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Showing posts from September, 2017

An Empire Fallen

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Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" Hugh Heffner, the founder of Playboy Magazine, passed away at the age of 91 and although he is gone, his impact on the culture and sexuality is one that will far outlive him. Some may say that he built an empire and affected the world at large for the better which he would agree with. Heffner is quoted in his magazine as saying, "If you don't encourage healthy sexual expression in public, you get unhealthy sexual expression in private. If you attempt to suppress sex in books, magazines, movies and even everyday conversation, you aren't helping to make sex more private, just more hidden. You're keeping sex in the dark. What we've tried to do is turn on the lights,” But was his influence for the better?

Fruitfulness. John 15:1-5

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“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper. 2  Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. 3  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4  Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. 5  “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me." John 15:1-5 (HCSB) It is likely that you have heard some time in your life that true believers will bear fruit as evidence of their salvation. Even Jesus proclaimed this in the Sermon on the Mount that every good tree bears good fruit and that the fruit a person bears is one distinguishing mark of judging whether a person was a false or true prophet (Matthew 7:15-20). No matter who we are, we bear some