love

What’s Love Got To Do With It?

Everything. God’s essence is love, and we are made in His image. (see 1Jo 4:8 and Gen 1:26-27). Therefore our redeemed nature God intends is that we love both Him and one another. He emphasizes this when Jesus instructs, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul […]

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Why Not Love the World?

Loving neither the world or the things of the world is not a suggestion or merely good advice. It is a command. But why? We read further, For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions – is not from the

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Unconditional?

We Christians often talk about God’s unconditional love. However, using a word search tool in the ESV, KJV, NKJV, NASB, and NRSV translations reveals “unconditional” never appears once in scripture. “Love”, in contrast, appears 773 times in its various forms in the ESV. So does God love us unconditionally? Yes – and No. God absolutely

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The Greatest Loving-Kindness

February turns the thoughts of many to Valentine’s Day, with See’s chocolates, Sweethearts candies, and Hallmark cards dripping with prose professing true and enduring love. But there is only One who truly loves us forever and will never leave nor forsake us. No one can love us like our heavenly Father. And we should love

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Rallying for Peace

Last night I was given the honor of being asked to speak at the Porterville Peace Rally. These were my comments. Good evening. My name is Rick Groves. Most of you don’t know me, and all of us are far too complex to nail down in a few words. So, by way of personal introduction,

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Sir Percival

I killed my dog today. You can sugarcoat the words by saying he was put to sleep, euthanized, or that his suffering was ended mercifully, but it doesn’t change that even if not by my hand that by my decision a life given by God to one of His creatures ended away today at 12:10

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The Waiting Room

At the Stanford Eye Clinic in Palo Alto, CA on August 29, 2011, a sight I will likely never forget passed through my eyes and into my heart. A lovely Asian family – father, mother, and daughter – slowly crossed the waiting room floor, the aged father maneuvering one small, weak step at a time, his quivering

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Ugly the Tomcat

This is a story my dad sent to me today. If it doesn’t make you want to cry, I pray that you find a softer heart. This is a creature we can all learn from. Everyone in the apartment complex I lived in knew who Ugly was. Ugly was the resident tomcat. Ugly loved three

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