Being 'in love', Jacob and Rachel and Leah's blessing

In Genesis 29, we read about Jacob, who loved Rachel, but married her sister, Leah, after the girls' father, Laban, tricked Jacob into the nuptials. 

The Bible says Rachel was beautiful and had a lovely figure and Leah had weak eyes. I have no idea what that means, but I assume she was not as pretty as her sister.

Jacob worked seven years to earn Rachel as a wife, and when he was supposed to marry her, Laban sent Leah to sleep with him, tricking Jacob into marrying the older sister. I assume Laban did this because Leah was older than Rachel and not as attractive. The father wanted his daughter to have a husband.

Paul, a slave for Jesus (Romans 1:1)

When reading the letters of Paul, I often overlook the introduction because I know who Paul is so I figured it wasn't important.

While looking up the Book of Romans on biblegateway.com, I noticed the first verse and it talked about Paul being a servant of Jesus. I've heard discussions on this before so I checked a few versions of the Bible to see what they had to say as well as the Strong's Concordance.

Here are three different translations of Romans 1:1:

Making a Godly decision

I am going to start this post with this disclaimer: Every suggestion, tip, or advice I give about making Godly decisions are based on sermons I have listened to by John MacArthur and RC Sproul, the Bible Talk radio program on Faith Talk AM 1500 WLQV Detroit, and discussions and sermons by/with my pastor, Jeff Davidson, of Faith Community Church in St. Clair Shores, Michigan.

I wish I could give exact attribution but what I learned on this subject was taught to me over the pats few years. I am sure there are other influences as well, but the ones listed are the most prominent.

Every once in a while, someone will tell me they are looking to God for an answer of to a problem or decision. Often, they say never heard back from God.

NBC rids Pledge of God

Over the weekend, NBC television omitted "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance during the U.S. Open.

During the broadcast, NBC offered this apology: "We began our coverage of this final round just about three hours ago and when we did it was our intent to begin the coverage of this U.S. Open Championship with a feature that captured the patriotism of our national championship being held in our nation's capital for the third time.

The Father of all fathers

I have a great dad.

One memory of how cool my dad was/is comes from when I was in fifth or sixth grade. My school took a field trip to the Detroit Zoo and my dad was a chaperon. At first, it didn't bother me, but when we were split into groups on the day of the trip, my dad and I were in a group with an eighth-grade girl I had a crush on.

I can't remember her name now, but at the time I was "in love" and the prospect of hanging with her and my dad all day scared me. All I could think about was how he would embarrass me.

The strong faith of Jonathan

Everyone that is familiar with the Bible is most likely familiar with David.

David was a shepherd boy who became the greatest king of Israel. He was selected by God to be the successor to the first king of Israel, Saul. King Saul became jealous of David because of the younger man's military exploits after he slew Goliath. The people praised David as much as they praised Saul.

What would Jesus Do? Road rage

I'm not going to lie. The most angry I get is when I am behind the wheel. Even when I am not in hurry, I get very impatient when I drive my car.

For years, the F-word and the middle finger salute were a staple of an average ride for me.

When I became a Christian, it took years for me to stop. My pastor taught a series in my church's men's group about the characteristics of Jesus. A couple revolved around patience and kindness - two things I never practiced in my car. But, I took those lessons to heart and really worked on my road rage.

I struggle with hospitality (Romans 12:13-14)

There is so much in the Bible I struggle with. I have trouble controlling my tongue. I am not always nice or even-tempered. At times, I have no motivation to read the Bible

Living for Jesus can be difficult, especially when He tells use to love our enemies. In Romans 12, Verse 14, it states: Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. (NIV)

That is hard for me. I can deal with showing love towards people who don't like me, but to someone who physically persecutes me for Jesus' sake? I am not sure if I can muster up that much love.

The Holy Spirit: The forgotten member of the Trinity

Have you prayed to the Holy Spirit?

I never have. I have prayed to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but I don't think I ever addressed just the Holy Spirit in prayer. I have started prayer by saying "Dear, Father" and "Dear, Jesus" but I never said "Dear, Holy Spirit."

Why? I'm not sure.

Wowed by Romans: Chapter 12, serving God

For some reason, the book of Romans used to intimidate me. When I began reading the Bible I heard "Romans was full of doctrine" by someone and the word "doctrine" scared me.

I imagined reading about doctrine meant big scary words and ideas I wouldn't understand.

Once, I finally got to reading Romans, I fell in love with it. There are so many great things in the book.

I was just skimming some verses and came across Chapter 12:3-8. It's titled "Humble Service in the Body of Christ"

Tired of blasphemy and Joel Osteen

I was cruising through the Internet looking for Christian blogs and websites about Jesus and was stunned to see how many people on the web have no problem promoting blasphemy toward God.

It's pretty disgusting. But. not unexpected.

Society has been trying to remove God for decades and as He is pushed further and further away, people will become more emboldened to mock God.

Talk politics? Maybe - Talk religion? Yes

Recently, a Facebook post I wrote regarding men seeking respect and finding it through loving and respecting the women in their lives, drew some responses about women needing to submit to their husbands.

One friend wrote she might submit to God but never a man.

Tressel saga bad for Christian image

As someone who hates the Ohio State University football program, I was torn when when I became a born-again Christian a few years ago.

I wanted the Buckeyes to lose and lose big, but when I accepted Jesus, I discovered OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel was a Christian and I softened up on Michigan's nemesis to the south. I still didn't like the team, but when they won, it no longer left a nasty taste in my mouth because I rooted a little for Tressel.

I figured his success would make a greater platform for him to preach Jesus.