Category: Markethive

Revealed by Nature

Have you ever experienced the love of an animal?

Written by GodLife on 19/01/2013
Series: Weekly Devotional
Tags: Creation, God, Love
"Ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities — His eternal power and divine nature."(Romans 1:20)

Have you ever experienced the love of an animal? I have pet cats, and like many pet owners or people who work with animals, I know that they can be very affectionate. When my cat loves me, I praise God for His wonderful Creation and for sharing His love with us through animals. Do you ever see God’s love because of interaction with nature? It is fun to praise Him when we can witness the amazing world He has made.

Loving Creator God
God made a marvelous universe, and He has a miraculous plan to redeem all Creation. The Apostle Paul preached to the wise people of Athens, “He is the God who made the world and everything in it” (Acts 17:24). Not only did He create everything, He loves it, too: “You care for people and animals alike, O Lord ”(Psalms 36:6). Jesus told us that “not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it”(Matthew 10:29).

Our Reaction to His Creation
What are we to do with the beautiful and useful handiwork of His? God instructed His people to be in charge of the animals and to care for the earth. God said people should “Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground” (Genesis 1:28). He told them, “You must not defile the land where you live”(Numbers 35:34) .St. Paul wrote, “Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12), which goes along with the Biblical wisdom that “The godly care for their animals” (Proverbs 12:10).

Reconciling All Creation
God has miracles in store for His people and His creation. We know it, and God lets His creation be aware, somehow, too — St. Paul wrote about how God’s “creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay”(Romans 8:21) . So we can rejoice that the Lord has chosen to let us live in and care for His wonderful world, and that through Jesus Christ, “God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross” (Colossians 1:20).

Pray this week:
To thank God for His amazing Creation and wonderful plan.

How can you be more aware of God's amazing creation throughout your day? Talk to someone about your favorite place in nature or your favorite animal.

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Knowing God Through His Creation

Everything God creates reveals something about Him

Written by Don Olson on 26/02/2019
Series: Weekly Devotional
Tags: Creation, Science, Bible, Joy, Wonder
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Romans 1:20
God delights in His creation and in revealing Himself in and through it. Everything God creates reveals something about Him. That is why He told us about His creation in more than 200 verses and passages throughout the Bible.

 “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

In this verse, Paul is saying that we only have to look around at nature to see that an almighty God — a supreme creator — exists.

Creation is a source of joy
From the Bible’s first verse (Genesis 1:1), God reveals Himself as the creator of everything. In other passages in the Old Testament, He tells us to look at creation: the diligence of the ant, the power of yeast, the beauty of the lilies.

In the book of Job, when God finally broke His long silence, He used four chapters to point Job to details in His creation. 

In the New Testament, Jesus, in whom all things were created (Colossians 1:16), encouraged people to look at nature — the birds, the fig tree, the fields. 

God is the ultimate source of joy, and we who are created in His image also experience joy. God wants us also to experience joy from His creation. We see evidence of this in Job 38, where God pauses while telling Job about His creation and says that when the angels saw His creation, they shouted with joy:

 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? … when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7)

As mysteries are revealed, they increase our appreciation of God’s handiwork
The nature that we can see around us with the naked eye is the visible universe. While the visible universe is incredibly magnificent, there is far, far more beyond. Speaking about Jesus, Paul says that, “…by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible…” (Colossians 1:16) What we can see with our eyes, or even with all five of our senses, is only the beginning. The vast majority of God’s creation is invisible to our eyes. 

A good example comparing the visible to the invisible are the stars in the sky. On a clear, dark night, the human eyes can see around 6,000 stars. Modern telescopes can see trillions. 

What is exciting in today’s world is that the tools of modern science, such as the telescope, have given us powerful new eyes with which we can peer deep into God’s creation. We can see so much, from the mighty cosmos to the tiny living cell, and see the wonders of His handiwork. Like no other time in history, science has unveiled many of the mysteries of the universe. What a gift from God! For more information on these wonders revealed by science, check out www.reasons.org.

Pray this week:
Blessed are You, O Lord, the true and awesome God Almighty who created all things.

We thank you, Lord, for the gift of science and scientific tools which allow us to peer deep into Your creation so that we may gain a fuller knowledge of You and Your plan for us. What we learn about You with our minds we can rejoice about in our hearts. We thank you, in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Do you have questions about the Bible’s relationship to science? Write us to connect to someone who can help you.

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

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Don’t Forget Who You Belong To

You have been given many gifts, but it’s up to you to use them correctly.

