This month many of us may avail ourselves of the opportunity to celebrate our loved ones with a traditional remembrance. It is also an appropriate time to remind ourselves that you and I are the recipients of the ultimate "valentine."

"Why does everyone make such a big issue about God's Love?" "What's so special about it? Why is it so important?" There is only one answer to these questions. 1 John 4:8 says, "God is Agape." This is why Agape Love is so special, so important, and why we are commanded to seek it with all of our heart, mind and soul.

Last month we began a short series on "knowing God loves us." We said that it's critical to know He loves us, not just in our heads, but in our every day life experience. We need to know God loves us "experientially" so that no matter what happens to us circumstantially, emotionally or physically, the security of His Love is always there.

"Herein is Love, not that we [first] loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:9-10)

Every Christmas season our thoughts turn to the birth of Christ and to his mother, Mary. To some extent, we all take the nativity for granted. But why was Jesus born of a virgin? One answer, of course, is to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14: "Behold the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

This month, with our celebration of Thanksgiving, we initiate our holiday season: a time for families and a time of reflection. This unique day reflects - perhaps more than any other - our national religious character.

Over the last few months, I've been sharing how God saved our marriage twenty years ago by His supernatural Love. I made the statement that had we not found God's Way of Agape, we would not be together today.

First of all, I want to thank you for your loving and thoughtful cards, letters and e-mail concerning our beloved son, Chip, who went "home" to be with the Lord while jogging on August 1st. We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love, and it truly has helped us weather the shock and hurt of his sudden passing. He was 39.

In the year 1483 in Eisleben, Saxony, a baby boy was born to a poor coal miner. As he grew up and observed the poverty of his father, this boy, named Martin, chose to pursue a different vocation.

As Chuck and I travel around the country, we have been inundated lately with personal questions about marriage problems. I can't believe the number of Christian marriages that are having problems in these "last days." It's shocking and so very tragic. I have felt compelled, therefore, to do a short series on God's Love and how it only can be "the answer" to a failing marriage and "the answer" to falling back in love.

The sounds of gunshots in a small Arkansas town continue to ring like a bell - a bell that tolls for four little girls and a dedicated teacher who put herself in mortal danger to shield a fifth child from a hail of bullets, unleashed, God help us, by a 13-year-old boy and his 11-year-old pal.

God has had me preempt the article I had intended to write this month, in order to write about something that is very near and dear to my heart - our marriages.

Well, this will be our last newsletter article on the subject of being transformed by the renewing of our minds. To me, Romans 12:1-2 is one of the most important verses in the Bible. (It's also one of my own life verses.) I do pray this series of articles has proved helpful in your walk with the Lord.

Last month we began to explore the four essential steps that we must take each day to renew our minds, so our lives can be transformed (Romans 12:2).

Sunday, April 19 marked the fifth anniversary of the BATF/FBI assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.

We are in the middle of a series of articles on the practical application of renewing our minds.  The past two months, we have explored the four attitudes that are necessary in order to continually "be renewed in the Spirit of our minds." 

Last month we began a series of articles on how we are to renew our minds daily. What are the practical day-to-day steps to doing this? As we said, there are eight steps. The first four are simply important attitudes that we must have in order to have our lives transformed

As we come to an end in our series on renewing our minds, it's very important that we spend a few articles on the practical application of this message. How do we renew our minds daily? What are the Biblical steps to doing this?

During the past several years I have been frequently asked to provide some personal perspectives and general comments regarding the study and teaching of God's Word in a Home Bible Study setting.  I have always been convinced that Home Bible Studies are where the "real action" is for committed Christians.

"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32) What does this really mean?

Merry Christmas to all! This is not really a Christmas article, but it's one that, nevertheless, conveys the incredible "gift of freedom" that we all receive when Christ becomes our life. "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:11-12)

The early settlers of America, who braved the privations of those incredibly difficult years, were a fabulous lot, indeed. We can hardly imagine the burdens they endured to make a new life for themselves in a new land. Their turning point began one Friday in the middle of March,1621.

I recently received a precious letter with this comment: "The comparison of the human personality with Solomon's Temple has made a tremendous impact on me. ...This has been one of the most fascinating and life changing studies that I've done.

This is always a difficult time for Christians, especially those with children. It has been suggested that for a Christian to be asked to celebrate Halloween is like asking a Holocaust survivor to celebrate Hitler's birthday!

In the last article, we continued our exploration of the architecture of Solomon's Temple. Using the Scripture, "...ye are the Temple of God" (1 Corinthians 3:16), we compared each of the rooms and features of Solomon's Temple to our own internal design - our spirit, heart, will, soul and body.

In 1 Corinthians 3:16 Paul says, "Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" What is Paul really saying here?

All of us talk about seeking spiritual growth. But are we really serious? How serious are you?

So far in our series on renewing our minds, we have learned that in order to be transformed, we must constantly "put off" all the garbage in our own thinking and "put on" the Mind of Christ.

Why is the Christian walk so hard when Scripture says it's supposed to be easy?

The last in our series on the seven elements of The Armor of God, this month we will highlight our most powerful weapon of all: