to laugh but couldn't help it even though we love the Lord and His church. So get your sense of
- [Cannon Ball Baptism](http://www.gracecentered.com/cannon_ball_baptism.htm): Cannon Ball Baptism video. Looks like someone was anxious to get baptized!
- [13 Going On 30](http://www.gracecentered.com/13goingon30.htm): by Chad Durham Jennifer Garner can cry. After watching almost every episode of "Alias" (Sunday evenings 8PM CST, ABC.) during its first three seasons I can safely say this: Paul Simon might know "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover," but Jennifer knows 50 ways to cry. Sometimes, she makes me cry in the process. But
- [Act Your Age](http://www.gracecentered.com/actyourage.htm): In one area I am delighted our practice has not caught up with what we preach. It has to do with how we treat others in light of some of the things we have said the Bible teaches. I am eager to search for truth in the Bible, but I am not all that eager
- [Ah-Ha Moments](http://www.gracecentered.com/ah-ha_moments.htm): "As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers" (Galatians 6:10). The above text is one of my favorites. It dismisses the notion that we can pick and choose those to whom we shall be kind. God doesn’t say, "Do good to everyone
- [Body Building 101](http://www.gracecentered.com/body_building.htm): To "edify" simply means "to build up." Edification, therefore, is simply the process of building up someone or something. Another word in this family is "edifice," which is the result of a building process. This concept is found many times within the pages of the New Testament writings, and we have all heard these words
- [Amazing Grace Lyrics](http://www.gracecentered.com/amazing_grace.htm): "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now, I see. T'was grace that taught my heart to fear. And grace, my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils and
- [Birds of a Feather Flock Together](http://www.gracecentered.com/birds_of_a_feather.htm): I never pondered all the implications of living in a shrinking global community until I read Mark Leibovich’s hilarious column in the Washington Post exposing the recent explosion of superficial sub-communities springing up in chat rooms near you. His unmeasured response to social organizational overload invites other beleaguered world citizens to join “the ‘tired-of-the-word-community’ community.”
- [Batman Begins (PG-13)](http://www.gracecentered.com/batman_begins.htm): "Batman Begins" right where he should have all along-in the hands of a director who truly understands the nuance and noir quintessential to the Dark Knight's tale. Unlike the narcissistic forays of weirdness brought courtesy of Tim Burton, or the campy digressions of Joel Schumacher, Christopher Nolan chooses to explore the origin of Batman in
- [Barney Fife Is Dead](http://www.gracecentered.com/barney_fife_is_dead.htm): I don’t know about you, but I was saddened to hear of the passing of our beloved deputy here in Mayberry. We all knew he only had one bullet with him, in his pocket, to cause less havoc than possible in case of a real emergency. But we loved him in spite of himself because
- [Baptism and Children](http://www.gracecentered.com/baptism_and_children.htm): The central teaching of the Bible is that God wants to reclaim his relationship with us through Jesus Christ (John 3:16 & Romans 3:24-26). Jesus Christ came into the world to be sacrificed as a sin offering so that our sins could be forgiven. And now God will give eternal life to those who place
- [Awake and Alert](http://www.gracecentered.com/awake_and_alert.htm): In the famous Riverside Church in New York City are two stained-glass windows with scenes from the Gospel accounts of Jesus in Gethsemane. The first is the famous scene of Jesus in prayer beside a rock. He is alone in the garden, pouring out his anguish to the Father in Heaven. In a second window,
- [A Balancing Act](http://www.gracecentered.com/balancingact.htm): They put the fun in funambulism. Tightrope walking is from the Latin words funis (rope) and ambulare (walk). The art was practiced in ancient Egypt and first century China where “rope dancing” was performed over knives stuck in the ground, pointing upward. In North America, funambulism was taken to new heights during the 1850s when

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- [Was Jesus Married Book](http://www.gracecentered.com/was-jesus-married): BUY ON AMAZON - HARDBACK | KINDLE BUY ON AMAZON - HARDBACK | KINDLE It’s one of those things you’ve always been told—that Jesus was unmarried and celibate, and “everybody” knows it. End of story and case closed, right? Or is it? Can you prove it? Can you quote a Bible verse that says that
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- [Articles](http://www.gracecentered.com/category/archives): Below is an incomplete listing of archived Christian articles. Articles deal with many topics including the Bible, God, creation, apologetics, relationships, parenting, theology, doctrine and suggestions on overcoming problems. Most recent Christian articles published on GCM are below. To discuss these articles, visit our message forums.
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- [Arcade Games](http://www.gracecentered.com/category/arcade_games): Below is a list of unblocked online arcade games and video games to play for free. Many of them are classic Atari and Nintendo/NES video games. Please tell your friends about them and feel free to post your game scores in the comments section. This list constitutes an unblocked arcade by most work and school computers. All that is required to play is a keyboard or electronic device such as a cell phone or tablet. Please share the ones you enjoy to help us expand and provide more.
