Gospel.com Blog

Do you know what today is? Most of you know probably know that it’s Mother’s Day. But while it’s always a good idea to celebrate mom, today has a special theological significance for Christians—it’s Pentecost, seven weeks after Easter. It marks the time two thousand years ago when the Holy Spirit came down (in fulfillment of a promise by Jesus) to live within Christ-followers. Here’s the account as it’s told in the Bible:

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

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This Sunday is Mother’s Day in the U.S.—the perfect opportunity for you to tell mom that you appreciate all that she’s done for you. Sure, she always nagged at you to eat your veggies and wash your hands before dinner, but thousands of changed diapers, dozens of trips to the children’s doctor when you got sick, and all the time and money spent raising you gives her the right. Here are a few items to help you think about your mother, and motherhood in general, this Mother’s Day:

• Revive Our Hearts has a five-part radio series about motherhood, much of it discussing the value of motherhood. If you’ve ever been tempted to think of motherhood as a lesser calling for women, be sure to check out No, Not Just a Mother, The Value of Motherhood, and Mother and Wife: Dueling Roles.
• Winning at Home has a lot of good articles and radio shows about parenthood and related family topics, but this Mother’s Day, take a look at Mom’s Big Four, a tribute to moms and the underappreciated advice they were always giving you when you were a kid. On a different note, the essay Dad’s Out of the Picture calls attention to the challenges of single motherhood, and encourages us to notice and lend a hand to the single mothers in our communities.
• Joe Stowell has a great devotional message up today called Thank God for Mothers, in which he encourages us to—you guessed it—give thanks for mom. Be sure to read the discussion points at the end, where Joe challenges us to be thankful even if a broken relationship or grief makes Mother’s Day more painful than joyful.

Even if you aren’t able to be with your mother this Sunday for some reason, it’s worth considering these words about motherhood, and the important role that mom played in our lives. So pick up the phone, set aside any lingering grievances you might have for at least one day, give mom a call, and tell her how much she means to you!

Love is in the air today, whether you’re planning a romantic date with your significant other tonight, or are eagerly waiting for the holiday to be over and done with. There are a lot of useful articles and resources at Gospel.com about sex, marriage, dating, and relationships, and today seems a perfect time to highlight some of them. Here are some Valentine’s-themed items to get you thinking:

• ACTS International has a large collection of articles about marriage and relationships that are worth perusing. In particular, check out The Art of Staying in Love and Seven Secrets for a Successful Marriage, both of them aimed at married people. If you’re single, take a look at Single and Satisfied and Sex and the Single Adult.
• In a serious relationship, and thinking about marriage? InterVarsity has a free Bible study that explores the question What Qualities Should I Look for in a Future Spouse?
• Blaine Smith of Nehemiah Ministries has written a lot of good material (including a few books) about relationships, dating, and marriage. One of his best articles on the topic is Is God a Matchmaker?, which looks at the question of whether or not God has chosen a “special someone” for you.
• If you’re looking for short, inspirational messages about love and relationships, In His Steps has two collections of devotionals on the subject: one set of Valentine’s Day devotionals, and another set of devotionals about love.
• The ThinkChristian blog has two items talking about sex and the Christian life: a report on Lauren Winner’s speech about whether good sex is possible in marriage; and another asking whether Christians are too uptight about sex in general.
• On the ever-popular topic of sex, writer James Watkins has an entire site dedicated to “adult topics”: the Adult Site for Adults, where he talks frankly about, well, adult topics like sex and relationships.
• On the lighter side, Reverend Fun has a nice collection of cartoons with a Valentine’s Day theme.
• No collection of holiday links would be complete without a word from the Christian History Institute. So who was the original St. Valentine? And was he a romantic Romeo-type figure? Why is Valentine’s Day named after him?

That’s a lot of reading to do between now and tonight. But even after the romance of Valentine’s Day has come and goes, much of this material can help you keep your relationships healthy and Christ-centered. Have a happy Valentine’s Day!

Today is a special day for Christians, although you won’t find greeting cards or gifts marking the occasion: it’s Ash Wednesday, the first day of the season of Lent. Throughout Lent, many Christians choose to prepare themselves (through prayer, repentance, and reflection) to celebrate Easter, the commemoration of Christ’s resurrection.

Lent is a quieter event than most other holidays—it calls us to personal reflection rather than to outward celebration. You may have seen people walking around with an ash mark on their foreheads today—many Christians choose to mark Ash Wednesday with a cross-shaped mark of ash. For some people, Lent is also a time of self-denial, in which they choose to give up something (anything from a certain type of food to a personal habit) as a way to help them focus on the meaning of the season.

However you decide to commemorate Ash Wednesday and Lent, here are a few resources to help you get into the spirit of the season:

• Ash Wednesday, “spring cleaning for the soul”—why is Ash Wednesday important, and what does it really mean? Why do we hear so little of it from most Christian churches?
• An explanation of the significance of Lent, for those who aren’t clear on what it stands for.
• Lent is for losers—a short reflection explaining why Lent is a holiday especially for the broken and burdened.
• Lent is a time when many Christians choose to “live with less,” through fasting or some other form of self-denial. But have you thought about living this way all throughout the year?
• A Lent reflection from the AlreadyNotYet blog.
• Thinking of giving up something for Lent? How about TV or regular personal habit? It’s not all deadly serious—James Watkins has a humorous account of what he’s giving up for Lent.

