Oh How We Need Advent (This Year More Than Most)

Oh How We Need Advent (This Year More Than Most) – “But when I snap back to the painful present, I need something to hang on to for dear life. That’s what Advent is. Advent is the rusty nail holding us together until resurrection day.” 

God With Us

God With Us – Should we pray “God be with...” prayers? What does it mean for God to be with us?

Christmas is for Dark Times

Christmas is for Dark Times – “For many, 2020 has been a dark year – physically, emotionally, mentally, financially. People have lost their loved ones, their jobs, their security and their health. Does this mean Christmas should be cancelled? No. The real Christmas happens in the darkness.”

Can I ‘Name It and Claim It’?

Can I ‘Name It and Claim It’? – “If Jesus’s words abide in you, then they will govern how you formulate your wishes.”

Dear Sister, I Know You Feel Like You Don’t Fit In

Dear Sister, I Know You Feel Like You Don’t Fit In – “As you wait, you wonder for how long, you wonder if it’s even God’s plan.”

China Drafts New Rules Cracking Down On Citizens’ Religious Exchanges With Foreigners

China Drafts New Rules Cracking Down On Citizens’ Religious Exchanges With Foreigners – “The Chinese Communist Party has drafted strict new rules preventing foreigners in the country from discussing religion with locals, a move experts say will make practicing belief far more difficult.”

The Resurrection Creates Reconciliation

The Resurrection Creates Reconciliation – “As we search the Scriptures for insight into Jesus, we must never forget the primary reason why the biblical testimonies exist.”

What Are WE Waiting For?

What Are WE Waiting For? – “I can’t remember a year when I’ve more looked forward to lingering in the promises of the Gospel, bellowing great songs of hope, and pondering the glories of Jesus’ two comings.”

Advent in a Global Pandemic

Advent in a Global Pandemic – “As we enter the six darkest weeks of the year in this hemisphere, we will pivot midway to mark the greatest and brightest turning point in all history: the birth of Christ. And perhaps this Advent will begin restoring what the locusts of the pandemic have taken this year.”

 

How to Expose the Idols in Your Life

How to Expose the Idols in Your Life – “The reason idolatry is listed first in the Ten Commandments is because idolatry is always the reason we ever do anything wrong.”

Titus, Phoebe, You, and Me

Titus, Phoebe, You, and Me – “Thank you for the comforters you send us. Though you’re quite capable of sending ravens, rainbows, manna—even miracles, most often you send a Titus (2 Cor. 7:6) or Phoebe (Rom. 16:1).”

The Curse Between Us: Why Racial Healing Begins at Calvary

The Curse Between Us: Why Racial Healing Begins at Calvary – “Ethnic discord dies, and ethnic harmony rises, only when our hearts resonate with Calvary, where Christ became a curse for us.”

What Freedom From Sin Looks Like in This Life

What Freedom From Sin Looks Like in This Life – “Sin has this way of reinventing itself and reentering the room just when we think we’ve gotten the door shut. That’s common to human existence. The difference for the believer is that we have a hope when that happens.”

Truths the Devil Uses To Stop Us from Praying

Truths the Devil Uses To Stop Us from Praying – “The forces of hell will do anything to keep us from praying.”

Reordering Evangelism: Reviving The Living Dead

Reordering Evangelism: Reviving The Living Dead – “We must revive a passion for evangelism in order to become living messages of life.”

Seeing Jesus More Clearly and Dearly

Seeing Jesus More Clearly and Dearly – “During the entire season of Advent, may Jesus’ beauty and love take our breath away; then fill our lungs with the oxygen of grace.”

Self-Discipline Is the Gateway to Christian Maturity

Self-Discipline Is the Gateway to Christian Maturity – “Let’s look at exactly what Christian discipline is, why we so desperately need it, and the practical steps we can take to cultivate discipline in our lives.”

Secret Sins Will Harm Others

Secret Sins Will Harm Others – “One of the most treacherous lies we can believe about sin, especially sin we consider private or secret, is that we can keep its consequences to ourselves.”

7 Ways to Kill the Thanksgiving Impulse in Your Life

7 Ways to Kill the Thanksgiving Impulse in Your Life – “How would you design your system in order to crush any impulse of thanksgiving in your heart?”

What About Me Right Now?

What About Me Right Now? – “What do we do when what we feel and see is at odds with the hope of the promises? How do we reconcile the reality of what we see with the promises of what we do not see?”

God’s Will for You in 2020: Be Thankful

God’s Will for You in 2020: Be Thankful – “No matter how challenging and frustrating 2020 has been to us, 2020 cannot take the eternal blessings from us. May we be reminded not to take the eternal God and His blessings for granted.”

When Mothering Feels Boring

When Mothering Feels Boring – “The Lord is at work in the sameness of our days, and because he is the God who is always the same, we have the opportunity to encounter him in our mothering. And he is never boring.”