Written by GodLife on 19/02/2019

Series: Weekly Devotional

Tags: BibleCharacterLeadershipObedience


She said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ And he awoke from his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes, and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze chains, and he was a grinder in the prison.

Judges 16:20-21

When I was in grade school, my homeroom teacher nominated me to be a ‘super kid.’ This recognition was for all the kids who received good grades, had exemplary behavior and showed great leadership skills. As a reward, we would get prizes and even a t-shirt with the Superman logo on it to show that we were ‘special.’ 

In the Bible, there are many examples of people who were special, too. Today, I want to talk about Samson. Maybe you know him as the strong guy with super long hair who defeated the Philistines (Judges 15:16), but there is so much more to his story, his character, and his supernatural strength. Let’s dig a little deeper into his life.

Samson was chosen and set apart 

Even before he was born, Samson was blessed and set apart (Judges 13: 4-6). He dedicated himself to God as a Nazarite, a person entirely set apart for God. As a sign of obedience, a Nazarite drank no wine, would not go near a corpse or make himself unclean and would let his hair grow as a sign to his commitment to the Lord (Numbers 6:1-8). 

Samson looked the perfect example of a Nazarite. With his long hair and mighty strength, he had everything that identified him as a follower of God at first glance. He was also known as an Israelite warrior and a judge who led Israel for 20 years (Judges 16:31). Even his name, which means ‘little light’ or ‘little sun,’ served as a symbol in a time when the people of Israel were walking in so much sin and darkness. (Judges 13:1

Samson was a leader Israel deserved 

With all the titles and his outside appearance, one would think Samson lived a life according to his vow, but the truth is, he was far from obedient. Whatever he set his eyes upon, he wanted. For example, he first broke his vow as a Nazarite when he chose his wife. “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife,” he told his parents. The Philistines didn’t serve God and were mortal enemies of the people of Israel. But his disobedience didn’t end there. Later on, “Samson went to Gaza… saw a prostitute and went to bed with her” (Judges 16:1). 

Samson is defeated 

Ultimately, Samson’s fall began when fell in love with Delilah, a woman who betrayed him for silver and turned him in to the Philistines. “My hair has never been cut because I am a Nazarite to God from birth,” he revealed to Delilah, “If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become weak and be like any other man” (Judges 16:17).

Delilah betrayed him by cutting his hair while he slept, and the Philistines took him as a prisoner. Gouging his eyes out, they forced him to grind grain in prison. 

In his brokenness and humiliation, Samson pleaded to God, and the Lord listened. “Lord God, please remember me,” Samson implored. “Strengthen me, God, just once more. With one act of vengeance, let me pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.” The Lord gave Samson his strength back, and he used it to kill the Philistines by pushing the pillars of the temple. (Judges 16: 28-30).

So, What can you learn from Samson? 

Samson’s story serves as a warning to every believer. He used supernatural strength to kill a lion with his bare hands (Judges 14:6), but couldn’t break the chains of sin. Instead of becoming a great leader to turn his people back to God, he lived, married, coexisted and died with the Philistines.

As believers, we have a ‘spirit of power’ (2 Timothy 1:7), but we must not use it for our benefit. We must compliment it with love and self-control so that we guard what the Lord has given us, and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit living within us, His name will be glorified. 


Pray this week:

“Lord, forgive me if I’ve ever acted upon my own will and not yours. Give me the opportunity to show those around me that I belong to you. Amen.” 


Where has the Lord called you to be obedient to Him in your life? Have you listened?

Do you want to reach your full potential for the Lord but need spiritual guidance? Connect with a caring Christian friend today! 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Recovering From Addiction

How far are you willing to go in destroying your life with an addiction?

Written by David on 28/03/2017

Series: Weekly Devotional

Tags: RepentanceForgivenessNew LifeRestitutionBrokenness


If you have sinned, you should tell each other what you have done. Then you can pray for one another and be healed. The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot.

James 5:16

The end of the line for an addicted person is a self-made prison with four walls — Terror, Confusion, Frustration and Despair. There seem to be no doors or windows, and fear fills your life as you see that you’ve embraced self-destruction of your own accord. There is no protection for what awaits you in the deepest, darkest, isolated, solitary moment of an out-of-control life of sin.

