German and Israeli scientists discovered a 1700-year-old stone bearing the name of a city believed to be the possible location of an ancient biblical town.

The Greek inscription refers to the city of Elusa (Halutza in Hebrew) and was discovered during excavations in Halutza National Park in the Negev desert.

“The name of the city of Elusa appears in a number of historical documents and contexts, including the Madaba mosaic map, the Nessana papyri and other historical references. However, this is the first time that the name of the city has been discovered in the site itself. The inscription mentions several Caesars of the tetrarchy, which allow to date it around 300 C.E.,” the Israel Antiquities Authority said Wednesday in a press release.

The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared Elusa a World Heritage site. The city is one of two main potential locations for the biblical city of Ziklag.

Ziklag is mentioned in Genesis, Joshua and Samuel. King David is believed to have been given the town by a Philistine king named Achish.

According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, Elusa was founded toward the end of the 4th century B.C. and was an important station along the ancient Incense Road between Petra and Gaza. The city continued to develop over the years and reached its peak in the Byzantine period in the fourth to mid-sixth centuries A.D.

Dr. Tali Erickson-Gini, an archaeologist who worked on the project, said wine was largely responsible for the flourishing of the entire region.

Click here to read the rest of this story from our content partners at CBN News.

I was not surprised when Hillary Clinton declared that she believed people like me to be “deplorable.” I could not tell you exactly when it started, but it has been clear to me and I believe most evangelicals, that the hard left has been long engaged in a war with all that is Constitutional, conservative and Christian.

As the mayor of the city of El Cajon, California, just outside of San Diego, I live in a small outpost of conservatives, traditionalists and many Christians, who are surrounded by the left as Israel is surrounded by the Arab world. In my small city, there are three megachurches and over a dozen smaller ones. As a group, we are committed and passionate about Jesus, family, conservatism and the rights and liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Many are equally passionate about President Donald Trump.

It has not always been so. I remember, before the primary presidential election of 2016, very few of us were excited about a Trump candidacy. The thought of Trump championing the evangelical cause was laughable. He had been divorced twice, bragged about groping women and was likely just a New York liberal posing as a Republican. He was brash, wealthy and combative, and it seemed very likely that he would not be, could not be, the man we would vote for.

When he ascended to the top of the ticket, I remember many making wild “Never Trump” announcements about not voting, or even voting for Hillary. This of course was just posturing, as anyone could see that Hillary was so deeply intertwined with the Christian-hating, Constitution-torturing extreme left that to elect her would be akin to electing Nero. Slowly, we adjusted to the unthinkable concept of voting for Trump and as a nation, we evangelicals did just that—by over 81 percent.

After the election, we collectively held our breath and waited. What was God up to? Were we doomed, or was there a spiritual jujitsu happening that would make a sinner like Trump a man after God’s own heart? I’ve heard it said that no man can judge the spirituality of another, but any of us can be fruit inspectors. So what has been the fruit of this presidential administration?

Trump began by signing executive orders to protect religious liberty. He instructed the Department of Justice to issue guidelines protecting the religious liberties of people engaging with the Federal government. He put the IRS on notice that they could no longer harass conservative or faith-based organizations. He boldly fought for the repealing of the Johnson amendment, which uses the power of the IRS to intimidate pastors against speaking on political matters. He provided protections for health-care workers who had objections to providing abortions, transgender surgeries or any other job duty their faith would preclude.

By moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, he broke with decades of U.S. policy. This striking decision acknowledged not only the 3,000-year history of the Jewish people, but also their right to proclaim Jerusalem as their capital. This was another 2016 campaign promise fulfilled, like his vow to be tough on China and improve border security. With his relocation of the embassy, millions of Christians and Jews felt relieved and vindicated in light of Genesis 12:3, which, paraphrased, states that those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse her will be cursed.

American Christians watched with amazement as President Trump systematically rejected the bias of the established media and called into question their motives and tactics. Christians have intuitively known that it is this same group that has systematically and relentlessly worked to root out religious values and voices from the public square. Like your big brother showing up just as you’re being worked over by school yard bullies, Trump showed up and sent the unruly media mob scattering. He took on the very premise of the media and called them out on their bias. Christians felt protected and understood.