Beauty Wins, Evil Loses

Beauty Wins, Evil Loses – “Father, may Thanksgiving Day 2020 be an unusually kind, gentle, encouraging, grace-shaped, thanks-filled day. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ wonderful and merciful name.”

So Grateful, So Grateful

So Grateful, So Grateful – “It has been a hard year. And as we prepare for Thanksgiving, we may have to look at smaller things, like potato chips, or higher things, like God’s covenant love for us, before feeling thankful. Look either direction—His grace is everywhere—but look you must.”

7 Ways to Slow Down This Christmas

7 Ways to Slow Down This Christmas – “From now until December 25th, we will be in an all-out race to hit every socially-distanced party and bake every treat and wrap every gift and check off every box.”

Will We Still Thank God? Gratitude in a Year of Grumbling

Will We Still Thank God? Gratitude in a Year of Grumbling – “Thanksgiving comes the same Thursday year after year after year, and yet, for many, this Thanksgiving may feel strangely mistimed, inconvenient, perhaps even inappropriate.”

 

Not Much to Be Thankful For

Not Much to Be Thankful For – “Like a child enamored with a small toy when there is so much to see, many people are caught up in such insignificant trifles. They long for sex and cars and honor and possessions as if these are what life is actually about. Even the best of it all is so temporary and circumstantial.”

Encouragement for Hard Times from Saints of Old

Encouragement for Hard Times from Saints of Old  - “When we listen to heart-warming wisdom from the saintly witnesses of old, we are encouraged to fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

Ten Reasons I Believe in Heaven

Ten Reasons I Believe in Heaven – “There are solid reasons for reasonable people to believe in the concept of a Heavenly home after this earthly life.”

Love is the Mark of a Christian

Love is the Mark of a Christian – “Why is this true, though? What is it about love that sets it apart as one of the chief marks of a Christian?”

Stay Safe?

Stay Safe? – “I would suggest to you that an unmitigated desire for safety is manufactured by the human idol factory–the heart. And always has been.”

9 Things You Should Know About Thanksgiving

9 Things You Should Know About Thanksgiving – “Here are nine things you should know about the holiday (and the attitude) of Thanksgiving.”

One Body, Many Causes: The Vital Diversity of the Church’s Priorities

One Body, Many Causes: The Vital Diversity of the Church’s Priorities – “One important reason God considers each individual member indispensable is because each member is indwelled, animated, and gifted by the Holy Spirit.”

I'm Thankful for the Road to Emmaus

I'm Thankful for the Road to Emmaus – “The Bible is the story of Christ coming to earth to defeat sin and death and to restore a perfect, eternal relationship to the creatures he made in his likeness. Now that’s a reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving!”

Generosity Is the Mark of True Gratitude

Generosity Is the Mark of True Gratitude – “Of course, generosity goes far beyond the bounds of finances. Even more valuable is how we invest our time in building relationships.”

Let’s Stop Stirring the Pot

Let’s Stop Stirring the Pot – “Division and strife will happen from time to time, but we neither want to be in the thick of it nor create it. Stirring the pot may sound funny but, in reality, it only shows immaturity.”

Your Beliefs About Sin Shape Your Evangelism

Your Beliefs About Sin Shape Your Evangelism – “How we engage in this work, and what we think needs to be done, will in large measure be shaped by what we believe the human problem really is.”

Keep Your Heart With All Vigilance

Keep Your Heart With All Vigilance – “The command to keep your heart reminds us of the priority of the inner self. What happens within us is always more important than what happens around us. The attitude of our hearts matters more than the circumstances of our lives. The heart of the matter is always the matter of the heart.”

Don’t Let 2020 Stop Your Thanksgiving

Don’t Let 2020 Stop Your Thanksgiving – “Thankfulness may require special attention, resolve, and purpose in this season, but it is still possible. Even in all of this, I can choose to see what good things God has done.”

A Theology of Thanksgiving

A Theology of Thanksgiving – “Thanksgiving helps us better enjoy the gift because we also see the love and goodness of the Giver behind it. Thankful…to God.”

2020 Has Felt Like Advent All Year

2020 Has Felt Like Advent All Year – “Groaning, aching, and longing pervade the pages of Scripture. These emotions should mark the Christian life not just during Advent, but all year long. Yet many of us—especially Western Christians—don’t resonate with these themes. That is, until something like 2020 comes our way.”

10 Issues the Gospel Solved in the Corinthian Church

10 Issues the Gospel Solved in the Corinthian Church – “Here’s how the gospel solves the 10 main problems Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians.”

The FAQs: What Christians Should Know About Loneliness

The FAQs: What Christians Should Know About Loneliness – “Here is what you should know about loneliness and how you can help this holiday season.”

God Is More Than ‘God’: Why He Loves to Be Called Father

God Is More Than ‘God’: Why He Loves to Be Called Father – “When we say God, we mean Father; when we say Lord, we mean Jesus. The wonders of our salvation and glory are hidden in these two names.”

