The Harder Truths

T he State of the Church in Our Day: A Deliberate, Willful Disassociation from the Word s of Our Lord Jesus Christ Recently, I was inspired to write this short "story" in light of the direction I am seeing the majority of the Christian church going today. The hypothetical turn of events is filled with biblical symbolism. If you are discerning, you will find them. I hope and pray that this will cause you to think deeply about whether or not you might see yourself as the character in this story.   Through a Character's Eyes  _____________________________________________ By Greg Cooper Imagine for a moment that you're hanging out with a crowd that says they are following Jesus  - and, you've decided to pursue Him as you see so many of your friends also doing.  You consider yourself His "disciple" after they told you about how much love He can offer you, and since you'd only heard good things about Him, you think that it

How the Sin of Hypocrisy Can Hinder Our Children's Spiritual Growth By Greg Cooper Updated December 12, 2017    M any times when I am correcting my children's “bad” behavior, I am frequently reminded by the Holy Spirit that I'm really no less sinful than a child, the one whom I just disciplined. In fact, most every one of the sins I am addressing in my child's heart also reside in my heart. The difference is, I am just mature enough to be able not to act all of them out. It took me over four decades to get to where I am now - to be able to hold my tongue about half of the time. This begs the question: how can I hold my child, who has been in this world for only a fraction of the time than I, at a greater accountability than myself? I think sometimes we expect perfection in our children on a subconscious level, all the while acting out however we want to: Yelling loudly. Condemning. Threatening. Grabbing a toy violently out of a child's hand. The day bef