Alva Review-Courier -

The mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters fight in an octagon ring enclosed by fencing. It is a violent sport, if you want to call it that. It is more like what the Romans did while killing the Christians. The point that I am trying to make is that we ar...

There is a verse in Proverbs that I am sure most people have heard, whether you read the Bible, whether you are a believer or not. This verse deals with a characteristic of each of us that we must be careful about. Here it is, “Pride comes before d...

I had the privilege, with several others from my church, to see the movie “Sound of Freedom.” This was a good but difficult movie to watch. I am thankful that our movie theater showed this movie and I pray that they will continue to have the cou...

The following is the book of Jude: a letter that was written to a group of Christians who were being led astray. This is happening today on all levels whether that be local, state, national or worldly levels. Read it and think about what is going on...

Isaiah 55:8 states, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways. This is the Lord’s declaration.” What are you thinking about? Are your thoughts pure thoughts? Holy thoughts? Are your thoughts what Jesus would think? The Chr...

In the beginning of the letter that Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, he states something, among many other things, that we should think about today. Romans 1:11-12: “I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make y...

Well, we have received an answer to a prayer that all of us have been praying for a while. In James 5:16 the writer states, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righ...

We start the month of June with a reminder of the fulfillment of the promise given to the disciples, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This was what is known as Pentecost. It is wonderful to live in a time when we have God in us through the indwelli...

We are approaching Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday. It is a week when we focus and meditate on the sacrifices that Jesus made for us. We read the final words and teachings that He shared to the people and the disciples during that week. We...

I have been preaching a series from the book of Haggai. I thought that I would share some of my thoughts from the message I shared this past Sunday. Especially since no one could hear what I had to say. I am going to talk about Haggai 2:4-5....

We all have calendars that we use to keep track of events and dates. On the calendar we have birthdays of people, usually friends and relatives, for the month. It is a time to celebrate. As we get older the birthdays for some are less important and...

In the book of Numbers, we have a passage that many are familiar with but since it is in one of the least read books of the Bible we do not read it like we should. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be g...

We have just finished a weekend that honors the worker or laborer. I bet some did more work in that weekend than they do during the week. Some may need a day off to recover from the long weekend. I believe that we can learn a couple lessons, maybe mo...

We are going to celebrate our independence this Sunday. It is great that we are doing this on a Sunday. We can celebrate our independence as a nation and we can celebrate our independence from sin because of Christ’s death on the cross. I did not f...

As I observe things happening in the world today, I see this saying more and more in the lives of people, “for thee but not for me.” What does that mean exactly? It means that certain things are for others but not for myself. That could be rules and...

Did the title catch your attention? We see more of this delicacy everywhere we go during this month. We enjoy eating chocolate this month and every other month, if we are honest. I could spend time talking about the benefits and drawbacks of...

I am tired of ugliness. This world we live in has forgotten how to be kind and compassionate. I have seen so much ugliness in how we treat each other. In the name of politics, Covid or toilet paper, we have seen the ugliness of humanity. When men...

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13). This is the last verse of what is called “The Love Chapter.” Love is what we are also thinking about this Advent. It is usually thought about d...

1 John 4:17-19 has some interesting words to read that are appropriate for where we are as a community, state and nation. Here is what John says (just in case you do not have a Bible handy), “In this, love is perfected with us so that we may have c...