Christianity Is Not Dull. Just Ask the Angels.

Christianity Is Not Dull. Just Ask the Angels. – “The angels are spectators of God’s great story. Ever since creation, they’ve been watching and marveling.”

Why Would God Allow My Disappointment?

Why Would God Allow My Disappointment? – “The implications of past disappointments can loom heavily over the present, and the possibility of future disappointments sits as a constant threat on the horizon.” 

What Quarantine Rhythms Should Families Make Permanent?

What Quarantine Rhythms Should Families Make Permanent? – “Think back on the last few months. How has God deepened your family’s relationships? What new, healthier spiritual rhythms have sprouted in your household? Going forward, how can you continue cultivating these rhythms?”

Return To Say Thank You

Return To Say Thank You – “How thankfulness brings peace.”

One Step at a Time Leads to Maturity

One Step at a Time Leads to Maturity – “The spiritual growth of a believer isn’t one big leap across the Grand Canyon. It’s a steady journey of one step after another.”

What Does the Church Most Need Today?

What Does the Church Most Need Today? – “What does the church most need today? In answering this important but rather general question, Psalm 81 is uniquely important and helpful. This psalm obviously contains beautiful promises and clear directions to help the people of God.” 

The Doctrines of Race: A Call to Make Christ Central

The Doctrines of Race: A Call to Make Christ Central – “The plain categories of Ephesians 2:1–10 — sin, Christ, grace, faith, doing good for others — are vital to Paul’s treatment of ethnic division and unity in Christ in Ephesians 2:11–22.”

Americans Most Thankful for and to Family This Thanksgiving

Americans Most Thankful for and to Family This Thanksgiving – New LifeWay Research expresses that Americans are as grateful for their loved ones as ever.

How Do I “Count It All Joy”?

How Do I “Count It All Joy”? – “Joy does not arise naturally from us as we suffer the effects of the fall of this life. Why would James exhort the readers of his epistle to ‘count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds’ (James 1:2)?”

8 Ways Trials Help Us

8 Ways Trials Help Us – “Catch us off guard? Yes. Expose fear, anxiety, anger, and self-pity? For sure. Bring sorrow and pain? Absolutely. Trials do a lot of things, but what good do they do?”

How to Give Thanks—and How Not To!

How to Give Thanks—and How Not To! – “So, what is the right way to give thanks? Here are some suggestions.”

A Direct Threat to Christian Education

A Direct Threat to Christian Education—The Human Rights Campaign Demands that the Biden Administration Deny Accreditation to Christian Colleges and Schools.

Stop Praying for Stuff (and Start Praying for God)

Stop Praying for Stuff (and Start Praying for God) – “The model prayer is full of requests—for daily bread, forgiveness, leadership, and deliverance. But it also shows that our greatest need is not just to get stuff from God. Our greatest need is to know God himself.”

Our Weeping Savior

Our Weeping Savior – “We should not downplay the grief we face in this life. This Christmastime, there seems to be more of it going around. Maybe it will feel a little like those Decembers during the Second World War, when families tried to celebrate amid heartbreaking loss and uncertainty.”

Motherhood and Truth

Motherhood and Truth – “Therefore, as Christian mothers, it is crucial that we saturate our minds with the truth of Scripture. In God’s Word, we find our identity, our calling, and our day-to-day bearings.” 

The Problem with Ending Racism

The Problem with Ending Racism – The author makes the case that racism will require more than platitudes. “Why can’t we expect non-Christian movements, even the best of them, to end racism of the heart? Because of the sinfulness of humanity.”

Henry ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia and the Birth of Christian Missions in the Hawaiian Islands

Henry ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia and the Birth of Christian Missions in the Hawaiian Islands – “Henry ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia lived only 26 years and is seldom known outside of Hawaii. And yet, many believe that his love for the gospel changed the course of his islands forever.” 

2020 Will Not Be Wasted

2020 Will Not Be Wasted – “God does not waste experiences.”

Seven Principles of Biblical Interpretation

Seven Principles of Biblical Interpretation – “Interpreting the Bible—hermeneutics—is the science and art of understanding, translating, and explaining the meaning of the Scripture text.”

Are You A Salesperson For Sin?

Are You A Salesperson For Sin? – “Since one of the devil’s principal tricks is to present sin as significantly more harmless than it is, the commitment to name sin as nothing less than evil must stay with us as long as sin remains inside us and outside temptations continue to entice.”

When My Life Fell Apart, I Needed a Bible That Wouldn’t

When My Life Fell Apart, I Needed a Bible That Wouldn’t – “Through all my trials, nothing has had a lasting impact on me like reading the Bible.”

