The Great Deception

The Great Deception – “No more of: I do it, but rather: God, You do it.”

It Starts With Surrender

It Starts With Surrender – “God doesn’t seek gifted vessels; he seeks surrendered ones.”

A Declaration of Dependence

A Declaration of Dependence – “I am incredibly grateful for and deeply benefit from the Declaration of Independence penned by Thomas Jefferson; however, my soul needs to be stamped with deeper declaration daily: a declaration of dependence.”

Why Dead Men Must Die

Why Dead Men Must Die – “When we believe in Christ, God counts his death to be our death.”

Stuck Between the World and God: How I Almost Died in Indecision

Stuck Between the World and God: How I Almost Died in Indecision – “How long, professing Christian, will you too live halfhearted, half-bowed? How much longer will you persist with half-waking commitments to Christ?”

New Year’s Habits: Project Self or Conformity to Christ?

New Year’s Habits: Project Self or Conformity to Christ? – “Prayer, Bible reading, intermittent fasting, exercise, sabbath rest—these are wonderfully healthy practices. However, I’m noticing many people taking up these habits as tools for what we might call ‘Project Self.’”

 

I Must Die

I Must Die – “Death is an enemy, no doubt. It’s seeks to undo everything God intended. Yet, the work of dying to self is a sanctifying work, a work that removes, slowly overtime, what is unlovely in our character and replaces it with true life, light, and love.”

A Heart That Is Free, A Step That Is Light

A Heart That Is Free, A Step That Is Light – “In the great march that is the Christian life, the passing of the years ought to be marked by what has been laid aside, by what has been taken off and tossed away.”

More of Jesus: ‘Maximalist Christianity’ for a New Year

More of Jesus: ‘Maximalist Christianity’ for a New Year – “Mature, healthy Christianity is maximalist, not minimalist. Those who are born again long for more of Jesus, not less. They’re not occupied with meeting bare minimums but want to see more, know more, enjoy more of Jesus, and then believe more, hope more, and love more, to his honor.”

The Fearlessness of Christmas Joy

The Fearlessness of Christmas Joy – “How does the Lordship of this newborn baby boy make possible the fearlessness and greatness of your joy this Christmas and in the coming year?”

The fundamental mark of the Christian

The fundamental mark of the Christian – “There is a distinction between a Christian and a non-Christian.”

Living The Vows

Living The Vows – “Despite our spiritual language and religious endeavors, the raw truth is that this God-thing is often all about us.”

Death Leads to the Good Life

Death Leads to the Good Life – “It is one of the foundational paradoxes of grace. You cannot understand God’s work of redemption if you don’t pursue this theological paradox: Death leads to life.”

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.

Who Gets To Rule Our Hearts This Week?

Who Gets To Rule Our Hearts This Week? – Choose well!

The Curse of the Wearwolf

The Curse of the Wearwolf – “We can be conformed to this world in many ways. Even those who self-consciously reject worldly philosophies can sometimes slip into a more subtle, and therefore less noticeable, kind of conformity.”

Give God Your Whole Heart

Give God Your Whole Heart – “When God exposes misplaced allegiances in our hearts, he’s not doing it to embarrass us.  He’s doing it because he wants our whole hearts. So he lovingly exposes the false gods to which we turn.”

I’m Afraid of Surrendering to Christ — What Can I Do?

I’m Afraid of Surrendering to Christ — What Can I Do? – “There is truth, and there is a lie. There is deception, and there is liberation. The lie, the deception, is that if you give yourself up wholly to God for him to do whatever he pleases to make you holy, God-glorifying, and fruitful, you will be joyless, miserable. That’s the lie.”

When I Don’t Like God's Answer

When I Don’t Like God's Answer – “God is God and I am not. He understands all things and I do not. He formed all things for my good and His glory, and I did not.”

God Doesn’t Want a Venmo Relationship With You

God Doesn’t Want a Venmo Relationship With You – “Most of us, however, prefer the “gift card” approach to God. With a gift card, you know exactly what you are on the hook for. When it’s used up, that’s not your problem.”