Encouragement for Life

By Darrel Geis, Live in the Moment It was the 2nd Sunday of Advent in 2003, and I was sitting in the back row of the sanctuary at North Cincinnati Community Church, my home church. On my left was my girlfriend at the time, who had flown from her home on the East Coast to visit me for the weekend. …

By David Kithcart, St. Valentine, the Real Story Flowers, candy, red hearts and romance. That’s what Valentine’s day is all about, right? Well, maybe not. The origin of this holiday for the expression of love really isn’t romantic at all—at least not in the traditional sense. Father Frank O’Gara of Whitefriars Street Church in Dublin, Ireland, tells the real story …

By Hugh Whelchel, Why “Character Goals” Should Be Your First Resolutions How many of your goals are built around what you want to accomplish as opposed to who you want to become? The plans of the diligent surely lead to advantage (Prov. 21:5). In the mid-sixties there was a successful television series called Run for Your Life. Actor Ben Gazzara plays a …

By Darrel Geis, 7 Words That Changed My Heart One Christmas It was Christmastime in 1995, and I had organized a group from my church to go Christmas caroling. Using crudely assembled, photocopied song sheets, we ventured into the neighborhoods surrounding our church. In spite of the cold, more people showed up than expected, so afterwards, I dropped by the local …

By Drew Dinkelacker, Do Something Meaningful This Christmas We see the de-valuation of Christmas all around us. I willingly admit that I have spent more time and money on gift giving rather than personally preparing to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. It’s clear that the story of Jesus, as the central focus of Christmas, has been lost on many in …

By Darrel Geis, Shine Like Stars “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”   John 1:5 “Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.” Philippians 2:15b In my January 2017 blog titled “Game Day”, I shared the story of the faithfulness of a handful of students involved with OSU Bible Studies to …

By Dion Elmore, Prayers for America with Dr. Dave Butts With just a few days until we observe the 66th Annual National Day of Prayer, the chairman of the board of The National Day of Prayer task Force, Dr. Dave Butts shares a few thoughts on …Prayers for America      Protection “Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you …

By Darrel Geis, Who was Saint Patrick and why do we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Q: Who was Saint Patrick and why do we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? A:  Patrick, whom almost everyone calls “Saint Patrick,” although he was never canonized by the Catholic Church, was born to a wealthy family in AD 387 in Kilpatrick, Scotland. His real name was …

By Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts, How Lent Can Make a Difference in Your Relationship with God Growing up as an evangelical Christian, I experienced Lent as little more than a joke. “What are you giving up for Lent?” my friends would ask. “Homework,” I’d say with a smirk, or “Obeying my parents.” Lent was one of those peculiar practices demanded …

By Darrel Geis, Game Day With my alma mater Ohio State having recently competed in the College Football Playoff, I was reminded of a memory from my college days in the 1980s that God used to plant seeds in my heart and draw me to Christ. Before every home football game outside of Ohio Stadium, students involved with OSU Bible Studies would pass …

By John Hartz, The Pair of Shoes As a small business owner I am constantly caught in the battle between the things I would like to be doing and the things my business makes me do. There have been so many books written on the struggle of the small businessman to move from working for his business to working on …

By Pastor Dax Welsheimer, God Desires Mercy Over Sacrifice When I introduced myself in the last blog, I mentioned I try to live my life through three different filters. I wanted to share with you in the coming weeks what each of those actually mean, starting with the first filter –“God desires mercy over sacrifice.” What does God desiring mercy over …

By Darrel Geis, Jesus Loves Me This I Know Last fall I had the opportunity once again to serve as meals coordinator for Interfaith Hospitality Network, where we house, feed and provide clothing for homeless families displaced from their homes due to financial duress, usually caused by a significant illness, breakup of parents, or loss of the family’s main income source.

By Darrel Geis, What Was Your Big Rock in 2015? As we begin the New Year, it’s always appropriate to take a moment to reflect back on the previous twelve months, and thank God for his provisions and protection. What’s even better, though, is to intentionally “mark” a moment (or moments) where God made clear His purposes (i.e. through answered prayer …

By Larry Burkett, Crown Financial Ministries During a recent Sunday night service at a local church, a young minister shared a guideline for prayer handed down to him by an elder believer.

By Darrel Geis, Christian Character and Competence – Our Unique New “Trust” Filter I often hear advertisements from businesses that claim “we are a business you can trust”. Many say this, and, ideally, their claims are proven to be true. Everyone – Christian or not – prefers to work with businesses they can trust, but what “filter” can consumers use beforehand …

By Darrel Geis, It Was for Freedom “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. ” Galatians 5:1 If you plan on attending a sporting event or 4th of July festivities this summer, no doubt you will be asked to join in the …

By Darrel Geis, Have Compassion It was 1996, and a few Christian Blue Pages staff members and I attended the Promise Keepers men’s conference in Indianapolis, which was held in the Hoosier Dome, which was, at the time, the 60,000 seat home of the Indianapolis Colts.  The Blue Pages had secured exhibit space for the event as well in the Indianapolis …