Church is Hard, So Keep Showing Up

Church is Hard, So Keep Showing Up  - “The early church definitely knew something about hard. Between family divisions (Mark 10:29), disputes among church members (1 Cor. 6:5-6), and various forms of persecution and suffering(Acts 8:3, Heb.13:3), the believers of the early church definitely had reason to stop going. But this is exactly why Paul felt called and inspired by the Spirit to write and encourage the early churches in his letters.”

The Surpassing Worth of Knowing Christ

The Surpassing Worth of Knowing Christ – “Most do not understand the implications and ramifications of knowing Christ. It has a comparative value. Notice what one like Paul will forfeit to know Christ.”

Every Parent Is A Sunday School Teacher Now

Every Parent Is A Sunday School Teacher Now – “With Sunday school canceled, it’s time for Christian parents to come good on those vows once affirmed in a baby dedication service—to ‘discipline and instruct’ our children in the ways of the Lord.  In most instances, no Sunday school means that either we parents assume the mantle of primary disciple-makers in the lives of our children or we abdicate our responsibility. But there will be no false middle. Now, every Christian parent in our church is a Sunday school teacher.”

Our Welcome to Heaven: Meeting the Great High Priest in Hebrews

Our Welcome to Heaven: Meeting the Great High Priest in Hebrews – “The epistle to the Hebrews was written to Christians living in a tense time. They had already suffered for their faith (10:32–34), and more suffering seemed likely.”

God Has Been Good

God Has Been Good – I was blessed today by this reflection on calling and God’s presence.

Guerrilla Cultural Warfare

Guerrilla Cultural Warfare – “Increasingly we are finding that Americans – and the rest of us following suit in the West – are isolating ourselves from viewpoints that we view as hostile to our own. We are bunkering down whether in reality or online (which is reality now anyway) with those with whom we agree, and de-legitimising the humanity of the other side by refusing to look it in the eye. No longer breaking bread, but breaking fellowship.”

The FAQs: Are Fetal Cells Being Used in COVID-19 Vaccines and Treatments?

The FAQs: Are Fetal Cells Being Used in COVID-19 Vaccines and Treatments? – Biomedical ethics are complicated. Here is a helpful explanation on this particular topic.

But Have You Prayed?

But Have You Prayed? – “Jesus confronted the threat of prayerlessness in his disciples, and in a way that should land with gravity and hope in the midst of our own trials and burdens.”

 

Working Up a Spiritual Sweat

Working Up a Spiritual Sweat – “We will never get anywhere spiritually without a conscious divestment of the things that are holding us back. What things are weighing you down? The call to discipline demands that you throw it off.”

What Is Jesus Up to in Your Heart?

What Is Jesus Up to in Your Heart? – He’s bringing things you want and things you need.

Angels, Demons, and Spiritual Warfare

Angels, Demons, and Spiritual Warfare – “The devil and his demons are real. There is a war on. We have our part to play, especially by prayer. Even so, God’s people need to keep a sense of proportion.”

10 Things You Should Know about the Sexual Revolution

10 Things You Should Know about the Sexual Revolution – “It is important for Christians to understand that the sexual revolution is not simply about broadening the boundaries of what is acceptable sexual behavior.”

The Politics of Loving Your Neighbor

The Politics of Loving Your Neighbor – “Just as the Great Commandment requires us to actively love our neighbors, the Great Requirement commands us to further the cause of justice.”

Life is Fleeting, God is Forever

Life is Fleeting, God is Forever – “Jesus knows how 2020 feels. He knows we long for relief from this year. He is compassionate toward us in our weakness. But 2021 is not our hope. It cannot save us and it will not satisfy us.”

Lies the Enemy Whispers During Worship

Lies the Enemy Whispers During Worship – “Not long ago, while sitting in church listening to a friend preach, I began a list of the lies Satan whispers to God’s people who gather to worship Him….”

The Incoming

The Incoming – “Standing at my desk this summer, it had just turned 10 am, and I realized that I’d already: Heard from an old friend, engaged with three team members on two continents, read 28 blogs across the spectrum AND found out about the weather and the news around the world. Half my life ago, in a similar morning spent in a similar office, not one of those things would have been true.”

Giving Is the Greatest Wealth

Giving Is the Greatest Wealth – “The kind of wealth God’s economy produces and the kind of wealth the world’s economies produce are very different. 

Keep a Close Watch on Your Tongue (and Thumb)

Keep a Close Watch on Your Tongue (and Thumb) – “God inspired dozens of passages warning against the utter danger of sinful words—slanderous words, angry words, cynical words, sarcastic words, lying words, and much more. Consider the relationships fractured, lives ruined, and wars started by the mere use of words.”

8 Ways We Can Pursue Peace

8 Ways We Can Pursue Peace – “In Colossians 3:5–11 Paul describes the evil we must put off. Verses 12–14 set forth the eight attitudes we are to put on.”

If God Did It, It Must Be Good. Right?

If God Did It, It Must Be Good. Right? – “While God’s sovereignty offers comfort, it offers comfort only if we know something of his character.”