It seems inappropriate, given the nature of Lent, to wish you a happy Lent. But may you have a reflective and prayerful Ash Wednesday, Lent, and Easter!

What were the best youth ministry resources and innovations of 2007? Youth Ministry Exchange asked their readers to help them pick the best new book, innovation, worship song, and musician of the year for youth ministry. Stop by the YMExchange site and see who made the list.

What did your 2007 look like? In honor of the new year, several ministries are looking back at the highlights of the old year. Let’s take a quick trip down memory lane, shall we?

• Humorist James Watkins has a very thorough month-by-month review of 2007. Good, bad, or ugly—if it happened in 2007, it has been the subject of James’ witty commentary.
• What an interesting year 2007 was! So at least says David Bruce of Hollywood Jesus in his visual reflection on the year gone by. From scientific discoveries to our entertainment choices, there’s a lot of good material for thought and discussion.
• Christianity, and religion in general, was in the news a lot in 2007. Terry Mattingly comments on the top ten religion stories of the year over at the GetReligion blog. And over at The Culture Beat, Jim Dalhman weighs in with his reactions to the list as well.

What lies in store for you in 2008? Lots of people like to make resolutions for the New Year—tasks to accomplish, habits to break, lifestyle changes to make. Making a realistic list of New Year’s resolutions isn’t a bad idea. If you want to make some changes in your life in 2008, here are some resources that can help:

• The main problem with New Year’s resolutions is that they’re much easier to make than to keep. Max Frazier offers some advice on making New Year’s resolutions that will achieve results.
• Getting back on track financially has got to be one of the most common resolutions people make—and it’s also one of the toughest to keep. Cindy Sumner shares some ideas for making a financial fresh start that might be helpful. And if you really need to step back and get your financial situation in order, there’s a great series of practical essays about Christians and personal finance by Ray Porter.
• Do your New Year’s goals seem way too big to be achievable? Consider breaking them down into smaller, more accomplishable goals. Blaine Smith has some encouraging words about the importance of small beginnings when setting goals for yourself.
• The Back to the Bible radio program spent a week talking about five words of resolution for the New Year. (Link goes to the first day of the discussion.) Their conversations offer a lot of good insights into making personal resolutions that will truly accomplish something for you and your spiritual life.

Tomorrow we’ll point out some useful resources for another popular New Year’s resolution—reading through the Bible in 2008!

It’s finally here! Christmas Day—one of the few days of the year that the shopping malls stand empty and the roads and highways are (relatively) quiet.

Christmas is different than every other day of the year, and no matter how commercialized the holiday seems to get, when December 25 actually arrives, it puts a temporary hush on even the busiest, most hectic lifestyle. Much of the world may not believe in Jesus Christ or the miraculous birth that Christmas celebrates, but still the holy invitation to know peace and joy filters through even the most materialistic culture.

This Christmas, do you know peace and joy? The peace that Christ offers runs much deeper than the thrill of getting a few extra days off of work for the holidays, or the fun of Christmas parties and family get-togethers. The world slows down and scrabbles for a bit of that peace every year on December 25, but the peace of Jesus is something you can experience every day of the year, even long after the presents are forgotten and the Christmas trees hauled off.

Maybe you’re looking for a peace of heart that persists beyond December 25. Or maybe you’ve looked around at your life and not found much to by joyful about this Christmas. This Christmas, take a step toward lasting peace—read the original story of Christmas, familiar as it may be; read about the baby born on this day thousands of years ago, and think about what it all means for you today.

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve spent the last month working frantically to wrap up work and business before the year’s end, or if you’ve spent every day of December in quiet spiritual meditation. Today is a day to celebrate, to ponder the birth of Christ, and to rejoice at the good news his birth proclaims. From everyone here at Gospel.com, we wish you a blessed Christmas Day. May the peace and joy of Christ touch your heart, no matter how clean or ugly your life feels. Today,

“the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.” —Matthew 4:16

Here are a few Christmas articles and resources for you on this last Friday before Christmas.

First, two articles from Ravi Zacharias International Ministries:

The Silence of Christmas by Ravi Zacharias begins with a look on how perceptions of Christmas have changed in the United States.

The Mission of Christmas is a Christmas reflection by Betsy Childs

And from Winning at Home with Dan Seaborn:

An article about giving gifts like time and affection titled, Giving what you Can’t Wrap.

Family at Home is an article about difficult family relationships and how Christmas often exacerbates tensions.

A fun movie from Youth Ministry Exchange:

This video shows 100 Crying Children with Santa in ten minutes. They’ve prepared this as a free resource. Check out the link for more information.

John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Still looking for last minute meaningful gifts for your family? Mission Network News reports on a new filtration system from International Aid that can filter 75 gallons of water a day for a family for only $32. You can read the full write up here.

The lightweight plastic HydrAidTM filter is designed to be easily transported in rough and remote terrain without risk of breaking. It is a non-electric device with no moving or replacement parts and can provide clean, safe water at the rapid rate of 47 liters per hour– meeting all of a family’s water needs, including drinking, bathing and washing clothes.
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International Aid wants to get believers actively involved in the “One filter, One family” campaign. The ministry team believes that Christians must respond actively to the Biblical commands requiring followers of Christ to offer “the least of these” a cup of water and with it, the message of hope.

Matthew 10:40-42

“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes someone known to be a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes someone known to be righteous will receive a righteous person’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is known to be my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly be rewarded.”