Deep Fry

In case you haven’t noticed, Coca-Cola’s new “ Share a Coke ” campaign is creating quite the buzz these days. Since its launch in early June, the campaign has highlighted the newly designed coke bottles, whose iconic logos have been swapped with over a thousand millennial names and a catchy hashtag to boot. It's, no doubt, a genius advertising ploy, which will help one of the nation’s most endearing products trend into more favorable marketing territory, especially after last year’s misfocused  health-centered approach. But perhaps what’s most encouraging about Coca-Cola’s latest crusade is how it has placed generosity back in the limelight, while also making community just as much of a refreshing appeal as the product itself. Considering the self-serving age we live in, you gotta give Coca-Cola major props for successfully pulling this off. Yet, it’s the drive’s impeccable timing , which may be the sneaky-good wildcard in all this. Think about it : Like locati...

To understand the power and place of prayer, we must first recognize that the actual power-source is God, not so much in the words we say. So when I say “power of prayer”, what I mean is, “ the power of God accomplished through prayer ”… an open line of communication with the mind and presence of God in us. Secondly, we must accept the truth of what God says about prayer in His Word: 1 John 5:14-15 – “ And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him .” Philippians 4:6-7 – “ Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus .” James 5:16 – “ Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pra...

When examining ourselves, it’s important to inspect the type of humility we carry. After all, when we look at the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5), we find meekness taking center stage…not only within the Beatitudes, but also at the heart of who Jesus calls “ blessed ”. Thus, when we consider humility’s placement within the Beatitudes, we can better understand the role it's meant to play in the life of the believer. With that said, it should be no surprise how one of the sneakiest, most underrated tactics of the enemy involves humility, more specifically, a replacement of what it is with a compromised version. For Satan knows full well if he can cause a logjam at the point of humility, we won’t be able to hunger, show mercy and love as effectively. Thus, it’s important we’re continually aware of our humility gauges as we aspire to be more like Christ. As a refresher, let’s start look at some Scriptures about what true humility looks like: “ God gives grace to the...

Most of us are familiar with the Last Supper, when Jesus introduced communion, charging his disciples to: " Do this in remembrance of me ". But what does it really mean to " remember "? After all, we can remember the cross cognitively, but still miss the heart of communion (see 1 Cor. 11:26-28). We can memorize John 15:13 (" Greater love has no one than this...that someone lay down his life for his friends ."), discuss topics like about salvation & repentance, but still leave church service without a desire to truly change (which we'll define, in this context, as a burn to be more like Christ & living a life of truth...not just a desire to stop sinning). Point is : Jesus wants our " remembering " to inspire change within us. And when we study the Word, especially the early church in Acts, we find communion to be a powerful symbolic expression of worship bringing spiritual truth to life in concrete ways and...