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- [John 3:16](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/john-316)
- [Ephesians 2:8](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/ephesians-28)
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- [Pope's denial of hell](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/popes-denial-of-hell)
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- [Hebrews 12: 1-2](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/hebrews-12-1-2)
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- [Andrienne Gross](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/andrienne-gross)
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- [how to teach Jesus](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/how-to-teach-jesus)
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- [1 Corinthians 14:33](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/1-corinthians-1433)
- [Romans 13](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/romans-13)
- [Matthew 17:24-27](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/matthew-1724-27)
- [Luke 23:2](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/luke-232)
- [1 John 4:17-18](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/1-john-417-18)
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- [Andrew Brunson](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/andrew-brunson)
- [Jesus first miracle](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/jesus-first-miracle)
- [water to wine](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/water-to-wine)
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- [divorce after coronavirus lock downs](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/divorce-after-coronavirus-lock-downs)
- [Leah Torres](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/leah-torres)
- [was jesus married](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/was-jesus-married)
- [did Jesus have a wife](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/did-jesus-have-a-wife)
- [was Jesus married to Mary Magdalene](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/was-jesus-married-to-mary-magdalene)
- [who was the wife of Jesus](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/who-was-the-wife-of-jesus)
- [Jesus and Mary Magdalene](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/jesus-and-mary-magdalene)
- [talmudic period](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/talmudic-period)
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- [midrash](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/midrash)
- [Jewish Talmudic Period](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/jewish-talmudic-period)
- [origins of Christmas](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/origins-of-christmas)
- [where did Christmas come from](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/where-did-christmas-come-from)
- [was Jesus born on December 25](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/was-jesus-born-on-december-25)
- [white ram](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/white-ram)
- [Talmud](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/talmud)
- [1 Thessalonians 4:16](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/1-thessalonians-416)
- [Exodus 19:19](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/exodus-1919)
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- [was Jesus married book](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/was-jesus-married-book)
- [book about Jesus marriage](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/book-about-jesus-marriage)
- [did Jesus ever marry](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/did-jesus-ever-marry)
- [jesus married](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/jesus-married)
- [did Jesus ever get married](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/did-jesus-ever-get-married)
- [separation and marriage](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/separation-and-marriage)
- [can separation save my marriage](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/can-separation-save-my-marriage)
- [coach lee](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/coach-lee)
- [angie featherstone](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/angie-featherstone)
- [foster care](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/foster-care)
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- [I hate my marriage](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/i-hate-my-marriage)
- [what to do when you hate your marriage](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/what-to-do-when-you-hate-your-marriage)
- [why do I hate my marriage](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/why-do-i-hate-my-marriage)
- [what to do if I hate my marriage](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/what-to-do-if-i-hate-my-marriage)
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- [modern marriage](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/modern-marriage)
- [high divorce rate](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/high-divorce-rate)
- [why don't marriages last today](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/why-dont-marriages-last-today)
- [positive signs during separation](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/positive-signs-during-separation)
- [encouraging signs during separation from a Christian viewpoint](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/encouraging-signs-during-separation-from-a-christian-viewpoint)
- [how to save your marriage alone](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/how-to-save-your-marriage-alone)
- [save your marriage alone](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/save-your-marriage-alone)
- [save my marriage alone](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/save-my-marriage-alone)
- [how to save your marriage by yourself](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/how-to-save-your-marriage-by-yourself)
- [joe rogan](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/joe-rogan)
- [chris distefano](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/chris-distefano)
- [the case for christ](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/the-case-for-christ)
- [Lee Strobel](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/lee-strobel)
- [catholic guilt](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/catholic-guilt)
- [The Carpenter's Son](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/the-carpenters-son)
- [Nicolas Cage](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/nicolas-cage)
- [Lofty Nathan](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/lofty-nathan)
- [marriage counseling](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/marriage-counseling)
- [christian marriage counseling](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/christian-marriage-counseling)
- [Jesus wept](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/jesus-wept)
- [John 11:32-25](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/john-1132-25)
- [Lazarus raised from dead](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/lazarus-raised-from-dead)
- [Lazarus resurrected](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/lazarus-resurrected)
- [Tim Walz](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/tim-walz)
- [Tim Walz bans Christian teachers](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/tim-walz-bans-christian-teachers)
- [Jesus is Lord](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/jesus-is-lord)
- [Christian view of Trump winning](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/christian-view-of-trump-winning)
- [faith based films](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/faith-based-films)
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- [faith and culture](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/faith-and-culture)
- [discernment](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/discernment)
- [Machiavelli](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/machiavelli)
- [Christian thought](http://www.gracecentered.com/tag/christian-thought)