The Purpose Of Life

THE PURPOSE OF LIFE
By ANNE MANNING

God created mankind primarily because He desired to have a family. In order to truly fellowship with God, man had to have freedom of choice. Unfortunately, man used his freedom to rebel against God and fell from fellowship with God.

When man fell he came under the dominion of the devil, because he followed the devil's suggestion to disobey God. With this came spiritual death and a new nature which was selfish. Man became self-centered -- actually worshiping himself by making every decision based on what was best for him. The result of this selfishness is evident all around us: horrible misery and suffering.

God is just and obeys His own laws. Justice requires that rebellion be punished. To be just, yet allow mankind to come back into fellowship with Him, God Himself came to earth as the man Jesus Christ. He suffered a horrible death as the substitute for all mankind, taking the punishment we deserved for our sins. Because of what Jesus did, God could justly forgive all sin, and open a way for all people to come back into fellowship with God.

Jesus Christ was born, died and rose again for one purpose only; to show mankind the way back to a relationship with God. Anyone who believes this can enjoy the benefits of His sacrifice, which sets us free from sin and God's final judgment.

Our life on earth now is testing and preparation for eternity, to prepare us to be in God's family. This is not determined by human beauty or achievement, but by our
willingness to acknowledge that we are sinners and accept the death of Jesus as punishment for our sin. This needs to be followed by a submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ. When we submit to Jesus, He begins changing us into what He wants us to be.

When you come to Jesus, He changes you inwardly. As you continue following Jesus and obeying His Word, your inward change will continue manifesting outwardly, causing people and circumstances around you to change also. God will continue working in and through you until you become like Jesus Christ in your thoughts, words and actions, as well as your nature. The Bible says that God sent Jesus so that He can have many sons just like Him.

This is the purpose for all mankind, but becomes effective only in those who accept and believe it. It is then that we find our true purpose on earth.

My writing is inspirational and Bible Study based. God the Creator has gifted me with the ability to write creatively. I want to use this for His Glory. My writing may be freely used to help and bless people through their journey of life. More on my website http://www.annemartinmanning.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS-MAKE A WEBSITE

compiled by Jeremy

The Eternal Summer

The Eternal Summer
By Sherrie Coronas

The sound of the small rubber wheels racing down the cool asphalt penetrated my unconsciousness like thunder on a clear day. I turned over slowly without opening my eyes denying that morning had already arrived. When chatter filled the air just outside my bedroom window, I realized my internal alarm clock had failed me yet again. Throwing my sheets to the floor, I enthusiastically scrambled out of bed the way teenagers do only when on break from school.

In the blink of an eye I was outside lacing up my roller skates, regretting that I had missed nearly fifteen minutes of riveting neighborhood gossip. I rolled myself into the bunch and quickly joined in the twaddle. When the sun was high in the Hawaiian sky, we changed into swim suits and hit the beach. I spread my towel onto the hot sand and coconut oil onto my fair skin. I relished every second of my summer freedom.

As the sun disappeared behind the horizon, I headed home to find mom annoyed that I was late for dinner. A quick apology got me off the hook as I sat down to enjoy her famous beef stew.

"So, just one more week and it's back to school," said mom with inappropriate cheer.

"Yep," I said as I thought about all the fun I would pack into my final days of summer.

"Well, I got a call from Aunty Geri today and she's invited you to join your cousins at church camp this weekend -- would you like to go?" she asked.

I stared blankly for a moment. Did she have any idea what she was asking me to give up? With my eyes fixed squarely on mom, I simply said "yes" because I knew the question was nothing more than rhetorical.

On Friday I packed my duffle bag and headed to Camp Timberline for a Christian summer camp for teens. Although I felt absolutely robbed of my last three days of summer bliss, I put on a game face and decided to make the best of it.

Camp Timberline offered rustic cabins, super cool youth leaders and teens that were surprisingly fun to hang out with it. On the first day, we swam in the pool and played dodge ball. Pastor Art conducted service shortly after dinner.

On the second day of camp, it started to get a bit uncomfortable. A church-going Catholic, I knew I loved God; however, at this camp we talked about having a daily relationship with Him, living our lives for Him and making a personal decision to accept Jesus Christ into our hearts.

Guilt pangs caught me by surprise as I comprehended the shallowness of my life. I knew that I didn't think much about God between Sunday services, unless a teen crisis propelled me into an impromptu prayer request. My "good works" really didn't extend beyond...well, myself.