Arguably, left-leaning courts and their propensity to establish law, not interpret it, have been the most noticeable harbinger of the impending loss of American religious liberty. I once heard Pastor Jim Garlow say, “I fully expect to die in government housing.” Garlow meant that before Trump, the direction of the highest court seemed to lead toward the persecution of people of faith, for speaking aloud the tenets of that faith. He, at that time, expected that in his civil disobedience, he would end up spending his last years in prison. So it was a fundamental shift when the president was successful in the placement of two conservative judges on the Supreme Court and dozens of other appointments to lesser courts. Christians could argue that the significance of this act alone makes the president a hero of Christians and conservatives alike.

But what about his sinfulness? Well, that is puzzling. If we were to design the perfect candidate to “Make America Great Again” we would surely choose a politician who was pastor-like, or a learned man of God. That’s not who won the 2016 election. What if God, in His wisdom, had a different plan in mind? Could it not be that Trump is an imperfect man—like David, or Samson or Moses—and is still of profound use to God? Haven’t we seen characters like Winston Churchill, whose accomplishments dwarfed the criticisms of their vices and manner? What limits does God have in choosing a leader or, for that matter, in anything? Does it condemn us in hypocrisy that we would ignore the faults of Donald Trump but revel in his policies and accomplishments?

I think the answer is that choosing a president is not a hypothetical exercise, but a meaningful choice in the direction of our nation. In 2016, we had a choice between a well-established woman who claimed to be a Christian but was demonstrably committed to eradicating Christian rights and values, and an unruly man who said he was a Christian and pledged to protect those same values. The proof will always be in the results. Looking at this administration’s actions and achievements thus far, I believe it is clear that the result of a Trump presidency is that the positions of people of faith have improved.

It is not hypocritical to be pleased with the improvement of Christian rights and the protection of Christian values, even if the man responsible for it is imperfect. The truth is that the left doesn’t really care about Trump’s moral failings. We know this because the left’s heroes are routinely caught in the same sins and behaviors and often, they are much more heinous and profound. The left, however, shamelessly defends their own with vigor. Trump’s vices are just the convenient fodder his enemies use as a straw-man argument in their relentless mission to destroy him. In truth, they could not care less about his sins; what bothers them are his accomplishments. {eoa}

Everyone knows the media world is changing—most of it not for the better. Recently, though, I had the chance to speak with someone who is making a difference in media for God’s glory. Jeremy Lamont just started an online magazine called GODSPEED, something he never even considered until God burdened his heart to do it in 2012.

In my interview with Lamont, he shared how God led him to publish the digital magazine, the promises the Spirit gave him for the magazine’s future and how this growing publication is making a difference. (Click here or scroll down to the end of this article to listen to our entire conversation.)

“In 2012, God—in prayer—specifically said that this was what I was supposed to do,” Lamont tells me. “And so I started following the footsteps because He specifically said it had to be a digital magazine. And in the seven years since then, it has turned into exactly what He promised. Just as an example, He said it would look like Time magazine, and we now have David Aikman, who was the senior news correspondent for Time magazine for 23 years, as our editor-in-chief. So it’s really God who has the glory on this one.”

I’ve known Aikman since the late 1970s when he was senior correspondent for Time magazine, and our lives have intersected in so many different ways. There was a time when Aikman was one of the highest-ranking Christians in the journalism realm. So I was impressed when I learned he was working with GODSPEED magazine. When I asked Lamont how he managed to get an editor-in-chief of Aikman’s stature, he gave all credit to God.

“It’s so impossible to describe the things God has done with GODSPEED magazine without going back to what God did,” Lamont says. “I was specifically told in another prayer later that I would have a partner who was the granddaughter of the founder of the Pentecostal movement—or one of the founders—Charles Parham.”

