Crosswalk.com en-us Friday, November 27, 2009 Friday, November 27, 2009 rss.aspx support@crosswalk.com support@crosswalk.com http://media.salemwebnetwork.com/crosswalkredesign/images/display/crosswalk_logo_blue_tiny.gif http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/mcraven/archives/ http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/mCraven/11617142/ As we, once again, approach this national day of “thanksgiving” I thought it necessary to reflect upon our nation’s long history of acknowledging and giving thanks to Almighty God. On October 3, 1789 George Washington issued the nation’s first presidential proclamation in which he called the nation to set aside a day for giving thanks to that “great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be….” Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:22:00 GMT 11617142 Michael Craven http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/mCraven/11616538/ There are many factors that contribute to the demise of marriages within the church, but there is one in particular whose virulence and force is made worse by our isolation and indifference to community: pornography! This sin grows in its influence and effect through secrecy and there is perhaps no greater secret sin in the church than the habitual consumption of pornography. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:48:00 GMT 11616538 Michael Craven http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/mCraven/11610604/ It is not enough to respond to the marriage crisis within the church by saying, “My marriage is fine!” If we abide together in Christ, then we together must prepare and care for marriage generally, and intervene specifically when any marriage is endangered. This is not happening on the scale that it should within the American church. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:43:00 GMT 11610604 Michael Craven http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/mCraven/11610042/ It has become all too easy for Christians to fall into a state of pessimism—even despair—over the state of our culture today. This is understandable in light of the last fifty years. So, is there reason to hope that anything will change? Can the tide of immorality, paganism, and general debauchery that threatens to swamp us even be arrested, much less reversed? I believe history offers numerous examples where God, in his providence, has done so, in particular... Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:06:00 GMT 11610042 Michael Craven http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/mCraven/11609701/ Despite the ample and never-ending evidence that fame, fortune, and beauty fail to bring lasting peace and satisfaction—in fact, often quite the contrary—Americans are more celebrity-obsessed than ever. We should be deeply concerned for a society that has elevated mere celebrity to hero status and for a church that has been flaccid in both asserting the true virtues of heroism and often embracing the same superficial valuation. Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:37:00 GMT 11609701 Michael Craven