By the end of day two, the fun-loving camp leaders by day turned into compelling preachers by night with probing questions that boggled my young mind:

Q: When was the last time you thanked God for the goodness in your life?

A: I think it was last Christmas.

Q: When was the last time you shared your love for Jesus with a friend?

A: That would be never.

Q: Did you know that you are a sinner by nature?

A: Now that explained a lot!

Q: If you died tomorrow, are you certain you would go to heaven?

A: What kind of question was that?

It was getting heavy, for sure.

On Sunday afternoon, Pastor Art appeared as a mere shadow against the backdrop of a glorious sunset during our final service. At the end of his message, he looked into the sea of teenage faces and asked, "Are ready to make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life? Are you ready to live His plan for your life?"

I stared blankly for a moment. Did he have any idea what he was asking me to give up? With my heart fixed squarely on Jesus, I simply said "yes" knowing that the question was anything but rhetorical.

I opened my heart to the Lord and invited Him to dwell inside of me. Since that day 35 years ago, I've relished every second of that eternal summer decision.

Sherrie is a believer in Jesus Christ, a website writer for her church, a wife of 25 years and a mother of two wonderful sons. She resides with her family on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, where she was born and raised.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS-MAKE A WEBSITE

compiled by Jeremy

Attention Everyone..!!!!!!!!

There will be NO HIGHER GROUND SESSION ON NOVEMBER, WHICH IS THIS MONTH (I REPEAT, NO HG THIS MONTH).

Second announcement.

Next month's HG will be on the 26th of December. Further details not available yet, but please keep an eye here, we will release the details A.S.A.P.

Here, we apologize for all the late announcements and sudden announcements. Please tell the others that have not received this news. Thanks.


*Details correct at time of publishing. Subject to further changes.

compiled by Jeremy

12 Compelling Evidences that the Bible is True By: Windmill Ministries

12 Compelling Evidences that the Bible is True

By: Windmill Ministries

Is the Bible true? Can we trust the texts we read today? Does archaeology confirm the Bible stories? Much as been written about the evidences for historical reliability of the Bible and/or to prove that it cannot be trusted. To help you find a path through the labyrinth of information, following an overview of the 12 most compelling evidences for the historical reliability and truthfulness of the Christian Holy Scriptures:

1. The Dead Sea Scrolls: These contain Old Testament manuscripts from 100 years before the birth of Christ, proving that over the centuries the scriptures were very carefully copied and our current texts are close to identical to the original texts.

2. The Septuagint: The first translation from the Hebrew Old Testament to the Greek language, dated from the 285-270 BC timeframe. The Septuagint proves the existence of all the Old books before 300 BC.

3. The canon of the Old Testament: The list of books that now makes up our Old Testament was never under serious dispute, showing these books were accepted, and treated as God’s word almost immediately after they were written.

4. Authorship and dating of the Old Testament: Although most of the Old Testament books are technically anonymous, we have strong internal and external evidences to support the traditional authorship and date of writing for these books.

5. The manuscripts of the New Testament: The abundance (over 25,000 partial and complete texts) and early dating (the earliest papyrus is from 125 AD) of preserved manuscripts of the New Testament shows the reliable preservation of the original texts.

6. Testimony of the Early Church leaders: Additionally there exist over 86,000 quotations from the New Testament texts in the preserved writings of the leaders of the Early Christian church, testifying to the original texts.

7. The canon of the New Testament: The official canon of the New Testament was agreed upon by 397 AD, however, before the year 150 AD, all gospels, Acts and Paul’s epistles were universally accepted as part of the list of Inspired writings. The disagreements in the 3rd and 4th century only centered around a few of the smaller New Testament books: James, 2 Peter, 2&3 John, Jude and Revelation.

8. Authorship and dating of the Gospels: Although technically anonymous, there are strong internal and external evidences that support the authorship of the gospels by the names we identify them by today. Mark is generally considered to be the oldest gospel; even liberal scholars will agree on a dating before 70 AD, although more realistic is in the 55-65 time frame. Luke, Mark and Acts are generally dated in the 60-80 timeframe. The gospel of John is now universally accepted to be written in the 80-90 period.

9. Authorship and dating of Paul’s letters: All substantial letters are universally accepted to be written by the apostle Paul in the 49-65 AD timeframe. That makes these letters likely the earliest written documents in the New Testament.