A week after that prayer, Parham’s granddaughter, Roberta Parham Hromas—affectionally known as “Bobby”—invited Lamont to a meeting at her house with various representatives from the Christian Broadcast Network, Oral Roberts University, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and more. Lamont tells me he felt out of place at that meeting, but afterward, Hromas approached him, and the two decided to be partners in Lamont’s digital magazine. That same night, Hromas put Lamont in touch with Aikman, and a year later, Aikman came on staff for GODSPEED as editor-in-chief.

In all this, Lamont sees the hand of God at work.

“In all of GODSPEED magazine, the common theme is that I literally cannot take credit for any of it,” he says. “Rather, He’s made it clear that it’s His will that my primary role is to follow and go exactly where He takes me. And so our method is we take clipboards and fill them with information and planning, and then God somewhat swats them out of my hand and fills the clipboard with His information, and then we follow His planning.”

GODSPEED is available for $5 a month. You can download the app free of charge in the app store, on Google Play and on Amazon, and Lamont says you get two free issues when you do that. If you do subscribe, though, you’ll get content every month centered on “God in action,” as Lamont puts it.

In fact, Lamont says he won’t publish stories simply for the sake of prominent Christian names. If a story doesn’t show God moving in some way, he doesn’t want it.

“That’s what GODSPEED magazine is,” he explains. “We cover freedom from the point of view of, ‘How is God using people right now to protect the freedom to worship Him?’ If we cover ‘infant lives matter,’ we’re really covering ‘How is God protecting the right only He could give, which is life?'”

I’m happy to report on people like Lamont, who are resisting culture’s secular pull toward godlessness and instead taking a firm stand for Christ in media. And in a way, I can relate with Lamont, since I felt a similar call many years ago to publish a magazine and report on how God is moving. Granted, I started Charisma magazine before personal computers were on the market—and this was long before the internet. So much has changed since Charisma‘s founding in 1975, but God’s heart to reach the masses with truth has not.

I encourage you to listen to my entire conversation with Lamont below. I recently subscribed to GODSPEED magazine, and I encourage you to do the same at the App Store, Google Play, Amazon or . For more information, go to !

Pornography usage affects your life in many ways—your relationships, your job, your social interactions and so much more. Perhaps you’ve begun to wonder if you’re addicted to porn.

First, not everyone who views porn is an addict. But there are patterns and symptoms that can be very good indicators that you can use to see if you are in danger of porn addiction.

Many of these signs are almost identical to the indicators used to classify substance addiction like drugs and alcohol.

Focus on the Family notes that there are five stages of pornography addiction.

1. Early Exposure

Most men who become addicted started at an early age. This could have been looking at a magazine or a video clip. But that first exposure started their relationship with porn.

2. Addiction

At this stage, you keep seeking out more porn to view. You have started to make it a regular part of your life, and not just an occasional peek.

3. Escalation

Now you have become so accustomed to seeing porn that you need to find more graphic material. You may not have even considered this more explicit porn before, but now you have started to enjoy it.

4. Desensitization

You have reached the stage where you have become numb to porn. Even the most disgusting, graphic types of porn now seem boring or unexciting to you. You are desperate to find that same type of thrill you use to get but you can’t seem to find anything to replace it.

5. Acting out sexually

You have finally reached the point where you are willing to risk making the dangerous jump from visual fantasy to acting out in the real world.

Of course, everyone is different, so you may find that this pattern varies for you. If you’re uncertain about the extent of your struggle with sex addiction, you can take the Sexual Addiction Screening Test anonymously and online for free.

Symptoms of Addiction

As with any addiction, there are several signs and symptoms of porn addiction. Here’s a partial list of some common ones:

• Unable to stop using porn despite trying to do so
• Becoming angry, defensive, or irritable when asked to stop viewing porn
• Increased sense of shame and guilt
• Decreased time spent with family and friends
• Denial that you have a porn problem
• Lying and being more secretive about activities
• Reduced interest in sexual, emotional or physical interaction with your spouse
• Intense feelings of shame and guilt
• Feeling like you’re living a double life
• Blaming others for your porn use
• Loss of interest in work, socializing, hobbies and other activities

Whether your journey with pornography has led to a full blown addiction or is an intermittent struggle, there is help for you.

