Playlist: Attention (topic)
Age of Distraction
Commentary by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)A distraction is any event that breaks our focus or attention. Satan's chief stock in trade is the distraction, creating confusion and consternation for all.
One Answer to Distractions
Commentary by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)Distractions and interruptions caused by phone, e-mail, computers, or texting are detrimental to productivity and to the operating a business at a profit.
Focus Is The Key
Commentary by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)To counteract interruptions, we must rid ourselves of vague goal setting, replacing it with a deadline, continually reminding us that time is finite.
Indistractable
Commentary by Bill OnisickSocial media, text messages, e-mails, websites and blogs are competing for our time, eroding our attention spans and exhausting our ability to concentrate.
Make Sure of Your Focus!
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughDistractions produce a movement toward randomness and confusion, seriously endangering one's calling. We must sharpen our focus on God and His purpose.
Focus!
Sermonette by Joseph B. BaityMany spiritual parallels exist regarding the function of the camera lens to enable light rays to converge at a specific point.
Never Saw it Coming
Sermonette by Joseph B. BaityThievery, both literal and metaphorical, is commonplace, but because of normalcy bias, we underestimate threat warnings, thinking that nothing will get in our way.
The Christian and the World (Part Eight)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughHaving anxiety, foreboding and fretting about food, clothing, and shelter, or being distressed about the future, demonstrates a gross lack of faith.
Is Your Eye Single?
Sermonette by Richard T. RitenbaughIf our goal is wrong, our entire being will be off. Our first priority is to be loyal to God, casting aside all distractions and other interests.
Listening
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughBiblical listening is not just hearing, but active understanding and responding, leading to changed behavior. Not hearing is tantamount to rebellion.
Intimacy with Christ (Part Three)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughWe must fight against the world's pulls (including advertising), simplifying our lives, seeking quiet to meditate and build a relationship with God.
Drifting
Sermonette by Bill OnisickHebrews warns us to resist the pernicious pulls of the world and the flesh that cause us to spiritually drift, particularly pride and double-mindedness.
No Time to Think!
Commentary by Martin G. CollinsThe media attempt to hypnotize the citizenry to hate Donald Trump and love Hillary, pretending to explain complex situations by two second sound-bites.
How to Combat Future Shock
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughAlvin Toffler described a phenomenon known as Future Shock, a stressful malady caused by an inability to adjust to rapid change and over-stimulation.
Don't Lose Your Focus!
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughPaul urged that we get our focus more balanced, emphasizing love over prophetic correctness, not remaining indifferent to what Christ deemed important.
Hebrews, Love, and the Ephesian Church
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. RitenbaughLike the Ephesians, the weary veterans in Hebrews were becoming apathetic through outside pressures, losing their former zeal and devotion to Christ.
Keeping Love Alive (Part One)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughWorks demonstrate our faith, our response to God's calling and His freely given grace. Reciprocity is always a part of our relationship with God.
Be There Next Year!
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughWhether we do or do not make it to the Feast of Tabernacles next year depends on our faithfulness at stirring up the gift of God's spirit within us.
Friends
Sermonette by Craig SablichGod's people should not waste their time on entertainments dedicated to spreading Satan's lies, but rather turn their attention to pure and wholesome things.
The Grand Secret!
Sermon by Martin G. CollinsGod reveals a grand secret through David: namely, that spiritual growth will come to people who set the Lord before oneself continuously.
Meditation: Preventing Spiritual Identity Theft
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by David F. MaasIf we don't cultivate the ability to meditate on a regular basis, we run the very real risk of losing our spiritual identity and letting someone take our crown.
Deuteronomy: Hearing
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughBy listening, taking heed, and drinking in of God's Word daily, we take on the wisdom of God, upending and making foolish the wisdom of man.
Self-Discipline
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughProtestant theology recognizes that Christian self-discipline presents a major logical difficulty in its keystone doctrine of 'by grace alone.'
A Feast Message From Hebrews
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. RitenbaughThe Bible shows a clear pattern of how people leave the faith: looking back, drawing back, looking elsewhere, and then going backward and refusing to hear.
