Goodbyes can be some of the most heart-wrenchingly difficult human interactions, but they can also be some of the most important and empowering! The time has come for Elijah to leave the earth and be carried on a chariot of fire to heaven, but before he departs, the old prophet gives his younger assistant Elisha an opportunity to make a parting request.…

We humans have an uncanny ability to trade amazement at the awesome things of God for amusement with man-made trinkets. I liken this to watching an online radar map instead of going outside and watching the approaching storm itself. Yes, God is powerful and His might is a dreadful thing, but He is a gracious God who invites us to inquire of…

Spiritual depression is no laughing matter, and everyone who follows Christ will at some point experience the isolation of either a long-term spiritual depression or a shorter-term spiritual funk. Elijah was no stranger to this either. Though he ministered several generations before Christ as a prophet preparing the nation of Israel for the arrival of God’s Messiah, this great saint of the…

Indecision is crippling. Whether we care to admit it or not, many of us who call Jesus Lord still have a problem with self-idolization. We want the eternal benefits Jesus provides, but we find it hard to let go of the temporal ego boost of being respected and honored by other people. While we claim Jesus as Lord on Sunday, sadly our…

Every day we meet with one form of confrontation or another, whether at work, school, or at home. Most of us would prefer to avoid confrontation if possible, but as followers of Christ, as worshipers of the One true and living God, we’re called to initiate confrontation on the spiritual level. The root sin in the core of humans is idolatry–and I…

So, you’re a single parent, you’re destitute, you’re starving, with just enough food for one last meal with your only child; then along comes a stranger asking for a meal. What do you do? Do you show hospitality and starve yourself and your child, or do you receive the visitor and surrender your last bit of food? The woman of Zaraphath whom…

It’s winter time, so bring on the grime — onto your windshield that is! Sunday February 19 Bridge Church will be topping off washer-fluid reservoirs for folks at Sines Marathon station on the Painesville Twp/Perry Twp line (2481 North Ridge Rd. Painesville) FREE! We’ll be getting started around 12:30 p.m. and will go until around 2 p.m. or until we run out…

Loving others enough to pray for God to do whatever it takes to get their attention and bring them from a place of selfishness and disobedience to a place of repentance and faith will often bring about seasons of alienation from those very people as God does His work in their hearts. It’s often in these times that God brings us to…

Desperate isn’t a word many of us would use to describe ourselves, but when it comes to following Jesus we must be desperate. Saying that we are dependent on God or devoted to God isn’t enough. If a person isn’t desperate for God can he really claim to have a full understanding of his sinfulness and of the destruction that awaits those…

One of the giants of the Old Testament is the prophet Elijah. Though he doesn’t have a book of the Bible named after him, his influence is felt throughout the Bible. Jesus had enormous respect for Elijah and we should too. Men, you may feel that your life is entirely inconsequential among the “big players” of our day and time. You may…