God’s Word is there to give you hope. But first there must be a "death:" “In the same way, you must think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin. But Christ Jesus has given life to you, and you live for God.” (Romans 6:11) This is because the hope is not found in yourself: “I know that my selfish desires won’t let me do anything that is good. Even when I want to do right, I cannot.” (Romans 7:18)

Apathy Gives the Enemy Power

Do you spend a daily time with the Lord? Make it a daily quest in your life. Many days I falter in this goal to be in the presence of the Lord through His Word. But I know that my mind, left to itself, will wander to a place of apathy. And I know where this leads: shame, anxiety and destruction. This is what the Bible calls evidence of the "natural man:" a sinful nature seeded in our heart. “More than anything else, a person's mind is evil and cannot be healed. No one truly understands it.” (Jeremiah 17:9)

Where are You Looking for Your Fulfillment?

King David allowed his own heart to wander. It threw him into the four-walled prison: Terror, Confusion, Frustration and Despair. “In the spring, when the kings normally went out to war, David sent out Joab, his servants, and all the Israelites. They destroyed the Ammonites and attacked the city of Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace. While he was on the roof, he saw a woman bathing. She was very beautiful.” (2 Samuel 11:1-2) King David should have been fighting alongside his men as other kings went out to war. Instead, he stayed behind, allowing his eyes and mind to wander and looking at the beautiful Bathsheba. He fixed his eyes and didn’t turn away. Acting against God’s will according to his own desires resulted in an unexpected sequence of events. His sinful thoughts and pattern of behavior led to a terrible outcome.

Hope is Found in Brokenness Before God

God searches the heart to find what is good in us. The good is what He has planted. It is a seed that yearns to have a true, authentic relationship with Him. You must have a broken spirit, as David eventually expressed: "I know about my sins, and I cannot forget my terrible guilt. You are really the one I have sinned against; I have disobeyed you and have done wrong. So it is right and fair for you to correct and punish me." (Psalm 51:5-6)

And Once You Have Confessed and Received His Restoration…

Focus on what is hopeful and favorable. “Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8) True faith continues to take God at His word. “If we are not faithful, he will still be faithful. Christ cannot deny who he is.” (2 Timothy 2:13)

This is the turning point of our conversion: repentance, total acceptance and submission to Him through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit living in us. In spite of this, it’s possible to wander in dissatisfaction, looking to fulfill our lives with worldly pleasures and worthless things. When we do this, we can quickly be distracted from God. Losing our perspective about what is important leaves us with emptiness. So the temporary pleasure ends with shame and self-destructive despair. It’s like falling on the sword of our own actions and desires.

The Path of Restoration for a Broken, Sinful Life

God is the answer for the broken hearted and sinful man. Addiction may have taken you to a place of desperation and even complete destruction of some things in your life. Remember that God is much bigger than any "hopeless" situation. Yet there has to be a complete turnaround. You must confess. Admit your sinful habits. Complete confession means confronting your ways from the moment they led you away from God all the way to the end. You need true, transparent, genuine repentance. God will forgive your sin if you confess. (1 John 1:7-10)


Pray this week:

Lord, keep me safe from the sinful ways of my heart. Fill my heart and mind with your thoughts and keep me in the path of righteousness. Create in me a pure heart and make my spirit right again. Amen


Your story could be complicated, like that of Zacchaeus. (Luke 19:1-10

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Overcoming the Old Nature

How do I handle tough times and temptations?

https://youtu.be/-M1THuXuDOU

Take off the old self with its practices… and put on the new self.

Colossians 3:9, 10 NIV

Does becoming a follower of Jesus exempt you from difficulty? No. You are not miraculously whisked into a trouble-free glass bubble when you are born again. Rather, you become a battlefield, where you contend with ongoing temptations and daunting challenges.

Though we received a new nature at conversion, we inherited a nasty carryover from our former life called “the old nature.” That legacy from the past hangs around, throwing up roadblocks to the Christ-centered life. It’s not easy to disconnect from ideas and habits that have defined us for so long.

But there’s good news! Jesus took our old nature to the grave when He was crucified. The new nature He gave us in its place is intended to fully displace the old. Our job now is to be aggressive in making that happen. The Apostle Paul says, “Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11 NIV). In other words, render effective what Jesus did on your behalf.

In Galatians 5:16–17, we are challenged to live by the new nature. “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” That means you allow the Holy Spirit, now living in you, to shape your thoughts, guide your steps, govern your reactions and correct you when you stray. The old nature is real. But God enables and empowers you to walk in victory.

Day 14: Resisting the Devil


How do you need the Holy Spirit's help in your life right now? You can talk with someone who would love to help you overcome your old nature.