Trying to regain control over your life

Most men who use porn are trying to self-medicate. They have experiences in their past that have left painful memories and marks on their heart. Viewing porn makes them feel good momentarily and provides a fleeting relief to the pain they try to heal. Any enjoyment quickly gives way to shame, which drives the user back to their virtual electronic drug all over again.

Porn also gives addicts a feeling of being able to control at least a part of their lives.

Dr. Peter Kleponis, a licensed clinical therapist, wrote for Covenant Eyes:

There is help for you to break free from your addiction

If you feel you may be addicted to pornography, or even if you view porn occasionally, there is good news. The Conquer Series is designed to help men just like you find freedom from the grip of porn.

A highly effective tool that is part of the Conquer Series process is the FASTER Scale found in the personal journal.

Each letter in FASTER indicates a level of behaviors, attitudes and feelings that often cover or mask your true emotion of pain or fear. The FASTER Scale was designed for a man to recognize which level he is at every day. As men use the journal, the FASTER scale helps them to track how close they are to relapse, uncover emotional triggers and identify unhealthy patterns in their behavior.

By identifying where you are each day, you will be able to take action to avoid progressing towards relapse and maintaining your recovery and restoration.

Get involved with a Conquer Series small group.

The FASTER Scale is just one part of the Conquer Series. The series consists of 12 DVDs that provide valuable information and encouragement. There are powerful testimonies, practical insights into your porn struggle, action video segments, and solid biblical teaching.

A study guide and the personal journal that includes the FASTER Scale are also available. They are designed to help you apply the lessons and actively track your progress towards your total freedom from pornography.

Ask your church leaders if they can start using the Conquer Series to help you and other men get victory over porn. You can also use the Conquer Series on your own and join a Conquer Group online.

But please get involved. You cannot beat your porn usage by yourself. Meeting regularly with a small group of Christian men who want to see you enjoy a porn-free life is vital to your victory.

Order the Conquer Series today.

I was getting ready for my radio show on Monday when I spotted an announcement on the AskDrBrown YouTube channel. The entire channel—now, almost 1,600 videos—had been demonetized.

By now, I’ve been used to the constantly changing standards of YouTube, not to mention the nonexistent customer service.

I’m talking about YouTube approving a video one day that speaks out against abortion while telling me the next day that a generic video where I answer caller questions about the Bible is not suitable for most advertisers.

As I’ve written before, if it weren’t so ridiculous, it would be funny.

And, to emphasize this once again, while YouTube/Google is a private company, it is obligated to abide by its guidelines and to enforce them in an even-handed and fair way. This, it has not done.

So, what was the reason the company demonetized my entire channel, robbing our nonprofit ministry of income that goes straight back into our ministry work?

Similar to what Steven Crowder has recently experienced, YouTube claimed it was due to copyright violations.

But here’s the thing.

There are a handful of videos that we received notice about for using a music clip or TV clip that they claimed was not fair usage. But in each case, they made clear this was not a strike against us, that we were not in any trouble with them, and that there was nothing we needed to do.

In the end, a few of those videos were demonetized based on these alleged copyright violations.

End of subject.

No warning. No explanation. Nothing.

When I wrote to them calling for clarification and appealing their decision, I received an email back two days later, stating this. (If you get frustrated easily, brace yourself.)

Upon checking, your channel was demonetized due to re-used content. As much as I’d love to help, this has already been reviewed by our internal team, and they’ve determined that your channel does not comply with the YouTube Partner Program terms. Unfortunately, we cannot provide you with specific details as to how it led to this decision, and there’s no option to appeal.

Yes, this was their official response.

We will not explain why.

We will give you no examples of what you’ve allegedly done wrong.

And you cannot appeal.

The end. (Oh, you can reapply in 30 days!)

Yes, there was more to the email than that, but the rest was just window dressing, irrelevant links and a hello and goodbye.

Of course, we will push back every way we know how, first because these are unfair business practices and second because pushing back against YouTube’s double standards is the thing to do.