Conflict Grabs Attention, But We Need To Bring Grace Instead

Conflict Grabs Attention, But We Need To Bring Grace Instead – “If we’re not careful, social media can turn our natural desire for attention and approval into an environment where we seek those by being controversial, making extreme statements, stirring up anger, or the ‘playing to our base’ at an individual level.”

There’s No “Too Soon” This Year

There’s No “Too Soon” This Year – Lord Jesus, it’s just November 14th, but Christmas music is filling my heart, and our lights on our Christmas tree are making me smile. Personally, I don’t think there’s a “too soon” this year.

Your Church Is Your Family

Your Church Is Your Family – “In biblical terms, the people in the pews around us are our family. Like the members of our biological family, we haven’t chosen them for ourselves, but they have been chosen for us, and we are therefore inseparably bound to them. Because we belong to Christ, we belong to his family.”

Every Woman Needs Another: A Call to Spiritual Motherhood

Every Woman Needs Another: A Call to Spiritual Motherhood – “When Paul refers to these exemplary older women in the church, he does not mention their giftings or charisma; he highlights their character. He does not mention a specific age or threshold; he emphasizes their spiritual maturity.”

Our Only Hope In Life and Death

Our Only Hope In Life and Death – “What’s the condition of your heart today? If it’s like mine, it’s torn between wants and needs, amidst emotions entirely scattered, like the LEGO pieces across my floor.”

No Holiness, No Heaven: How to Know If Faith Is Real or Dead

No Holiness, No Heaven: How to Know If Faith Is Real or Dead – “No one in heaven will be there on the basis of his good works, and no one will be in heaven who did not walk in good works on earth. So, we press onward in holiness toward our heavenly home because Jesus has already made us his own.”

For Worse or Better: Moving Beyond Broken Dreams in Marriage

For Worse or Better: Moving Beyond Broken Dreams in Marriage – “What do you do when marriage begins to feel accidental — like an error that slipped past God’s all-seeing gaze? How can a couple be content and confident when marriage turns out to be so much less than they desired?”

Don’t Overthink Evangelism

Don’t Overthink Evangelism – “Don’t overthink it. Just get to the gospel.”

When God Gives Wisdom

When God Gives Wisdom – “God says compare wisdom with anything else you can get, and wisdom is better because wisdom helps us know what to do with what we get. “

Abiding in Prayer

Abiding in Prayer – “As Christian women, it is quite natural that questions arise in our hearts and minds concerning our prayer life. Like the disciples, we want to ask Jesus ‘teach me to pray.’ We wonder what ‘pray without ceasing’ could look like, whether we are honoring God, and whether we should find some new method.”

The Ninth Commandment and the God of Truth

The Ninth Commandment and the God of Truth – “While the text of the ninth commandment specifically says only that we are not to bear false witness, it conveys the overall importance that God places on truth.”

It’s Always Morning Somewhere

It’s Always Morning Somewhere – “God said that His mercies are new every morning, washing over our world. In a burst of wonder or a quiet knowing they come, a daily gift of hope. A fresh provision of grace to a desperate world.”

Parenting Is Gardening

Parenting Is Gardening – “Are we remaining open to the idea that parenting is to produce a harvest of righteousness in ourselves, too?”

How Anxiety Has Grown My Faith

How Anxiety Has Grown My Faith – “God is not the author of anxiety, but he is sovereign over it.”

4 Principles for the Exercise of Christian Liberty

4 Principles for the Exercise of Christian Liberty – “There is something devastatingly simple about this. It reduces the issue to the basic questions of love for the Lord Jesus Christ and a desire to imitate Him since His Spirit indwells us to make us more like Him.”

God’s Glory and the Theater of Social Media

God’s Glory and the Theater of Social Media – “Social media is a great tool to see what God is doing through people and in people all over the world. Social media is not the problem; it’s how we use it.”

The Good American: What Samaria Says About Racial Hostility

The Good American: What Samaria Says About Racial Hostility – “Luke in particular, it seems, wanted us to see the enduring power of the gospel to reconcile hostile peoples. He wanted us to believe that, despite how futile and frustrating the pursuit of racial harmony in diversity may feel at times, God really can do for us what he did for them.”

The Oil of Sacrifice

The Oil of Sacrifice – “Who are the people I am investing my time in and giving my attention to for the glory of God? What are things that are always there, that I can seek out anytime, and who are the people that I may only have been entrusted with for a short time that need the oil of my sacrifice the most?”

When You Say Nothing at All

When You Say Nothing at All – “Brothers and sisters, it’s OK to have an unarticulated thought. It’s OK to go about our lives in quiet worship and obedience. It’s OK to do your homework, read your Bible, raise your kids, and make your private thoughts prayers instead of posts.”

Learning to Wait Well

Learning to Wait Well – In Psalm 40, David provides a great lesson in the art of waiting.

