File: Swart Reason
Photo: Manger tree.jpg
The Real Reason for the Season
Jeff Swart, Senior Adult Pastor • Antioch, Conway
Christmas is a wonderful time of the year and yet, if we are not careful, the true meaning of Christmas can be lost. To illustrate what I mean, I would like to share a contemporary paraphrase of Luke 2:
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from the U.S. Treasury, that all of America should go shopping. (This ...
No doubt you have heard the accusation that all Christians are hypocrites. Many passionately believe this to be a fact but, in all honesty, it is a grave error to label “all” of anything as “something.” This position presumes that one knows everything about everybody living everywhere. You would have to be God to accurately do that.
I will concede that all Christians are imperfect. I have said for decades that I cannot live up to my own preaching simply because the standard is perfection ...
Many people believe they can be “good Christians” without attending a local church. Such a statement reveals a misunderstanding of the New Testament (NT) and an attitude of immaturity and pride — “I can do it myself.” However, the Bible offers many compelling reasons for actively serving the Lord in a local church:
In the New Testament, the Greek word translated into English as “church” is actually a compound word literally meaning, “a called-out group of believers who ...
Your Coordinating Council has been busy these past six months (August-February) working with your departments, agencies and committees. I am thankful for the sweet spirit of cooperation that exists among the members of your council and the fact that every member was faithful to attend the meetings this year.
This associational year, the Coordinating Council has diligently tried to fulfill the mandate given us by the Statement of Principles of Cooperation. We have reviewed the specific ...
One of the most moving scenes from Stephen Spielberg’s Academy Award-winning movie Schindler’s List occurs at the end of the movie. During WWII, Oskar Schindler, a German businessman, made a deal with the Nazis to employ Jews to work in his enamel works factory in Poland and to pay the wages they should have earned to the Nazis. All was going well for both Schindler and the Nazis until word came down from the Nazi High Command that these Jews were to be transported by rail to a ...