And while I can’t say for sure that this happened to us because we are outspoken, conservative, Bible believers, I can say with certainty that Google/YouTube has certainly made clear where it stands on these issues.

In fact, this very week, a software engineer with Google has blown the whistle, exposing Google’s extreme anti-Christian bias.

As reported by Tyler O’Neil on PJ Media, “Early Wednesday morning, Google software engineer Mike Wacker went public with an incident showing anti-religious bias among the company’s Human Resources (HR) division. HR slammed Christian YouTube ads as ‘homophobic’ and ‘very counter to our mission’ in a newsletter that goes to 30,000+ employees at the company.”

Wacker documented this on Twitter, noting that one of the two videos singled out by Google as being “very counter to our mission” was my video “Can You Be Gay and Christian?” (For more on the attack on this video, see here and here.)

Since last June, YouTube no longer allows us to advertise the video (although they have not removed it, at least), despite the fact that it simply lays out what the Bible says about homosexual practice.

There is no vitriol. There is no homophobia. There is no hatred.

But there is compassion and the offer of grace and the promise of hope.

Yet Google branded this “very counter to our mission,” and YouTube forbade us from advertising the video on any YouTube channel.

That’s why I asked if YouTube would soon be banning the Bible, since its battle is with God and His Word, not with me.

Whatever the reason for YouTube’s latest actions against us, we will continue to get our message out. We will get legal counsel as to our options. And we will not take one step backwards, using every platform we have accessible to us to speak the truth in love.

We’ll keep you posted on the ongoing drama, but if our videos have been a blessing to you, consider helping us right now with a one-time gift.

As my radio announcer states every day, I’m here to be your voice of moral, cultural and spiritual revolution—not moral, cultural and spiritual capitulation.

Forward!

In this video, Jennifer reveals three ways to recognize warlocks masquerading as prophets, according to the Bible. There’s so much talk about witches. But warlocks are wreaking havoc in the earth as well.

Authorities in Vladivostok, the largest city in far eastern Russia, are planning to erect a gigantic statue of Jesus Christ on a site once designated for a monument of Vladimir Lenin.

The statue, which has not yet been approved by the Russian Orthodox Church, is to be 125 feet high—the same height as the Christ the Redeemer monument in Rio de Janeiro, according to blueprints made public by Vyatsky Posad, a Russian Orthodox Christian center. The statue will stand on top of a hill looking east over the Pacific Ocean.

Soviet authorities issued orders for the construction of a 98-foot-high bronze statue of Lenin at the site in 1972. Another statue, of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, was planned to be built on a neighboring hill. But construction hitches meant the plans were repeatedly postponed, before eventually being scrapped altogether in 1990.

Supporters of the Jesus statue are enthusiastic, despite the lack of details about the project. Descriptions of the statue as a “symbol of the unity of the Russian people” that would “bless” ships leaving and arriving in the port city were later deleted from the Vyatsky Posad’s website, for reasons that remain unclear. Attempts by Religion News Service to contact the Vyatsky Center for comment were unsuccessful.

Other Russian media outlets, however, have published blueprints for the project, and plans for the statue were openly discussed at a meeting at the proposed site in late February attended by Oleg Kozhemyako, the regional governor; Ali Uzdenov, a vice president of the Russian business conglomerate Sistema; and Gennady Tsurkov, the head of the Vyatsky Posad center, which is connected to Iliy, an influential monk who is spiritual adviser to Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Tsurkov, in an interview with Russia’s Govorit Moskva radio station, said the statue project had been inspired by Iliy.

“He really wants to put up a statue of Jesus Christ as a protector of our Russia from the east,” Tsurkov said. “He says, ‘we need to make it higher (than the statue in Rio).'”

Tsurkov clarified that while the statue itself would be the same height as the Christ the Redeemer monument, it would also stand atop a 98-foot-high pedestal. “Altogether, it will be 68 meters (223 feet),” he said.

Tsurkov said that private investors would fund the construction of the statue but that total costs had yet to be finalized.