The Way Out is Through

The Way Out is Through – “The whole world is suffering together, you would think we would be unified by the the common thread that has destabilized us all. You would expect us to pull together, pool our resources, put our differences aside. But we are not in a Disney movie. It is unsettling but true that when pressures increase so do conflicts.”

What Makes Us Want to Move and Travel?

What Makes Us Want to Move and Travel? – “There is a difference between confident movement in faith and the craving movement of frustration.”

9 Things You Should Know About President-Elect Joe Biden

9 Things You Should Know About President-Elect Joe Biden – “Here is what you should know about the man who will be the 46th president of the United States.”

What to Do When God Seems Far Away

What to Do When God Seems Far Away – “What should we do on days—or even months or years—when the Lord seems distant? No, there isn’t a magic-bullet formula. But when God feels more like a concept than a reality, there are at least three ways to cultivate a sense of his nearness.”

Peace-Making, Strife-Avoiding, Jesus-Trusting

Peace-Making, Strife-Avoiding, Jesus-Trusting – “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Matt. 5:9

6 Members Who Build Up the Church

6 Members Who Build Up the Church – The pastor who wrote this article serves in Zambia. The church is the same across the world.

Eternities in Little Moments: What Gives Motherhood Its Glory

Eternities in Little Moments: What Gives Motherhood Its Glory – “As we stumble through seemingly mundane days, God has a word for mothers who question the eternity-shaping ministry he has given.”

Is Alex Trebek in Heaven?

Is Alex Trebek in Heaven? – “The question and urgency of eternity.”

Misunderstanding the Church

Misunderstanding the Church – “Whether we have tolerated our new restrictions with heavy hearted patience, or now feel a resistance to them in their concept and execution, what has clearly emerged is that government and society don’t merely undervalue the work of the local church, but that they fundamentally don’t understand it.”

Evangelism Is Much Easier Than You Think

Evangelism Is Much Easier Than You Think – “We must live out the gospel by who we are and what we do. But we must not assume that by seeing what I do, they’re going to catch on.”

Jesus as Tabernacle

Jesus as Tabernacle – “Because of the advent of Jesus, a significant shift took place in the idea of sacred space and communication with God. The importance of the former sacred places faded, and the focus moved to the person of Jesus himself.”

Hope Is Better Than Nostalgia

Hope Is Better Than Nostalgia – “Through his providential care and word, the Lord teaches us to avoid both extremes of an overly optimistic and overly pessimistic view of our past.” 

What Do We Owe A President?

What Do We Owe A President? – “At the end of a bitterly fought election season, it is good for us Christians to consider what we owe a president. At the very least, we owe our president a commitment to pray for him.”

No Blank Slate Christianity

No Blank Slate Christianity – “One of the saddest phenomena in the evangelical church is the generations-long subscription among many to a kind of half-gospel.”

Nobody Like Him

Nobody Like Him – “‘I have no one like him,’ Paul writes about Timothy. Immediately I’m curious. What set Timothy apart? Left to guess, I’d probably imagine that he was unusually gifted or had personal charisma.”

How Can I Show Neighborly Love at Work?

How Can I Show Neighborly Love at Work? – “Even the busiest offices can convey an astounding amount of God’s peace as his people love their neighbors well. In chaos or what feels like darkness, he can provide both order and light through you.”

Peace the World Cannot Achieve: Why Reconciliation Begins in the Church

Peace the World Cannot Achieve: Why Reconciliation Begins in the Church – “There may not be a more illustrative set of words used to communicate the sum and substance of the gospel than reconciliation and reconcile.”

How to Enjoy Wealth to the Glory of God

How to Enjoy Wealth to the Glory of God – “Wealth is good, and wealth is dangerous. So says the Bible. But how do we use our wealth to glorify God?

Jumpstarting Thanksgiving Day

Jumpstarting Thanksgiving Day – “Thank you for granting us 100% forgiveness, declaring us righteous in Christ, and hiding our lives in Jesus. We can’t increase, nor diminish, your love for us. That’s the best news ever, and rocket fuel for our gratitude.”

The Bereans Had No Bibles

The Bereans Had No Bibles – “There are three fundamental truths that I think can helps us form a more accurate conception of what it means to be a Berean and which can give us some insight into how theology was taught in the early church.”

The 3 Screens in Your Life

The 3 Screens in Your Life – “We’re all hoping the coronavirus pandemic ends soon, but when it does, we’ll face a deeper wound in modern society: the epidemic of loneliness.”

Blessed Are the Unoffendable

Blessed Are the Unoffendable – “When we are offended, we believe ourselves to have the moral high ground; therefore, we feel justified in making the one who has offended us a villain.”

Christians, Let’s Pray for President-Elect Joe Biden

Christians, Let’s Pray for President-Elect Joe Biden – “No matter how you voted, now is the time to pray for the country and for our newly elected leaders in both the White House and the Congress.”