The Five Warnings of Hebrews
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughThe modern church stands in danger of allowing salvation to slip away. Hebrews gives warnings to help us turn our lives around so we do not fall short.
A Light To The World
Commentary by Mark SchindlerExposure to more than two hours per day on digital screens lowers scores on thinking and language tests. We must not abandon our children to smartphones.
Knowing God
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. RitenbaughTo fulfill one's purpose, one must be singularly focused on what one wants to accomplish. Divided minds result in no productivity or even devastation.
Don't Take God for Granted
Sermon by John O. ReidWe all tend to allow familiarity to lure us into carelessly taking something for granted. This is particularly dangerous regarding God and His purpose for us.
Worry and Seeking the Kingdom
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughWorry is a wired-in proclivity of carnal human nature, a response that Satan has programmed in a perpetual state of discontent and distrust in God.
Think First of What We Say
Commentary by Bill OnisickThe information from media and the internet have demonstrated various degrees of inaccuracy. Consequently, we are vulnerable to spreading false reports.
Laodiceanism
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. RitenbaughOur love for beauty must be coupled with love for righteousness and holiness. Our relationship with Christ must take central place in our lives, displacing all else.
New Covenant Priesthood (Part Five)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughHumility is not low self esteem, but instead it is a proper estimate of our relationship to God, which is a choice to act and behave as a servant or slave.
The Unleavened Vanguard with Christ
Sermon by Mark SchindlerChrist's warnings to His disciples in Luke 12 may have been given during the Unleavened Bread season, giving us additional forms of leaven to guard against.
The W's and H's of Meditation (Conclusion)
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by David F. MaasBecause we will ultimately turn into what we assimilate, we must take back the hijacked tool of meditation to drive out carnal thoughts.
Are You Being Brainwashed? (Part 4)
Sermon by Martin G. CollinsPublic opinion is easily manipulated by propaganda. By manipulating attitudinal desensitization, the mainstream media pushes society into progressive positions.
Deuteronomy: Being Careful
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughOur care in following God's instructions must be thorough, leaving no place for inattention, short cuts, negligence, or doing only enough to get by.
In Search of a Clear World View (Part Four)
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)Satan can fine-tune the course of this world (Zeitgeist), customizing it depending on whom he may seek to murder. We need to be thinking and vigilant.
God Works in Mysterious Ways (Part Two)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughGod has providentially given us trials to build character, proving beyond a doubt that we believe Him and have a burning desire to be at one with Him.
God Works in Mysterious Ways (Part One)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughOur carnal nature's desire to satisfy an addictive self-centeredness can eventually overrule the Christian's loyalty to God and His commandments.
Idolatrous Suppressors of the Truth
Sermon by Martin G. CollinsWhen John talks about idols, he is going far beyond things like statues, icons, and crucifixes, but instead anything people focus on first.
Take the Red Pill
Sermonette by Bill OnisickIf we were to consciously monitor our thoughts, we would be appalled about the percentage of our day that we are exclusively wrapped up in ourselves.
The W's and H's of Meditation (Part Five)
Sermon by David F. MaasIf we stockpile God's Word into our nervous systems, even though our outer man is decaying while our inner self is being renewed, we will nurture our spiritual legacy.
Coming to Know Him
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughWhen the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets occurs, we will see God directly when Jesus Christ returns, an event which will get everyone's attention.
Psalms: Book Five (Part Five): Psalm 119 (Part Two)
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughEven though keeping the law does not justify us, it does point out to us what sin is. The law is a guide keeping us within moral and ethical boundaries.
The Summertime Soldier and Sunshine Patriotism
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughWe must put our lives, treasure, and honor on the line, picking up our cross daily, declaring our independence from carnality, evil and bondage to sin.
The Commandments (Part Nineteen)
Sermon/Bible Study by John W. RitenbaughJesus taught that all outward sin stems from inner inordinate desire. What we desire or lust after automatically becomes our idol.