Kozhemyako said a small chapel that could hold up to 30 people would also be built close to the statue. “Delegations will just arrive, go in, and light a candle,” the regional governor said, according to online footage of the on-site discussion.

Online opinion has been almost entirely negative. “Is there nothing else for us to spend our money on?” wrote Svetlana, on a forum for residents of Vladivostok. “We’d be better off spending the money on hospitals, schools, roads … “

Others on the same forum suggested the project could be part of “a money-laundering scheme.”

Roman Lunkin, a religion analyst at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, told RNS that it was not certain that the Russian Orthodox Church would approve the project, because the proposed design was more in keeping with Roman Catholic statues and monuments. “There is a tradition in Orthodoxy of putting up crosses, but not statues,” he said.

With the Russian Orthodox Church closely aligned with the Kremlin, Lunkin explained, the project contained a “political-patriotic” element that apparently underlines what President Vladimir Putin has described as the religious values that bind modern Russia.

“This huge statue of Christ is proposed to act as a kind of border post in Russia’s far east to guard our motherland,” Lunkin said. He also criticized comments attributed to Ilya, the patriarch’s spiritual adviser, about making the statue larger than its counterpart in Brazil as an ill-considered attempt to “demonstrate Russian greatness” to the entire world.

The construction of a massive statue of Christ in Vladivostok would also neatly symbolize Russia’s startling transformation from an officially atheist state in the Soviet era, which ended in 1991, to today’s Christian-majority country. Around 80 percent of Russians currently identify as Orthodox Christians, including Putin, a former KGB agent. Few, however, attend church services or observe religious fasts.

The Vladivostok statue wouldn’t be the first time that a Christian structure has been built on the site of a monument to Lenin. In 2000, Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral was consecrated at a location within sight of the Kremlin towers, replacing a previous cathedral building that was demolished on Stalin’s orders in 1931 to make way for a planned 1,000-foot-high Palace of Soviets.

The palace, which would have been the world’s tallest building at the time, was to have been topped by a colossal statue of Lenin. Construction was postponed and then later scrapped with the outbreak of World War II.

It’s not only in grandiose architecture that Lenin and Jesus compete in today’s Russia. Gennady Zyuganov, the leader of the modern-day Communist Party, frequently compares Lenin to Jesus Christ and has claimed the Soviet Union was an attempt to establish “God’s kingdom on earth.” {eoa}

© 2019 Religion News Service. All rights reserved.

Being single again often seems harder. As difficult as navigating singleness as a never-married young (or not-so-young) person can be, finding yourself “alone” again after the end of a marriage through either death or divorce adds special challenges. Here are some things I’ve learned from being single—again.

Whether short or long, painful or nourishing, your previous marriage changed you. You are different because of your marriage to your spouse. You’ve experienced the good, the bad and perhaps the ugly of marriage. You’ve known some or most of these things:

• The thrill and hope of saying “I do!”
• Building a life with someone you loved.
• Parenting together.
• Disappointment when your spouse let you down.
• Navigating communication and intimacy differences.
• Having sex knowing it was sanctioned by God.
• Perhaps betrayal and rejection.
• Perhaps grief over the loss of someone you loved.
• The end of a dream as your marriage ended.

What do you do now? As much as you might wish things to be different, you cannot go back in time. You cannot be “single, never married” ever again.

I’m single again right now. Learning to live single again since my husband died has not been easy, though perhaps I’ve had it easier than some. I had learned to live single before being married. My marriage had been a very loving one. And I have a relatively clear sense of what God is asking of me in this next season of my life.

Regardless of why you are single again, I hope these things that I’ve learned over the past few years will be helpful to you.

Embrace the Person You Have Become

Your marriage changed you. That’s not an indictment; it’s a reality. And in many ways those changes may be truly wonderful. Even if your marriage was painful, there are ways you have grown and things you have learned as a result of your relationship.

It’s important to grieve the loss of your marriage regardless of whether it came through death or divorce. But it’s perhaps even more important to look at how that relationship is now a part of who you are and who you have become.

