Rich Murphy 
In general, gratitude is sorely lacking in the world today. It is most noticeable in children, as parents are no longer teaching them to be polite and thank others. But the problem doesn’t start with the children; as they are only portraying what they’ve been taught by their parents and society at large. With the … Read more
Spiritual warfare is a controversial topic within the church, even though it is something we see Jesus Himself engaging in and teaching on. Paul also taught on the need for spiritual warfare, making several very bold statements about the battle that we, as believers, are engaged in, whether we believe in it or not. Our … Read more
We’ve all heard the term “soulmate” used in casual conversation and talk about relationships. It’s one of those words that everyone thinks they know and even think they know what it means, but nobody can really define it. Rather, people define it; but they each define it in their own way. There is no definitive … Read more
There is much in the Bible which is purely symbolic in nature. This is especially true of things in the Old Testament and even more so in Old Testament prophecy. God spoke to His people through symbols, as a way of both concealing truths from those who were not prepared to understand and revealing those … Read more
When we look around us, the “norm” we see is adult men and women coming together as couples. As we go through puberty and enter into our teen years, we tend to become interested in members of the opposite sex. Seeing others pairing up, we desire to do so as well. Yet even with this … Read more
Marriage, as the Bible defines it, is a spiritual joining together of one man and one woman in a life-long committed relationship. It is something created by God, for our benefit, and carries His blessing. Although the word “marriage” is not used there, we see the very first couple, Adam and Eve, joined together by … Read more
There are a lot of things in life, for which the Bible doesn’t actually give us unequivocally clear guidance. While God clearly spells out some things as being sin, especially in the Old Testament Law, he doesn’t spell out everything. This results in two opposing reactions; some take it as permission to do anything the … Read more
Someone once said, “In five years, you’ll be the same person you are today, except for the people you meet and the books you read.” I’m not sure they got it all there, as the experiences we have are an important factor as well; but there’s no doubt that the relationships we allow in our … Read more
The idea of altars isn’t limited to the Bible. Altars have been used throughout history, by a wide range of religions. Making sacrifices to whatever gods they serve is a common attribute to religion, requiring altars for making the sacrifices on. An immeasurable amount of blood has been spilled on countless altars, throughout history. The … Read more
It’s not uncommon for people to think that God doesn’t hear their prayers. After all, there are now more than eight billion people occupying this planet of ours. We’re not all praying at the same time, but we’re all living; and God does much more than just listen to our prayers. He somehow keeps track … Read more