Ted Haggard Opens Up About Post-Scandal Feelings on ‘Celebrity Wife Swap’
Filed Under CCMRewind Updates · Tagged: Christian entertainment, entertainment news
The series premiere of ABC's “Celebrity Wife Swap” on Tuesday night was full of religious complications, as it paired up the families of evangelical Christian Ted Haggard and New Age spiritualist Gary Busey. However, that didn't stop Haggard from opening up about how his past mistakes have impacted him and his family.
"Jesus ministered in Jerusalem, was crucified in Jerusalem, but if he would have resurrected in Athens or Rome, it wouldn't have worked. He had to resurrect in Jerusalem,” Haggard told actor Gary Busey and his fiancee, Steffanie Sampson, at the end of the show.
“Ted Haggard ministered in Colorado Springs, I was crucified, because of my own faults, in Colorado Springs, I have to resurrect in Colorado Springs.”
Haggard, who was previously the head of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) and pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, was forced to resign from both positions after a gay prostitute came forward and alleged that Haggard had paid him for sex and illegal drugs for three years.
Haggard and his family lived in Arizona for several years following his downfall, but he says that God revealed to him that even his own sin doesn't have the power to negate his calling to Colorado Springs.
"You gotta resurrect with the people you crumbled in front of so they see that resurrection power is for today,” he said. “There's no reason for people to die in shame."
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“Celebrity Wife Swap” sent Haggard's wife, Gayle, to spend the week with Busey in his Hollywood Hills home while Sampson spent the week with Ted and his children in Colorado Springs. For the first half of the week, the wives had to follow normal house rules, but for the second half they instituted rules of their own.
But because they belong to such different belief systems, the adjustments weren't easy at first. Sampson was raised Jewish, and describes Busey as being “very Christian,” although they both believe in reincarnation.
They say they are in their 32nd life together as a couple, and believe they were the parents of Constantine, the emperor of Rome, in a former life. They also believe they are “married in spirit” and made their opinions against organized religion apparent during the show.
After Gayle met Busey, she quickly found out that he was spontaneous and had little interest in asking about her life. Of all the questions he could have asked her – about her faith, or about the scandal that changed her life forever – the only thing he initially wanted to know was what sports she played when she was young.
He also introduced her to “Indian Bob,” a Lakota Sioux Indian from Standing Rock reservation, who met with Busey and Gayle to perform a spiritual ceremony with them and called Gayle a “lost soul.”
Busey says his soul has evolved, and when asked if he attends a church, he responded by saying, "I am a church. The difference between organized religion and spirituality is it's built for people to be afraid of hell. Spirituality is for people who have already been there, and I'm in the second group."
When it was her turn to take over the house rules, Gayle tried to teach Busey the importance of having a routine and listening to others.
"[Ted's scandal] really was the test of everything that I believe, so I really had to decide how I was going to respond to all of this,” she told Busey during dinner once she finally got him to listen to her.
“I remember the very first night, once we had cried everything we could cry out of our souls, I laid there in bed and asked myself the question, 'Gayle Haggard, who are you going to be in this story?' I answered with, 'I'm going to fight for everything I believe in. I'm going to fight for my marriage, for the dignity of my children, and for my faith.’ So I'm grateful that I had to go through this, that I chose to go through this, and was able to learn so much in the process."
During her time at the Haggard home, Sampson had to present a Bible study to the women of Haggard's new congregation at St. James Church. At first it appeared the women were not amused by Sampson taking over Gayle's role as teacher, but after she mispronounced the word “disciples” they erupted in laughter and seemed to become light-hearted about her presence there.
After reading part of Gayle's book, Why I Stayed: The Choices I Made in My Darkest Hour, Sampson also spoke with Haggard about his views on homosexuality.
She thought the book implied that homosexuals were Satan, but Haggard said that wasn't the case. He said he is against gay marriage and rewriting the traditional definition of marriage, but he is in favor of allowing civil partnerships and welcomes everyone into his church.
"I feel like Ted cannot speak freely about certain things because he really has to be like the 'public-faced Ted' and say what he thinks the public wants to hear,” Sampson said following their conversation.
She also encouraged Haggard to spend more time with his adult daughter, Christy, who felt Haggard was too busy with the church and didn't pursue spending time with her.