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Jesus Can Heal Addiction

You can be free from addiction.

Written by Lois on 24/05/2016

Series: Weekly Devotional

Tags: AddictionForgivenessFreedomGraceSin


The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT)

We all have wrong desires and are tempted, but God has given us an Advocate who will help us resist sin if we are willing. Are you tired of being addicted to alcohol, sex, drugs, pornography or greed? Jesus has made a way for you to be free. This is how you can resist temptation and allow Jesus to heal your addiction.

There are countless people who are enjoying an addiction because they have not faced consequences yet. Galatians 6:8 tells us if a person “sows to please his own wrong desires, he will be planting seeds of evil and he will surely reap a harvest of spiritual decay and death; but if he plants the good things of the Spirit, he will reap the everlasting life that the Holy Spirit gives him.” There is no peace or freedom found in loving an addiction or sin. If you want to be healed, you have to turn away and renounce the addiction or sin.

Resist the Temptation

2 Timothy 2:22 tells us to “Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.”

  • Temptation happens to everyone; no one is being singled out
  • Learn to recognize the people, things and situations that overtake you
  • After recognizing the tempter, resist him
  • It’s your choice, so choose to do what pleases God
  • Pray for Jesus to help you
  • Seek friends who love God, have resisted temptation and can help you

There is Healing

Jesus is able to heal every kind of addiction, even those we willfully sought out. Jesus is able to "restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten" (Joel 2:25), even if suffering is His chastisement to a person for sinful behavior. God's purpose is never to tempt us to sinful despair but to make us holy and useful. (James 1:13Hebrews 12:11-13) David, who knew something about God's chastisement, said, "Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice." (Ps. 51:8) Ask Jesus to heal physical or emotional pain from an abusive parent, the brokenness of losing a child, the loneliness of the death of a spouse, or being orphaned.

An addiction is not going to heal you. Letting a sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting God’s Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. Romans 8:6


Pray this week:

Father, this sin is wrecking my life. Will you help me? In Jesus’ name, amen.


Are you addicted to something and need healing from Jesus?

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

How to Heal Addiction

Hope for the Hurting and Trapped

Written by Dan Lee on 29/11/2016

Series: Weekly Devotional

Tags: TemptationAddictionSin


I have the right to do anything,” you say — but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything” — but I will not be mastered by anything.

1 Corinthians 6:12

Addiction is a loaded word with many meanings. We tend to think of it as extreme, however, anyone can suffer from addiction, and it’s far more common than you think.

The World Health Organization tells us that worldwide, 6 million people die every year due to tobacco use, and 3.3 million die due to alcohol related causes.

Alcohol, drugs, and smoking have caused much misery for years. But now, we can add pornography, TV binge-watching, overeating, shopping, and video games. For instance, one woman in New Mexico, USA, was spending over 12 hours a day playing a multiplayer video game — and let her 3-year-old daughter starve to death. Clearly, our world needs to healed from addiction.

Even normal activities can harm us when taken to extremes. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:12, “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say — but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’ — but I will not be mastered by anything.” An addiction means we have let ourselves be “mastered” by something.

Perhaps other believers have told you to “Flee from youthful lusts” (2 Timothy 2:22) or to “Resist the devil” (James 4:7). But addictions come with mental, emotional and physical components that together exert a much more powerful pull than a regular temptation.

Here are three things that can put you on the road to healing addiction…

1. Cry out to God

First things first — are you a follower of Christ? Even before asking for help with addiction, you must get right with God.

During a time of extreme trouble, David wrote: “I called on the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me” (Psalm 18:3-4). God did not answer David until he had called on Him.

Start by acknowledging that you cannot conquer your addiction in your own strength. Jesus said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible” (Matthew 19:26).

2. Get Help from Others

When trapped in sin, our impulse is to isolate ourselves from other believers. This is what Satan wants as well! Spending time with caring believers and sharing your struggles is an important step in escaping it. Yes, it can be humbling, and even humiliating, but your Christian brothers and sisters can help you with prayer. “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (James 5:16). Also see Hebrews 10:24.

3. Cut it Off

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke of sexual temptation this way: “So if your eye — even your good eye — causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell” (Matthew 6:29).

Jesus was telling us that if any object or person consistently leads us to sin, we need to get that thing out of our lives. For example, if your friends want you to take drugs with them, you need to find some new friends. If you tend to look at women with lust, don’t go to the beach in summertime. If you can’t resist pornography on the Internet, you need to install filters on your computer — or get rid of the computer altogether.