What did you learn about love? About intimacy? About sex? About your own heart—good and bad? About forgiveness? About suffering? About God’s grace? About commitment? About communication? About giving and receiving? About how a relationship changes over time? About the impact you have on another human being? About how another human being impacts you?

Who have you become as a result of your marriage? What understandings do you have now that you would not have had without this relationship? What memories are now a part of you— good and bad? And what life experience are you able to take with you into this next season of your life?

You are different as a result of your marriage. Who are you now?

Connect With Others

Some people respond to the pain of death or divorce by curling up into a ball and isolating physically and/or emotionally. Other people respond to that same pain by frantically grasping at new relationships, trying to either heal the wound or recreate the good things you had. Neither is a healthy way to go forward.

Other people cannot do your healing or grieving for you. A new marriage will not fix you. But it is vitally important you not walk this journey completely alone. Learning to relate to people as a single-again adult will feel different and probably very awkward. Do it anyway.

Invest in connecting with people—not for the purpose of getting something for yourself, but for the purpose of both giving and receiving. Yes, you will get insight, friendship, encouragement and more from healthy relationships. But the point is to learn what it means to give those things freely to others as well.

You may be learning for the first time what healthy relationships look like in such areas as trust, communication or unselfishness. Connecting with others in intentional ways can help you here.

Choose to Love Again

This does not mean necessarily getting married again! A new marriage, even if wonderful, will not replace your previous marriage, heal those wounds, meet all your needs, cure your loneliness or fix you.

Instead, choosing to love again means the world is not all about you. It means God has given you something to do, and you are choosing to invest of yourself in doing that. You have something others need, and you are giving of yourself to them.

For people who have been wounded in love, this is a big step. It’s also a big step after a very loving relationship has ended. Love someone, anyone, even an animal, and you make yourself vulnerable. Love means you can be hurt.

Remember, God is love. He considered loving to be worth it, even though it cost the death of His Son. You may need to spend some time healing and grieving, but lifting your eyes from yourself and loving people again will be worth it for you too, and a sign you are moving forward.

Give God a Chance

God sees you as you. Most people who are married define themselves largely in relationship to their marriage. Jesus died for you not as a married person, not as a single or single-again person, but as you. He walks with you now, you as the lonely, hurting, grieving, anxious or desperate you. He sees you, understands you and is right beside you, closer than any spouse was or ever could be.

Give Him the chance to be with you. Spend time with God, seeking His presence. In the miraculous way only He can, God can take the end of your marriage and all the complicated angst involved and turn it into something of meaning and growth and even beauty.

Give Him that chance.

Your Turn: As a single-again adult, what has been the hardest part for you? What has helped you take steps forward into this next season of your life? Leave a comment below. {eoa}

Dr. Carol Peters-Tanksley is both a board-certified OB-GYN physician and an ordained doctor of ministry. As an author and speaker, she loves helping people discover the Fully Alive kind of life Jesus came to bring us. Visit her website at .

This article originally appeared at .

Vineyard USA’s Phil Strout is inviting every believer to attend the 2019 Vineyard National Conference, titled “Come, Holy Spirit.” The conference will have two locations, in Denver, Colorado, and Dayton, Ohio. For more information, click here or watch the video.

They’re called summoning circles, and on Twitter especially, users are posting images of candles wrapped around something they desire.

What some people may view as a silly meme has a deeply demonic connection, though.

According to Know Your Meme, “In Wicca and other related magic rituals a circle is used as a protective barrier for the magician and the summoned. Traditionally, circles were believed by ritual magicians to form a protective barrier between themselves and what they summoned. One Twitter user parodied this practice with emojis.”

The trend has picked up since February, with major corporations jumping on board.

summoning circle, hope this works:

unused

vacation

days

— Universal Orlando Resort (@UniversalORL) March 14, 2019

Summoning circle, hope this works.

A PHI win

A CBJ loss

A CAR loss

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 12, 2019

summoning circle, hope this works

decent sleep schedule

— Streamlabs (@streamlabs) March 11, 2019

Summoning circle, clearly works

team spirit

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) March 11, 2019

Have you noticed this? Do you think it’s a harmless fad or something deeper? Sound off below.