“I want you to seek me out on my terms just because you're my dad. I can't expect that from any other guy, but since you're my dad...it places more value on me when you seek me out,” Christy told him during some one-on-one time that had been mandated by Sampson.
When the two couples all met together at the end of the show, Haggard began to really express his feelings about the scandal and how his return to Colorado Springs came about.
"We've not allowed the haters to dominate our life. People wrote me, 'You're scum. We hate you. Disappear.' When I read some of the emails and text messages sent to me it was... upsetting.”
He had to ask himself if God felt the same way about him, he said, and the answer he came up with was, "No... I'm his son."
After moving away from the area for a few years, Haggard said he felt God calling him to return to Colorado Springs, and that even his sin should not prevent him from fulfilling his calling where God has wanted him to be.
The fan response to Haggard's appearance on “Celebrity Wife Swap” varied greatly after the show aired.
“Ted Haggard makes Gary Busey look normal, sane, and family friendly,” one Twitter user identified as “urbanphish” posted.
“#CelebrityWifeSwap was a hit! Thanks for taking the risk. Proud of you, Pastor,” posted another user by the name of “Trish Knight.”
Haggard recently told The Christian Post that he hoped that the show would “communicate hope” and show that his family has grown together in the time following his moral failure.
“After what we've been through, the way Christ has healed us and restored us and built our family and blessed us, it's a wonderful story of resurrection and encouragement and God's faithfulness and the faithfulness of the Scriptures and the church,” he said.
Article source: http://www.christianpost.com/news/ted-haggard-opens-up-about-post-scandal-feelings-on-celebrity-wife-swap-66380/
Exclusive Interview with Marc Martel of Downhere and Winner of the Queen Extravaganza
Filed Under CCMRewind Updates · Tagged: Christian entertainment, entertainment news
Exclusive Interview with Marc Martel of the Christian rock band Downhere and Winner of The Queen Extravaganza contest.

The Christian Post: Where did you develop this passion for music when you were younger and who did you dream to be?
Marc Martel: Definitely my passion for music came from my mom. She is a piano player and a choir director at my church. My earliest memories of music and just really loving the sound of music itself was her playing the piano for me and my brother and sister at night as we were falling asleep at night, and she’d play Beethoven to us and I think that’s where it all started to me. I ended up taking piano lessons at a really young age, I took like years of piano lessons and I always loved to sing.
My biggest influences when I was a kid – I listened to a lot of top 40 radio, so whatever the big artists were so like the mid 80s. I think of artists like George Michaels, but my biggest influence at that age was probably Keith Green. His passion and his piano playing and his singer was something that I always wanted to strive toward.
CP: You’re also in the band Downhere, when you guys started why was it important for you to come to the U.S. as Canadians and how did that whole process of getting signed work out for you?
Martel: We started our band in college, at a college called Briar Cliff College in Saskatchewan. None of us are actually from Saskatchewan, but we kind of all met there and started there. We got signed to a record label in Nashville in 2001 and before that all came about we were all just planning on moving to Toronto or something and trying to make the best of it there and staying in Canada.
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We never saw it as kind of a thing to do, to move to the states and when we got that offer from this big record label in Nashville we thought “Well this is a door that either God was opening for us” and we were very careful about it and very prayerful about it and after eight months of negotiating to make sure it was really worth it for us, we moved down in 2001 and that’s when we kind of went full time.
CP: Where does the name Downhere come from?
Martel: The name Downhere comes from a song I wrote after a friend of mine died in college and it was kind of the first time I was dealing with loss and you know real mortality and it was a song of how down here on Earth we don’t have the big picture. We rarely know why things happen and why God allows certain things, but it’s a song of faith that God is in control and has a purpose for everything that happens in our lives. As hard as it is to believe at certain times.
Later on when we were looking for a band name we thought we wanted something that had a lot of layers of meaning. The name also means just being down here. When Christ was down here and the example he set for us as a way of life and trying to emulate that as much as possible. We want our music to be a soundtrack for down here and obviously our world views are Biblically based and obviously that’s where our music is centered on. So yeah, just being down here on Earth and trying to figure it out like everyone else.
CP: When did you guys finally start to feel established as a band?