10. The ‘lost’ books of the Bible were never ‘lost’: Modern liberal scholars claim recently discovered ‘lost’ or ‘deliberately misplaced’ gospels that claim alternative views on Jesus and His teachings. Famous examples are the ‘gospel of Thomas’, the ‘gospel of Judas’ and the ‘gospel of Mary Magdalene’ (one of the ‘sources’ for the claims of the Da Vinci code). However evidence shows that these gospels were not only written generations after the apostles, but also that the preserved texts were subject to ‘creative editing’ (rewriting) by Gnostic heretic sources.

11. The historical reliability of the Bible: Archeology and historical analysis again and again show the accuracy of the events, locations and customs mentioned in the Bible accounts. Never has anybody been able to disprove any of the accounts.

12. The credibility of the eye-witnesses: The eye-witness accounts to Jesus prove to be honest and factual testimonies. The abundance of (irrelevant) detail, consistency of the accounts, as well as between the different gospels, lack of exaggeration and confirmations from extra-Biblical sources prove their credibility.

Article Source: http://www.articles.narrowisthepath.com

Rob VandeWeghe is a sceptic turned Christian by studying the foundations for Christianity. Rob’s book ‘Prepared to Answer’ and more evidences for Christianity are available at www.WindmillMinistries.org. Or read more about the reliability of the Bible.

compiled by Jeremy

Do You Truly Know God's Plan for You? Our Christian Gift of Prosperity By: Steven E Coffman

Do You Truly Know God's Plan for You? Our Christian Gift of Prosperity

By: Steven E Coffman

What are you doing to bring your life's dreams to pass? Do you truly have a clear direction? Do you wake up every morning expecting favor and blessings on everything you do? Do you only plan for what is good? Are you taking the necessary steps to build a strong belief of faith for your success? Maybe you want to start a business, or ministry, or even go back to school. Whatever is in your heart, ask the Lord to confirm it to you. God leads us by desires, but we have to first submit our desires to God for Him to be able to act on them.

Proverbs 16:9 (NRSV) says, "The human mind of plans the way, but the LORD directs the steps."

What do you expect as you go throughout your day? When you only plan for what is good, you will find God in the midst of your plans. Remember that God's plan for you is the best plan for your life. If you will do your part to seek Him and begin to make plans to succeed, God will guide you. He will direct your steps. You do not have to vaguely go through life anymore. God truly wants to show you His plan.

Sometimes we let our past victories keep us from rising higher as much as past failures. If we never let go of the old, we will never be able to embrace the new. It truly does not matter what has happened in your history, now time to forget what lies behind you.

Do not ever let yourself get stuck into negative thinking, "I will never change that's just the way I am." Our Christian Bible tells us that when we align with the Spirit of God, He aids us in our weakness and gives us strength by telling us many times in the Christian Bible "Doubt not" and "Fear not." Knowing this, you need to make the firm choice to truly believe and not fear, then press forward. Trust that God has a better future in store for you. Trust that He is truly working behind the scenes on your behalf.


God wants to truly pour out His blessings on you and allow you to live a life of victory! This is our Christian gift of prosperity that He offers you. Decide today to make your plans and truly believe that they will come to pass to succeed. Make time to evaluate where you are in life. Evaluate your finances, your career, and your relationships, and also evaluate how you're spending your time.

Do not go another week without having a plan for your future and truly believing in it. Write down all your goals and submit them to God for His blessings. If you will go beyond just dreaming, and start making these plans to truly succeed, God promises He is going to direct your steps. He will lead you down the path of His favor. He will lead you into increase; He will lead you into promotion. You will not only see your dreams come true, but you also will walk in success in every area of your life!


"Jesus looked at them and said," "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible." Mark 10:27 (NKJV).

God created you in His image to reflect His glory. He created you to reflect His character, and His righteousness. If you start truly believing in your plan, you will also truly begin to align with God's plan for you, then you will start move forward into the life of victory the Lord has in store for you!

Remember, Proverbs 14:22 (NLT) tells us; "if you plan good, you will be granted unfailing love and faithfulness."


Why not start your plans today, so that you can receive all of God's favor and Our Christian gift of prosperity!

By: Steven E Coffman

Family-eStore.com

Article Source: http://www.articles.narrowisthepath.com

Family-eStore will try to provide you with articles of interest to a Christian and patriotic way of life. The articles are written by Steven E Coffman (Owner) of Family-eStore.com (National Essay Contest) winner 1969. I am a person with strong Christian and patriotic beliefs. Tenacity, faith, and a belief in God, Country and Family are key components to success in life.

