Mitchell Landress

My father is a giver. That is the way he expresses his feelings toward those he loves. Whether it is buying you breakfast, a new shirt, filling your gas tank up before your long trip, or simply making sure that you have money in your all too empty wallet, he is a giver. For those who follow Gary Chapman, this is his "love language". Most of us either know someone like this or we have this trait in ourselves. So it is no small wonder that we would expect this out of heavenly father. What we might not be ready for and what God may be ready to reveal to us is a love that we have not known - a love that takes away. At first glance it almost seems backwards and down right cruel. Why would a God who loves us take away from us the things that we love? How is this an expression of love? Is it not cruel? Is it not hate? Indeed it is not! God knows what we need most. God knows what will bring us more contentment and more satisfaction that anything and knowing this - if He really loves ...

Matthew 1:1-17 1 The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar , Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram. 4 Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. 5 Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab , Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth , and Obed the father of Jesse. 6 Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa. 8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah. 9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, M...

A student recently asked me to help her with the preparations of a Bible study. The answer I gave her was not the answer she was looking for, so it started me thinking. How do you teach a Bible study if you have never done it before and have no training. Here are a few basics that might get the beginner on the road, but are probably "old hat" to the seasoned teacher. Should You Be Teaching? This is a good place to start. Anyone who wants to lead in a meaningful Bible study needs to have some time carved out of their schedule to spend time in the Bible. This allotment of time will often come at a great price. Other items on the schedule will need to be sacrificed or scaled back. Also, the heart must have a spark of yearning in it to know more of Scripture, a thirst if you will. Without this, the Bible study will be bland at best. In my experience, few people have this desire - but they make for incredible Bible study leaders. Meditate On Scripture This is the key. Saturate you...

We have a saying in the South, actually we have many sayings in the South. Some of them make more sense than others. One that I am particularly fond of is "Good Ol' Boy." The term however is hard to place. It is definitely male, that much is obvious, but the "good" part is a little harder to define. You don't exactly have to be of the greatest moral character to have the term "Good O'l Boy" ascribed to you. You can be a good ol' boy and drink, you can even drink to excess. You can smoke, cuss, chew, and date women who do - and still be a "good ol' boy." You can spend time in jail and be a "good ol' boy", in fact I have visited some of them there. You can lie and even steal and still be dubbed this way by all of southern royalty. It makes you wonder though- is there anything that can get you disqualified from being a "good ol' boy"? As far as I know there are only a few things: selling government sec...

Few songs have been able to minister to me in the way this song has. Through the hardest times in my life this song has been a source of comfort, strength, and joy. I just wanted to share it with anyone who may need it as much as I have. Thy Mercy Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song The joy of my heart and the boast of my tongue Thy free grace alone from the first to the last Hath won my affection and bound my soul fast Without thy sweet mercy I could not live here Sin would reduce me to utter despair But through Thy free goodness my spirit's revived And He that first made me still keeps me alive Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart Dissolved by Thy goodness I fall to the ground And weep for the praise of the mercy I've found Hallelujah! Great Father of mercies Thy goodness I own In the covenant love of Thy crucified Son All praise to the Spirit whose whisper divine Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine All pra...

Colossians 2:13-15 13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. My wife says that I am terrible "movie-picker-outer". It's not that the movies that I choose are full of violence or nudity or anything of that sort, it is just that some of my favorites movies tend to lack a few key elements; such as plot, direction, good actors, and so on and so forth. So I was greatly dismayed this week as I did some research on one of the films that I loved as a child. In 1981 there was a remake of the 1952 classic The Legend of The Lone Ranger. This movie held a great place in m...

You simply must see this!! This is John Piper at his best and he is taking on the prosperity gospel and rightly calling it the lie that it is. It is an incredible message from a godly and holy man. Please take the time to watch this!