Martel: The first year and a half in Nashville we actually all shared a four bedroom house and there were two married couples and three single guys trying to figure out how to live in community and learning to take care of the daily schedule, “Who’s cooking what?” “Who’s cleaning what?” That really was kind of a pressure cooker for us trying to figure out if this was going to work for us. That first year and a half we had to live together because we didn’t have any money. I was making about $300 a month back then and we made it work and that’s when we really gelled.
CP: Who pushed you to try out for this and what were your initial thoughts, what did you think would actually happen by you trying out?
Martel: The whole Queen thing came around in a really timely fashion. I was thinking about what I was going to do in 2012, our families were growing in the band and that’s always been our first priority, so we planned to take some extra time off the road so the guys can be with their families.
My wife and I don’t have kids yet so I figured “Well while we still have no kids I have the freedom to travel a little more than the other guys probably” and I figured, “Well instead of trying to get some other part-time jobs to supplement the loss of income from not being on the road, I’ll look into singing with other bands or do some session work whatever it may be.”
Right around that time I got this email from a friend of mine here in Nashville. I pretty much got that email the day the Queen Extravaganza started in late September. I read the contest rules and the vision behind and seeing that it was an official thing put on by the band Queen themselves I thought, “It has never been my dream to be in a tribute band. I love to write my own music, I love what I do in Downhere and hope to keep doing it for a long time,” but just the timing of the whole thing and the fact that people have been telling me for years that I sound like Freddie Mercury, it just was kind of a no brainer for me.
I still had some self doubt about the thing and I haven’t heard a lot of guys sing like Freddie Mercury, I know there’s a few of them out there for sure, but I felt like I had a good chance of at least moving on to one of the vocalist spots. They were looking for three singers, so I thought I had a decent shot at it so I thought, “Well if I win this what is it going to mean for Downhere?” And at the time I really had no idea what it meant for Downhere and whether it was the potential of taking the place of Downhere. I had the video all ready to send and submit, I was sitting there on the couch next to my wife and I was like, “Yeah I don’t know if I really want to do this. I love what I do, if I win this I don’t know what to do with my band” and she’s like “Marc, this is like cut out for you. This is a no brainer for you.”
And so I’d have to say that the final word went to my wife, and I listened to her, as a good husband should and here I am today with a new job, for next year.
CP: When you started getting viral feedback for the Youtube video, what were your first impressions of that?
Martel: A little bit of fear honestly, excitement obviously. I had no idea that was going to happen, you can’t predict a viral video. It doesn’t really happen to a lot of people. I submitted the video on the 21st of September, and the next morning I checked what the views were at and I remember specifically it was at 303 at like nine in the morning and I thought “Well that’s about what I expected,” I honestly didn’t expect much. That’s about what a Downhere video gets.
Then in the afternoon, it’s funny because it had exactly doubled in views. It was at 606 and I was like well that’s kind of funny. Well this is going to be a small thing if I win, who even knows if they’ll carry on with the whole Queen Extravaganza, maybe they are hoping for more views than that.
At the same time the contest had just started and maybe they haven’t gotten the word out. I had no idea what was going on, and in the evening around 9 p.m.
I went to check and all of a sudden it was in the thousands and in the tens of thousands, I think it was around 18,000 views and I had noticed that the comments were coming in almost every second, and people were saying “Hey the Internet has arrived welcome to the Internet guy, dude you’ve gone viral” And I was like, “What does that even mean, viral video? Let’s see if this is really true, maybe it’ll just spike after a few hours and then stop.”
Sure enough the next morning it was in the hundreds of thousands, and for probably the first week or two it was just really surreal all the attention I was getting. I mean people have told me I sound like Freddie Mercury for years and I didn’t really think it was that big of a deal honestly. I thought “Well, I know there’s other guys who can sound like Freddie Mercury, it’s not terribly unique, sure I can do that, but what does it all really mean in the end?”
It caught on so crazy over the Internet, it surprised everybody, it was kind of an outer body experience. I keep telling people it’s so weird being the one guy that can join in with everybody and say “Hey way to go this is so exciting for you, this is awesome.” It’s kind of weirdly lonely in a way. Just being the center of attention in that way, it’s a strange thing. I think I’ve seen enough people have their 15 minutes that I can sort of manage my 15 minutes of fame with it. I knew it would eventually die down, but it was sure fun while it lasted.
CP: How did it feel when you got the phone call from Ellen to go on her show?
