5: Up in Smoke

The 2019–20 Australian bushfire season is now known as the Black Summer. It was a period of unusually intense bushfires in many parts of Australia but especially in the southeast of the country. According to the World Wildlife Fund, 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds, and 51 million frogs were affected. The findings were shocking and prompted scientists to declare that no other event anywhere in the world in living memory has killed or displaced this many animals.

Six hundred miles off the coast of Ecuador is a gathering place unlike any other place on earth. It is a colony of contrast and contradictions. A region where worldviews were born. The Galapagos Islands have always stirred the imagination of its visitors. Some have interpreted its immense diversity as evidence for the origin of species by means of natural selection. While others are convinced of the utter impossibility of all this beauty happening by chance and accident. So which one is it?

There is a difference between Coping with life's struggles and Conquering them. As believers we are empowered by the Word of God and the power of His Holy Spirit to conquer this life. Are you coping or conquering? Join Gracepoints today on Wake Up with Hope! Follow us on YouTube: https://hubs.la/Q01W2Y0S0 Hope Channel page: https://hopetv.org/shows/wake-up-with-hope?season=season-4

Reaffirmation of the covenant was an important step in recentering God in the lives of the Israelites. When we are in the midst of ongoing battles how can we center worship? What can we learn from the practice of building altars of remembrance?