If you have struggled with an addiction, please know that there is hope, and that the God who made the universe is ready to help deliver you when you cry out to him.


Pray this week:

Lord, I am tired of being mastered by addictions. Please show me the way out, and give me strength from Your Holy Spirit to go that way. Help me to help others who need this help as well.


Are you, or someone you know, struggling with an addiction? 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

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Can God Hear Your Voice?

Here are some simple ways you can improve your prayer life.

Written by Colin Millar on 12/02/2019

Series: Weekly Devotional

Tags: PrayerRelationshipsSalvationThankfulness


Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

James 5:16

Recently I was driving while listening to a College Student Prayer Conference Call over the speaker in my car. My youngest son, Chris, leads this Tuesday night of “College Worship with a Message” and for most of the time, it turns into 45 minutes of prayer. I’ve heard Chris pray many times before, but on this night when I heard his voice, three things happened at the same moment! 

  1. Tears of joy sprung forth from my eyes.
  2. I heard the voice of our Heavenly Father over my own voice saying: “That's my son!”
  3. God gave me inexplicable joy. The same joy in our Father experiences when we, His children cry out loud to Him in prayer. This joy felt like a drumbeat of rolling thunder through my heart, mind, and soul. 

Let’s pause and pray out loud:  

“Father, I rejoice that You love to hear my voice and heart turned to you in prayer. Please forgive me when I ignore Your presence. I commit to daily being a student in your “School of Prayer” and to cry out to you regularly. Lord, please teach me to pray.”

The best way to learn to do anything is by doing that thing, right?

Would you learn to ride a bike, play football or cook a meal by reading about how to do them? No, you would practice! Like these activities, the best way to learn how to pray is to pray. So we can be obedient by doing it. In James 5:16 we are given the commandment to “pray for one another.” I often quote Leonard Ravenhill when teaching on prayer where he says,  “Few are called to preach, but all are called to pray!” The instruction from James is addressed to every believer in Jesus. So, if you are reading this, then you are called by God to pray. 

A simple way to pray throughout your day

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)  Right before this verse, it says, “Pray without ceasing,” which is another instruction to pray. 

Precious reader, those two simple words, “thank you,” are a secret key to virtually every person’s heart, and it can give you the opportunity you need to pray for people. Let me explain in just one instance. Whenever I board a plane, I look at the flight attendants standing in the cabin entrance in their eyes, smile and say: “I want to say thank you to you both for serving in the skies today. God bless you.” Whether it’s to your mother, a family member, a stranger, on the phone to customer service, you can say thank you to them. A very simple next step is to ask this question slowly, clearly and sincerely from your heart:

"If there was one thing I could pray now for you personally, what would it be?" 

This question has allowed me to share Jesus with so many people! A few months ago, I wanted to rent a small car, but there were none available. In America, there is a company called U-Haul, which rents big cars so people can move their belongings from one place to another. Since I could find no small cars, I had no choice but to rent a U-Haul. With a listening heart, God gave me a number of opportunities to say thank you to people and then ask them the "one thing" question.

When we work, we work, but when we pray, God works! In the next 24 hours, God brought Sharon, a gas station manager, Jake, a young man who had been asleep on the couch in the U-Haul office, and Evangelina, my bus driver at the airport, to salvation as I thanked and prayed for each of them in response to the "one thing" prayer question. 

Now, salvation does not come with every person you pray for. However, the more people you pray for, the more you will see God heal, encourage, and set free from worry.

Now, do you want more resources so you can grow in your prayer life? You can use the following: 

1. Igniting Prayer Action’s Online School of Prayer is a simple, eight-session, scripturally based teaching that brings you from a place of setting time apart for prayer to living with prayer as a part of who you are.

2. Zume Online Disciple Multiplication Training is a remarkable, life-transforming way to step into prayer-filled obedience of the Great Commission. I have just completed facilitating a small group of seven through this 10-session journey, and each one of us has grown significantly in our daily rhythm of a prayer-filled life.

Will you commit to saying an intentional "thank you" to five people a day and then asking the "one thing" question of at least two of those people a day?


Pray this week:

“Lord, let me use this lesson as a way to grow in my prayer life. Also, give me the courage to ask more the ONE THING question and share of your saving grace. Amen.” 


Let us know if you asked the "one thing" question with those around you! Connect with a caring Christian friend today.

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member