Martel: That was crazy because a lot of the comments that were being left early on in the viral thing were saying we need to get this guy on Ellen. I didn’t know my wife was such a big Ellen fan at the time, and I said ‘Hey check out what this guy said, he said I should be on Ellen.’ She freaked out and said ‘What you’re going to be on Ellen!’ And was like, ‘N o, no, no, he was saying that I should be on Ellen, there’s a big difference.’ But obviously I got the call from my manager a few days later saying I got Ellen. Continue »
Article source: http://www.christianpost.com/news/exclusive-interview-with-marc-martel-of-downhere-and-winner-of-the-queen-extravaganza-66401/
Casting Crowns Announce 44 City Spring Tour Dates
Filed Under Christian Music Artist Updates · Tagged: amy grant, michael w smith, sandi patty, steven curtis chapman
Multi-platinum selling, GRAMMY, AMA and 2010 Dove Award-winning Artist of the Year Casting Crowns will extend its massive Come To The Well tour into the spring by adding an additional 44 dates across the U.S., this time featuring special guests, singer/songwriter Matthew West, pop-rockers Royal Tailor (both GRAMMY-nominated) and Christian music newcomer Lindsay McCaul who was also on the 2011 fall tour lineup. Following a hugely successful fall run, which included a string of more than15 sell-out performances, playing before more than 155,000 people, the spring leg of the Come To The Well tour kicks off Feb. 9, in Florence, S.C. Among its scheduled 44 shows, the tour will hit arenas in major markets like Grand Rapids, Orlando, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Birmingham, Oklahoma City, Minneapolis, Houston and many more.
The tour takes its name from the Casting Crowns newest studio project, Come To The Well, (released October 18, its first new studio album in two years), featuring the hit single Courageous, which was showcased in the recent Sherwood Pictures film by the same title. The project is filled with songs that both challenge and encourage believers in their walk, including, Just Another Birthday which goes for radio adds today. Frontman Mark Hall collaborated on several of the tracks with top songwriters including Steven Curtis Chapman, Matthew West and award-winning country songwriter Tom Douglas.
The week of its release, Come to the Well sold 99,138 copies, making it the highest debut on Billboards Top 200 at No. 2. The album additionally topped the Billboard Contemporary Christian Overall chart, while also claiming No. 1 on the iTunes Christian Albums chart and No. 3 on its Overall Albums chart. Lead radio single Courageous landed at No. 1 on the iTunes Christian Songs chart and peaked at a No. 1 on the Billboard National Christian Audience
chart in just 10 weeks. In addition, the band celebrated its second career American Music Award win, from six career AMA nominations, on Nov. 20.
The Come To The Well tour is partnering with Christian humanitarian organization World Vision ( www.worldvision.org). World Vision provides assistance to approximately 100 million people in nearly 100 countries by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. Casting Crowns has helped to generate a total of 52,000 child sponsorships for World Vision to date.
About Casting Crowns:
All of Casting Crowns projects are RIAA certified, with a tally of three RIAA Platinum Albums, two RIAA Platinum DVDs, two RIAA Gold Albums, two Gold DVDs and two Gold digital singles, holding position as Billboards top-selling act in Christian music since 2007.
The group also claims two American Music Awards, with six total nominations, three GRAMMY Awards and 14 GMA Dove Awards.
Despite an unprecedented eight-year career with Casting Crowns, the seven band members remain active in student ministry in the Atlanta area and tour part-time around their local church duties. Serving his 18th year in youth ministry, lead singer/songwriter Mark Hall is the student pastor at Eagles Landing First Baptist Church in Atlanta. As a testament to the bands impact, Casting Crowns performed for a second time in North Korea in April 2009, in partnership with Global Resource Services, as the band continues to forge invaluable relationships with the people in the D.P.R.K. For more information on Casting Crowns and Come to the Well, visit: www.castingcrowns.com or follow Mark Halls Twitter at twitter.com/markhallCC.