The Christian articles are only intended to bring you closer in your relationship to our Father in heaven.

I hope that you enjoy and are enlightened by them.

compiled by Jeremy

Attention People..!!

Kindly be informed that the 2009 November Higher Ground Session will be held on the 28th of November 2009. I repeat, it's on the 28th of NOVEMBER 2009..!!

Full details will be published as soon as possible. But one thing, do mark your calendars, sent your reminders and remember to come to our November session..! It is not something to be missed..!

See you there..!

compiled by Jeremy

Why Satan Doesn't Want You To Study The Bible - Andy Deane

Why Satan Doesn't Want You To Study The Bible

By: Andy Deane

I’m convinced one of Satan’s most successful schemes against God’s people is in blinding us to the importance and relevance of spending time studying the Scriptures. God’s Word is invaluable. It is a far greater treasure than anything this world has to offer yet many treat it as though it has no worth. Instead of investing time studying the Bible, it is left unopened and gathering dust. Whether it is because of busyness, complacency, or just a lack of awareness, believers miss out on the benefit of growing in their relationship with the Lord when they do not cherish and abide in, His Word.

Satan’s primary objective is to prevent Christians from appropriating all that is rightfully ours as God’s children. He wants us to live spiritually bankrupt and destitute lives and one of the ways in which he goes about accomplishing that is by keeping us from studying God’s Word. It is simple really: If we don’t know who we are or who our God is, then we will miss out on what He wants to do in and through our lives. God has given us a surpassing treasure according to the riches of His glory—we have every spiritual blessing in Christ. But unless we are grounded in biblical truth, we are destined to be ineffective for the gospel in this world. However, when we make time to study the Bible our lives are enriched and established upon the sure foundation of His Word.

What treasure does the Word of God have to offer you? Let me give you a description of the riches that God has for those who study the Bible. I've heard Psalm 19:7-10 paraphrased like this, "The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together. The signposts of God are clear and point out the right road. The life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy. The directions of God are plain and easy on the eyes. God's reputation is twenty-four-carat gold, with a lifetime guarantee. The decisions of God are accurate down to the nth degree. God's Word is better than a diamond, better than a diamond set between emeralds. You'll like it better than strawberries in spring, better than red, ripe strawberries." We have to develop the same heart of the psalmist who says in Psalm 119:162, “I rejoice at Your Word as one who finds great treasure.”

Let me share with you eight benefits of studying the Bible:
1. It assures you of your salvation (1 John 5:13)
2. It guides you with your decisions (Psalm 119:105)
3. It gives you confidence in prayer (John 15:7)
4. It cleanses you from sin (John 15:3 / John 17:17)
5. It brings joy (John 15:11)
6. It gives you peace (John 16:33)
7. It makes you strong (1 John 2:14)
8. It leads to success (Joshua 1:8)

The Bible answers life’s biggest questions.
In addition to getting to know the God who created us, studying the Bible also helps us to learn about ourselves, and the world in which we live. Answers to all of life’s biggest questions are found in God’s Word. Such as:
• Who am I?
• Why am I here?
• Where did I come from?
• Where am I going?
• What should I do with my life?
• What is my relationship to God?

The Bible answers all of these questions and so much more: it is our Creator’s revelation to us. When we understand this, we will begin to rightly esteem its value and importance in our daily lives. We will also view the time we spend in God’s Word as the most vital part of our days and guard that time from being disturbed by the constant stream of distractions that make up our modern lives. Ringing cell phones and never-ending emails are always clamoring for our immediate attention, but as we discipline ourselves to set time aside to study God’s Word we will realize that intrusions such as these will be better handled after we have spent time with the Lord. What are you waiting for? Open your Bibles and find your reward! Are you unsure of how to study the Bible? You can learn forty easy to do Bible study methods by visiting

Article Source: http://www.articles.narrowisthepath.com

Andy Deane serves as an associate pastor at Calvary Chapel Old Bridge in central New Jersey where he oversees a vibrant junior high ministry. In 2009 he published his first book, Learn to Study the Bible: Forty Different Step-By-Step Methods to Help You Discover, Apply and Enjoy God's Word. His greatest desire is to equip and inspire God's people to dig into the Scriptures and begin comprehend.

compiled by Jeremy

Hillsong United: Freedom Is Here

compiled by Jeremy