By Donalyn Bowen

Let’s flip back to Survivor. The commercials should be over by now. ”Stay tuned to the season finale of Survivor Zoe. We will announce our winner when we return. Now, a word from our sponsors…” What?!? We surfed and missed the whole season! Don’t change the channel. Mute the commercials and let’s recap what we’ve learned through our channel surfing.

What did we learn from Survivor Eden & Survivor Galilee?
Adam & Eve were outwitted and outplayed and were banished from Survivor Eden and the “Darkness Tribe” gained authority over the earth.
Matthew.28:18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Jesus won Survivor Galilee and gained back authority over the earth.

Next, we watched the Travel Channel. Do you remember what we saw?(Leaving the City of Regret) What did we learn from Larry Harp’s trip?
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Continue Reading…

By Donalyn Bowen

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?! Switch on the NFL Channel.

Look it’s the boys in black & gold! It should come as no surprise that in their successful quest for a championship, the Saints, possibly unknowingly, operated in many of the principles for success set forth in the Word of God. Tonight we will reminisce about that thrilling season and perhaps see it in a way that we have not seen before. The foundation for the 2009 team was laid in early 2006 shortly after Katrina and after the 2005 Saints posted a 3-13 record. Coaches and players who joined the Saints had to ignore the devastation both on the field and off. The Saints ignored the advice of six doctors who felt that Drew Brees would not return to pre surgery form and instead recruited him for his heart.

1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. Continue Reading…

By Donalyn Bowen

Change the channel. Stop! This looks interesting.

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8 to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about 4 square miles. The fire started at about 9 p.m. in or around a small barn that bordered the alley behind 137 DeKoven Street owned by Catherine O‘Leary .The fire’s spread was aided by the city’s overuse of wood for building, a drought prior to the fire, and strong winds from the southwest that carried flying embers toward the heart of the city. The city also made fatal errors by not reacting soon enough and citizens were apparently unconcerned when it began. The firefighters were also exhausted from fighting a fire that happened the day before. The city’s fire department did not receive the first alarm until 9:40 p.m., when a fire alarm was pulled at a pharmacy. The fire department was alerted when the fire was still small. When the blaze got bigger, the guard realized that there actually was a new fire and sent firefighters, but in the wrong direction. The firefighters fought the fire through the entire day and became extremely exhausted. When the fire engulfed a tall church west of the Chicago River, the flames crossed the south branch of the river. Helping the fire spread was firewood in the closely packed wooden buildings, ships lining the river, the city’s elevated wood-plank sidewalks and roads, and the commercial lumber and coal yards along the river. The size of the blaze generated extremely strong winds and heat, which ignited rooftops far ahead of the actual flames. Eventually the fire jumped to a nearby neighborhood and began to devastate mansions, houses and apartments. Almost everything that crossed the fire’s path was made of wood that had been dried out for quite a while. The attempts to stop the fire were unsuccessful. The mayor had even called surrounding cities for help, but by that point the fire was simply too large to contain. When the fire destroyed the waterworks, just north of the Chicago River, the city’s water supply was cut off, and the firefighters were forced to give up. After two days of the city burning down it began to rain and doused the remaining fire. It is said that over 300 people died in the fire and over 100,000 were left homeless.

James 3:5-6 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. Continue Reading…

By Donalyn Bowen

That 4th of July special was really great, bit let’s flip to TLC. It’s time for “What Not to Wear”.
It’s really amazing to see what some people actually wear in public.

Read 1 Samuel 17:20-39

What was David “wearing” when he came to the camp? What did Saul want him to wear?
Would Stacey and Clint (hosts of the show) have approved? Why or why not?

Let’s see what’s in your closet.
Ephesians 6:10-12 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

What are the schemes of the devil? What do we have to realize in order to be victorious?
Colossians 2:8-15 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Continue Reading…

by Donalyn Bowen

Let’s flip on the History Channel.
There’s a 4th of July special on tonight.

As you all know, Christopher Columbus discovered the New World in 1492, but did you know that in his journal he wrote, “It was the Lord who put into my mind the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit.” Columbus, whose first name means Christ bearer also felt that the Lord spoke to him through Isaiah 49:1,6 and gave him a mandate to spread the Gospel.

Isaiah 49:1,6 Listen to Me, O islands, And pay attention, you peoples from afar.
The LORD called Me from the womb; From the body of My mother He named Me…
I will also make You a light of the nations o that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

Thus started the settlement of the New World. Although many of the Europeans came for gold, still others came as missionaries whose sole purpose was the spread of the Gospel and to claim the New World for Jesus Christ. As the years went by, settlers came to what is now the United States to form new communities and thus, self governance.

“We, . . . Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; do . . . solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick . . . “—Mayflower Compact (1620) Continue Reading…