Singing, Suffering, and Scripture

Singing, Suffering, and Scripture – “How, then, do the Scriptures present the relationship between such singing and our suffering? I’ll draw out three ways that I think give us good guidance and help us grasp the relationship between singing and suffering.”

I Have Fought the Good Fight: How Assurance Changes Everything

I Have Fought the Good Fight: How Assurance Changes Everything – “Paul’s blessed assurance came with three glances: the glance downward, the glance backward, and the glance forward.”

Healing for Our World, Nation, and Selves

Healing for Our World, Nation, and Selves – “By your Holy Spirit, help us crave a revival in our world, nation, and hearts; more than we treasure a status-quo life of personal peace and affluence.”

Seven Truths for Election Week

Seven Truths for Election Week –Rick Warren shares his recommendations for this post-election Sunday.

A Weekend for Kindness and Refreshing One Another

A Weekend for Kindness and Refreshing One Another – “Lord Jesus, we’re not made to navigate even the normal storms of life alone; or carry our burdens and heal our heartaches all by ourselves. We need each other.”

Coffee Cup Christianity

Coffee Cup Christianity – This article challenges us to read scripture in context. Often, Bible verses that end up on coffee cups and wall hangings don’t mean what we think they mean.

Don’t Fall For It

Don’t Fall For It – “Satan would happily keep you obsessing over his existence or dismissing him altogether. But don’t fall for it! Don’t be ignorant of the spiritual battle—or afraid.” 

Blessed Are the Unoffendable

Blessed Are the Unoffendable – “When we are offended, we believe ourselves to have the moral high ground; therefore, we feel justified in making the one who has offended us a villain.”

A Better Way to Find Happiness

A Better Way to Find Happiness – “The Bible’s wisdom, however counterintuitive it may seem to us, lays out a path that intends to lead us to everlasting happiness. The Bible is after your joy, not averse to it.”

Fear the One Who Is Greater

Fear the One Who Is Greater – “When God tells us not to fear, he’s not saying we just need to believe more. He’s not saying we just need faith that everything will be OK, and it magically will. Instead, he gives us another command prevalent in Scripture: a command to fear. He calls us to a greater fear, a holy fear—the fear of the Lord.”

2020 Proves We Don’t Need More Information. (We Need Something Else.)

2020 Proves We Don’t Need More Information. (We Need Something Else.) – “The irony of the information age is that the more access we have to an unfathomable amount of information and accumulated knowledge, the less wise we seem to become.”

Am I Completely Surrendered to Christ?

Am I Completely Surrendered to Christ? – The honest answer for all of us is “no” but here are some ideas for leaning more fully in the direction of surrender to Christ.

The Communion of the (Suffering) Saints

The Communion of the (Suffering) Saints – “What are we to do when suffering upends our world? How do we endure when we feel isolated from those around us (including the church) and even a stranger to ourselves? If God is truly good and sovereign, why does he allow his children to suffer when he has the power to change or prevent it? Could there possibly be more to our suffering than meets the eye?”

 

Heart-Setting for the Days Ahead

Heart-Setting for the Days Ahead – “In the last days, people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” 2 Tim. 3:1-4

Answering Kids’ Hard Questions During Uncertain Times

Answering Kids’ Hard Questions During Uncertain Times – “In the days we are now in, our children are overhearing conversations containing deeply divided opinions about the pandemic and politics. Naturally they will have questions.”

The FAQs: What You Should Know About 2020 Ballot Initiatives

The FAQs: What You Should Know About 2020 Ballot Initiatives – “While the nation was focused primarily on the presidential election, several states were voting on initiatives that will have significant ramifications on society. Here is what you should know about the ballot initiatives concerning abortion, criminal justice reform, drugs, gambling, and more.”

What’s Next for Christians in an Election That Won’t End?

What’s Next for Christians in an Election That Won’t End? – “The divisions in the country are real, and aren’t going away, regardless of who is ultimately certified as the electoral winner this year. Narrative closure is not what this election could, or should have been expected to do.”

Observing the Presidential Race and Exhorting the Church

Observing the Presidential Race and Exhorting the Church – “Church, while our hands may be engaged in American politics, let our eyes be focused on Jesus—the true author and perfecter of our faith—who is in the process of making all things new.”

What Does Romans 13 Mean When We Don’t Know Who Won?

What Does Romans 13 Mean When We Don’t Know Who Won? – “Romans 13 doesn’t mandate a pledge of allegiance to any leader—except Jesus—in everything. But it does mean that we, unlike maybe those around us, cannot see the government as either ultimate or irrelevant.”

The Longing for Peaceful and Quiet Lives

The Longing for Peaceful and Quiet Lives – “Lord Jesus, as I begin this day and prayer, it’s still uncertain who will occupy the Oval Office in the White House the next term. What is certain is that you are ruling the world with your truth and grace. That’s where we anchor our peace and hope, and center our hearts.”