About Matthew West
Lauded by The New York Times as a vivid and compelling songwriter with impressive approaches to the familiar, two-time GRAMMY nominee Matthew Wests discography includes acclaimed releases Happy (2003), History (2005) and Something to Say (2008). His latest studio album, The Story of Your Life, was inspired by 10,000 stories from every state in the U.S. and 20 countries. The album released on October 5, 2010, and garnered attention from CNN Online, FOX News, Billboard Magazine, Country Weekly, American Songwriter and more. The Story of Your Life gave West the largest street-week debut of his career, selling over 10,000 units the first week, landing at No. 3 on Christian Soundscan, and No. 41 on the Billboard Top 200. In conjunction with Harvest House Publishers, West teamed up with bestselling author Angela Thomas for The Story of Your Life book. The Heart of Christmas marks Wests first full-length Christmas project which also boasts the top 15 mainstream AC radio hit The Heart of Christmas. A multiple ASCAP Song of the Year winner, West has had four No. 1 radio hits including his latest GRAMMY-nominated tune Strong Enough. His songwriting credits include Rascal Flatts, Billy Ray Cyrus, Diamond Rio and more. For more information, visit www.MatthewWest.com.
CASTING CROWNS COME TO THE WELL SPRING TOUR 2012
*Dates, markets and venues subject to change without notice
FEBRUARY
2/9 (Thursday) – Florence, S.C. – Florence Civic Center
2/10 (Friday) – Virginia Beach, Va. – Rock Church
2/11 (Saturday) – Woodbridge, Va. – Hylton Memorial Chapel
2/16 (Thursday) – Grand Rapids, Mich. – Van Andel Arena
2/17 (Friday) – Troy, Ohio – Hobart Arena
2/18 (Saturday) – Lynchburg, Va. – Vines Center Liberty University
2/23 (Thursday) – Coral Gables, Fla. – BankUnited Center
2/24 (Friday) – Orlando, Fla. – UCF Arena
2/25 (Saturday) – Tallahassee, Fla. – Leon County Civic Center
2/26 (Sunday) – Pensacola, Fla. – Pensacola Civic Center
MARCH
3/1 (Thursday) – Ft. Wayne, Ind. – Memorial Coliseum
3/2 (Friday) – Brookfield, Wis. – Elmbrook Church
3/3 (Saturday) – Toledo, Ohio – Huntington Center
3/8 (Thursday) – Johnson City, Tenn. – Freedom Hall
3/9 (Friday) – Raleigh, N.C. – RBC Center
3/10 (Saturday) – Charlotte, N.C. – Bojangles Coliseum
3/11 (Sunday) – Greenville, S.C. – Bi-Lo Center
3/15 (Thursday) – Lowell, Mass. – Lowell Memorial Auditorium
3/16 (Friday) – Newark, N.J. – Prudential Center
3/17 (Saturday) – Getzville, N.Y. – The Chapel at Crosspoint
3/18 (Sunday) – Baltimore, Md. – 1st Mariner Arena
3/22 (Thursday) – Independence, Mo. – Independence Event Center
3/23 (Friday) – Moline, Ill. – iWireless Center
3/24 (Saturday) – St. Charles, Md. – Family Arena
3/29 (Thursday) – Philadelphia, Pa. – The Liacouras Center
3/30 (Friday) – Hershey, Pa. – Giant Center
3/31 (Saturday) – Pittsburgh, Pa. – Console Energy Center
APRIL
4/5 (Thursday) – Bowling Green, Ky. – E.A. Diddle Arena
4/6 (Friday) – Chattanooga, Tenn. – UTC MacKenzie Arena
4/7 (Saturday) – Birmingham, Ala. – BJCC Arena
4/12 (Thursday) – Austin, Texas – Shoreline Church
4/13 (Friday) – Odessa, Texas – Ector County Coliseum
4/14 (Saturday) – Oklahoma City, Okla. – State Fair Arena (Private)
4/19 (Thursday) – Cedar Falls, Iowa – McLeod Center
4/20 (Friday) – Sioux Falls, S.D. – Sioux Falls Arena
4/21 (Saturday) – Minneapolis, Minn. – Target Center
4/22 (Sunday) – Fargo, N.D. – Fargo Dome
4/24 (Tuesday) – Springfield, Mo. – JQH Arena
4/26 (Thursday) – Louisville, Ky. – Broadbent Arena
4/27 (Friday) – Woodstock, Ga. – First Baptist Church
4/28 (Saturday) – Charleston, W.V. – Charleston Civic Center
MAY
5/3 (Thursday) – Tulsa, Okla. – Spirit Bank Event Center
5/4 (Friday) – Lubbock, Texas – United Spirit Arena
5/5 (Saturday) – The Woodlands, Texas – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Article source: http://www.cmspin.com/newsmanager/anmviewer.asp?a=6562&z=26
L’Angelus continues to awe fans, audiences
Filed Under Christian Music Artist Updates · Tagged: amy grant, michael w smith, sandi patty, steven curtis chapman
I’ll always have a special place in my heart for L’Angelus. You remember L’Angelus, the Rees siblings who grew up in Lafayette and have family and throngs of fans throughout the area.
