July 4, 2014

anim-waving-usa-flagToday is the 238th anniversary of the United States of America.

Two years ago I posted, “Was It A Coincidence?” 

This year’s post is a link to that post from two years ago because there are some really great quotes from our Founding Fathers. Some of the words they spoke may even surprise you.  

As the USA continues moving away from the godly principles it was founded upon, many of us continue to

Love Nuggets

hearts-SPOTLIGHT

Kathy and I were talking the other day about love, the love of God. We reminded ourselves of a verse in the Bible that says, “And now these three remain: faith [believing], hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Love is greater than hope and believing!

A couple of hours after our chat, I decided

Dad’s!

dad 2

From one dad, to all dads!

Mike Verdicchio
2014

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Pentecost 2014

Today is Pentecost!

Many Christians do not know or understand the great significance of remembering and celebrating the Day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2. Few calendars even note this day.

Could Pentecost be of even greater importance and significance than the birth of Christ?  Below are excerpts from a post I did 4 years ago, called, The Lost Message of Pentecost.  

The Lost Message of Pentecost

When it comes to Pentecost, what exactly do we celebrate?

A Higher Being?

a higher being

It’s common today to hear phrases like, “a higher power,” “Guardian spirit,” or, “a higher being.” Those kind of terms generally refer to non-human life forms believed to have power over human life. I heard one of those phrases the other day.

It reminded me of a brochure a friend gave me that he picked up at a chiropractor’s office several years ago. He thought I would find it interesting, and I did.

The brochure was about having a positive mental attitude. I’m certainly in favor of that, aren’t you? I read through it and found a lot of great points and some really good suggestions. In fact, a number of the principles in the brochure could be easily documented from the Bible.

Huh?

But there was one part of the brochure I didn’t much care for. The topic was, “Believe in a Higher Being.” The paragraph was pretty vague and ended by encouraging people to “get in touch with their spirituality.”

It seems rather odd to me that if you are trying to believe in a “Higher Being,” that would mean something spiritual that is outside of your human self. You do that by getting in touch with your own spirituality?

The brochure did not offer any help in getting in touch with one’s spirituality. Would that be anything like a guy getting in touch with his “feminine side?” I’m not trying to sound critical, but since we are humans, our spirituality is something based on knowledge and our interaction with a spirit being. Obviously God is a spirit; I get that.

But God Almighty, the Creator of the heavens and the earth is not the only spirit being around. There are people whose spirituality is based on interactions with what the Bible calls “deceiving spirits.” For me, “believe in a higher being,” needs a little more clarification.

3 Cheers For The Creator!

Speaking of the Creator, there sure is plenty of obvious evidence that God created this world. Just look at the human body and how magnificent it is. Someone way smarter than any of us built and designed human beings.

The Bible is clear there are two great spiritual entities. On one side is the Creator, the One True God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. On the other is Satan, called by a number of names in the Bible, including the “god of this world.” Even without an understanding of the Bible, isn’t it obvious in our world there are evil forces at work, as well as good?

The Bible declares just how good and magnificent the One True God is, and how horribly bad and evil the devil is. Jesus engaged the Pharisees in a pretty intense verbal exchange about this. Coming soon, I’ll have a podcast on this blog recapping that stinging debate.

Maybe, for brochures, so as to not offend, some think it’s better to say, “Believe in a Higher Being,” than to say, “Believe in God.” But, on the other hand, it seems to me that “Believe in God,” is a broad enough statement that encourages those who do believe in the One True God, and probably wouldn’t offend those that don’t.

Mike Verdicchio
2014

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You Might Also Enjoy:
How Great Is He?
Where Does Your Help Come From? (Eastern Eye)
Are You Searching For Truth?

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Photo Credit: sierra.bethh via Compfight cc

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It seems like May is full of personal dates for me, including my birthday!

I thought this Beatles tune, a, “Paul only” rendition was fitting for today.

Mike Verdicchio
2014

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Mom’s!

moms day

Mike Verdicchio
2014

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Happy 43rd!

Kathy 1971

Today’s post is personal.

This picture has been in my wallet for 43 years.

It was in the local news paper announcing Kathy’s engagement to me, back in 1971.

Today we celebrate 43 years of marriage.

I am very grateful to God for blessing my life with such an amazing woman.

Happy 43rd, Kathy; I love you!

(And, if you like personal stuff,

Control Yourself!

man thinking

I live in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix.  May is here at that means triple digits are right around the corner.  The hot weather begins around the middle of May and triple digit temperatures usually last until mid October.

I’ve been here 22 years and the hot weather is certainly no surprise. So why do any of us, including myself at times, complain about it? None of us who live here, either individually or collectively, can change this desert climate. So why complain about how hot it is?

What Bugs You?

I wonder how many things in our lives we allow to upset us that we have no control over. The weather is an obvious one. How about traffic lights?

Easter 2014

It was on a Sunday morning. over 2,000 years ago, when an angel uttered those three words: He Is Risen!  

This coming Sunday believers around the world celebrate the cornerstone of Christianity: the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Once again, as in the past, for this week leading up to Easter 2014, I have some