“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16) I realized just before I left Griffin that there was no promise that the reputation I had earned in my adopted community would leave with me. The irony in that revelation is when I arrived in Griffin, I had been saved for less than a year and was delighted that the “old” Mike Ruffin had been left in North Carolina. No one in Griffin would […]

“And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:6) I recently heard a testimony from a lady in my church. She confessed to having a nervous breakdown and was so stressed out that she couldn’t remember her own name. Ultimately, it was her faith that brought her through. “I may not have known my name,” she exclaimed, “but Jesus did.” I thought about her story and realized the comfort that comes from knowing that we belong to Christ. For many, it’s […]

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16) The Bible says that we should bear one another’s burdens. In other words, we should share our worries and fears with our Christian family. But we don’t follow that advice as much as we should, do we? Think about it: How many times can you remember not sharing the need when your pastor or Sunday school teacher asked? It was […]

“People who want to live a full life and enjoy good days must keep their tongues from saying evil things, and the lips from speaking deceitful things.” (1 Peter 3:10) When I was a child, my dad hired a housekeeper who would pay me to cuss her out. Can you believe it? It just tickled her to death to hear a child “cuss like a sailor”. I continued to “cuss like a sailor”, all the way to adulthood. The truth is it became such a natural part of […]