Paige, Katie, Steven and Johnny Rees, who are now in their 20s, are as talented as they are good looking. Their mix of Cajun, zydeco, Motown, fiddle tunes and other energetic sounds have won them fans from Miami to Los Angeles. The musicianship and vocal harmonies on their “Sacred Hymns” and “O Night Divine” CDs are second to none.
The Rees family now lives in Nashville, but comes home every New Year’s Day for a big gumbo and dance. They kept the tradition going with a big gathering Jan. 2 at the St. Peter’s Church Hall in Carencro.
L’Angelus won me over back around 2005, when the William Morris Agency came a calling. This is the same talent agency that made megastars out of Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts and other major entertainers.
The agency was ready to make L’Angelus the next Rascal Flatts — if they would just be willing for a makeover and drop the Cajun thing. The Rees family, who are devout Catholics, said thanks, but no thanks. They were staying true to their faith, family and culture.
Their integrity is now paying off as L’Angelus is touring with Michael W. Smith. Not familiar with Smith? He’s only sold 13 million albums and recorded 29 No. 1 hits, 14 gold albums and five platinum albums as one of the world’s top Contemporary Christian artists. He’s even been one of People magazine’s “Most Beautiful People.”
In 2011, L’Angelus opened for Smith in symphony halls stretching from St. Louis to Los Angeles. As always, they left audiences and reviewers awestruck.
One particular review, titled “L’Angelus band — the next big thing?” is making the rounds to Christian music web sites and radio stations across the country. Author Jeffrey Totey of Examiner.com caught one of L’Angelus’ Christmas concerts with Smith and used such words as “pleasant surprise” and “brilliant” to describe this “little known Louisiana quartet.”
Totey wrote, “The four are incredibly fun to watch play. Katie has a smile that won’t quit. She tends to step back a bit from Paige, who tends to whip her hair in all directions. Stephen makes it clear that he doesn’t play a violin — he plays the fiddle. And Johnny, the quiet one, hides behind his drums set, but plays like a mad man. In addition to the instrumentation, they harmonize their voices beautifully. They play “Ca C’est Bon,” one of their most popular hits, with delight as if they are playing it for the very first time and they alternate between English and French seamlessly.”
In July, L’Angelus rejoins Smith for the 2012 Cruise of Canada trip. Worldwide recognition is nothing new for L’Angelus. In 2006, Billboard magazine selected the band as one of six finalists in the Independent Music World Series. Last summer, they shared the stage with the Pope at the World Youth Conference in Spain.
Congratulations and continued success to L’Angelus. Thanks again for proving that good things do indeed happen for those who stick with faith, family and culture.
Herman Fuselier is a writer and broadcaster from Opelousas. Contact him at bboogie@bellsouth.net.
Article source: http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20120106/LIFESTYLE/201060317/L-Angelus-continues-awe-fans-audiences?odyssey=nav%7Chead
Daily Bible Verse – 1 Thessalonians 1:6
You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
Thoughts on Today’s Bible Verse…
We find it so easy to let our circumstances determine our moods. Paul reminds this group of new Christians under attack that their new life in Christ had brought them joy despite the outwardly harsh circumstances they were facing. Their joy was not the fleeting, circumstance-determined veneer. Instead, they had welcomed the powerful message of salvation with joy! This joy was not dependent upon their circumstances. It was rooted in their Savior’s example, in his abiding presence through the Holy Spirit, and the salvation available through Jesus.
Prayer…
Dear heavenly Father, please make my joy immune to outward circumstances and please empower that joy by your Holy Spirit. Please bless me as I seek to conform my life and attitude to the example of my Savior. Please help me become a better example of spiritual joy to those around me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Today’s Verse Illustrated

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