Lord, Give Us Discerning Love: A Prayer for Divisive Days

Lord, Give Us Discerning Love: A Prayer for Divisive Days – “The last year has revealed much about us, for good and for bad. Trials expose us, confront us, and purify us, and God has given us trials of various kinds. Who knows what the next months or weeks — or even hours — may bring?”

How Can I Grow in Obeying God?

How Can I Grow in Obeying God? – “Focus on Christ, know Christ, delight in Christ, meditate on Christ; get the whole Christ before you.”

4 Tools for the Church in Divisive Days

4 Tools for the Church in Divisive Days – “We don’t yet know what 2021 will bring, but chances are there will be a new array of things to divide us. How can Christians live wisely in divisive times?”

What Makes Hell Hell?

What Makes Hell Hell? – “It is perhaps the most uncomfortable aspect of Christian theology to talk about, but if we have any tenderness in our hearts, it should make us passionate communicators.”

An Occupied Throne and Our Much-Grace-Needed Calling

An Occupied Throne and Our Much-Grace-Needed Calling – “Father, as votes are cast and counted in America today, give us all the grace we will need to love, obey, and trust you.” 

Sin Is Expensive. Here Are 6 Costs.

Sin Is Expensive. Here Are 6 Costs. – “We never sin for free. There is always a cost. And counting that cost can make us less willing to follow our tempted hearts into spiritual danger.”

We Will Not Rage

We Will Not Rage – “The Sons of Korah remind us of four truths to help us experience deep spiritual renewal amid any turbulence.”

How the Pandemic Opens Doors for Evangelism

How the Pandemic Opens Doors for Evangelism – “We don’t like who we became in 2020. But in Jesus we can find true power, true freedom, and true peace. The pandemic has revealed multiple emotional entry-points to the better story of Jesus. It’s time to leverage them.”

Choose the Good Portion: One Necessity in a World of Many

Choose the Good Portion: One Necessity in a World of Many – “In our lives so full, so bombarded, so distracted with so many things, remember the singular focus of David, Paul, and Jesus himself. Choose the good portion, who will not be taken away from you.”

Breathe in the Happiness of Heaven

Breathe in the Happiness of Heaven – “I never considered what I gave up to follow Christ as sacrifices — mainly because they hadn’t brought me happiness. Jesus now meant everything to me. I wasn’t trying to be happy; I simply was happy.”

We’re Electing a President, not a Savior and Sovereign

We’re Electing a President, not a Savior and Sovereign – “Because you are in control, we shouldn’t be in knots. Worship, not worry, is the order of the day. You know what will best serve the purposes of the Great Commission in the USA; and in Uganda, the Sudan, Switzerland, Israel, Russia, and China. You will be (not, might be) exalted among the nations—all of them.”

Things That Will Still Be True After Election Day

Things That Will Still Be True After Election Day – “Vitriol and mud-slinging are not new to politics, but the last two presidential elections have been the worst in my memory. Emotions and tension are high on both sides. But no matter what the outcome is on Tuesday, several things will still be true.”

4 Questions Before Election Day

4 Questions Before Election Day – “Let me suggest four diagnostic questions that might reveal a slide toward trusting in princes (or presidents).”

King over Chaos: The Lordship of Christ on Election Day

King over Chaos: The Lordship of Christ on Election Day – “Let’s draw out two pairs of implications from the fact that Jesus is ascended, reigning, and returning.”

3 Ways to Be a Christian on Election Day

3 Ways to Be a Christian on Election Day – “Here are three ways I’d suggest we can wisely engage in our political process without losing perspective on what matters more than who wins or loses.”

We Disagree Over How To Help People, Not Whether To Help Them

We Disagree Over How To Help People, Not Whether To Help Them – “It’s hard to know the best way to help people in need.”

Appointed to This

Appointed to This – “None of the things happening in the world which surprise and startle me, surprise or startle God.”

7 Reasons Not to View Other Churches as Competition

7 Reasons Not to View Other Churches as Competition – I thank the Lord today for our ministry partners in our field of service.

When You’re Tired of the Battle, Persevere in Prayer

When You’re Tired of the Battle, Persevere in Prayer –  “Everyone has a battle to face, and there will be times when you get tired of yours. The obvious question is, ‘How can I get more perseverance?'”

Daylight Savings and Spiritual Disciplines

Daylight Savings and Spiritual Disciplines – When is the best time to restart or upgrade your spiritual disciplines like Bible engagement and prayer? How about today?

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Revisiting the Prophetic Work of Neil Postman

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Revisiting the Prophetic Work of Neil Postman – “Thirty-five years ago, New York University professor of communications Neil Postman predicted the political and social implosion we have witnessed in 2020. We must learn to dominate digital media technology, lest it dominate us. Otherwise, we may very well amuse ourselves, and our polis, to death.”

Only His Heart Can Heal Yours

Only His Heart Can Heal Yours – “God’s love does not dismiss but rather overcomes the real pain we feel, the real scars we bear.”