Faith (Page 20)
Using Questions With Evangelism
You may think that having an inventory of “salvation verses” memorized such as those that comprise the famous “Romans Road,” along with a gutsy attitude, to be your main tactic in spreading the Gospel to the unreached. That is excellent, but I also think that asking questions during evangelism is one of the most powerful and effective approaches you can take. You may not initially think of our Lord Jesus Christ being an evangelist, but He was. Luke 4:43 reads,”But…
Embrace Your Struggles
Have you ever been in the midst of the most depressing, exhausting, unrelenting season of your life, and it never seems to end? Did you ever go through death, joblessness, sickness, financial difficulties, divorce, heartache, or several other issues that can change the course of your life? Well, who hasn’t? If you find yourself in that situation, I advise you to think differently…Don’t give up, brothers and sisters. Keep pressing on. Why? Because the tough times teach us about life.…
10 Things That Block Prayer From Being Answered
Without prayer, our life in Christ is nothing. The Apostle Paul instructs us, “…but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6b). Prayer is simply communicating with God, most often by verbally speaking out requests and petitions, giving Him thanksgiving and worship, and coming to Him with confession of sin. We should pray often; and in fact, more than that: “pray without ceasing,” according to 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Are there times when…
How My Wife and I Pray and Study the Bible Together
One of the most imperative things you can do with your spouse (this could also apply to a long-term boyfriend/girlfriend or fiancée/fiancé) is spending regular, quality “God time” with him or her. Doing so will strengthen and deepen your faith, and draw you closer to each other as you draw nearer to God. What does this entail, you might ask? It can include a certain amount of Bible reading, discussion and reflection, and praying together. I’ve decided to “peel back the…
Don’t Water Down Your Christianity – Go All-In For Christ!
“Being a Christian isn’t for sissies. It takes a real man to live for God – a lot more man than to live for the devil, you know?” – Johnny Cash From seeker churches and wishy-washy, vague “half messages” to showing “tolerance” to sins in the guise of “love” and slowly integrating worldly philosophies, Biblical Christianity is under the threat of the plague of lukewarmness. Let’s admit it: all the riches and conveniences of modern life have spoiled us. We…
Guess What? Prayer and the Christian Life Isn’t Always About You
Regular, constant prayer is an absolutely essential and indispensable part of the Christian life (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Philippians 4:6). Without it, a follower of Jesus will rapidly grow cold and stagnant and have no continuously, deepening relationship with God. Unfortunately, even with a daily habit of prayer, we sometimes only focus on a laundry list on items that we want God to do for us. Yes, we can pray for people who are mostly in our personal circles. But you have…
What the “Sin Excusers” Always Ignore About Jesus
As Christians, we are truly blessed beyond comprehension that God the Father has made a way for us to be forgiven of all of our wrongdoings, thereby allowing us to come into His holy presence because of the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 3:23 declares, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and that means that me, you, and everyone else on the face of the planet have sinned. Yep, you heard that right…EVERYONE…
You Must Unlearn What You Have Learned
Don’t drag your pre-existing philosophies and politics into Christianity. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a conservative, politically speaking. Okay, technically, that’s not 100% true. There was a large portion of my childhood where I was clearly apolitical. It wasn’t really until my early teens that I knew I was a mild-to-moderate fan of President Ronald Reagan. The period from the rest of my teenage years through all of my twenties is when I really developed politically.…
Dream Personal Training
Can you imagine having personal training sessions with one of the world’s leading authorities? Let’s say you were a teenage swimmer, with lofty goals to one day become an Olympic contender. You have genetics, talent, and pure drive, yet…you need something more to rocket you ahead of the competition. What if by the best fortune you’ve ever been given, you were able to pull in the services of none other than Michael Phelps – who by many measurements is the…
Anti-Christian Meme-Busting: The Exodus
Memes are stupid. Memes are dangerous. As fun and often humorous as these passed-around images on the internet can sometimes be, memes are one of the multitude of things that are causing society to become more divisive and decay faster into an unrecognizable mass of dung. Why? Well, for starters, hardly anybody fact-checks memes, pics, or screenshots of comments or tweets that are shared around social media quicker than the flu at an elementary school assembly (they truly are “viral”).…
1 John – The “This Is” Letter
John the Apostle’s First Epistle is a highly fertile and, in my opinion, a very underutilized letter in the New Testament. You can read it verse-by-verse and plumb its spiritual depths for weeks, with bold statements and profound teachings on lightness and darkness, sin, love, and what it means to be in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Upon digging through 1 John, it’s easy to pick up on John’s writing style in his Spirit-inspired work; John employs dozens of…
Don’t Let H.A.L.T. Make You Weak
The psychological and counseling fields have a dizzying array of phrases and terms which are commonly employed by its practitioners. While I often try to keep a distance from a lot of preposterous psychobabble, I will attempt to make note of any with substantiality or validity (hey, I’m no professional, but I can often tell when something stinks and when something doesn’t). One such concept that’s bandied about, especially in recovery circles, are four major conditions into which people can…
How Much Should We Revere God’s Word, and Should Bible Pages Be Marked Up?
When I was a teenager, I was taught by my mom to revere the Bible. It was good that she instilled in me a healthy respect for Holy Scripture, as it is indeed the inspired Word of God. Here is 2 Timothy 3:16-17, which I often quote: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good…
Book Review – Good Faith: Being a Christian When Society Thinks You’re Irrelevant and Extreme by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons
David Kinnaman (left) and Gabe Lyons Good Faith: Being a Christian When Society Thinks You’re Irrelevant and Extreme Written by: David Kinnaman, Gabe Lyons Let’s face a sobering fact: We as followers of Jesus now dwell in a post-Christian world. In Western society, we are no longer the majority, therefore when it comes to related sociological constructs such as marriage, sex, politics, and morality in general, Christians – especially those of us in America – are losing the influence we…
Don’t Believe in Yourself…Seriously!
Quite possibly the single greatest problem that has ever plagued mankind is the sin of pride. The iniquity of taking our focus off of God and applying it to ourselves in the guise of self-love and self-reliance is something that goes literally back to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan’s lie that by doubting God and going our own way, Eve could “be like God’ (Genesis 3:5). As a result of this very act, God’s…
How to Memorize the Bible
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 If you are in any way a follower of Jesus Christ, digging into Scripture is an absolute must for essential Christian living, and for getting closer to God. The Bible is crammed full of various reasons and commands to study and adhere to God’s…
Book Review – Wounded in the Church by Chris Hayward and Ray Beeson
We’ve all heard sorrowful tales of how certain Christian leaders and congregation members practice hypocrisy, psychological manipulation, shaming, criticism and rejection towards newer church goers. This feeling of hurt, dejection and betrayal of the most often heard reasons why people leave the church and shun organized religion. “Wounded in the Church: Hope Beyond the Pain,” by Chris Hayward and Ray Beeson, was written to address these issues. The book is rooted in Biblical truth and the Gospel, and authors Beeson…
The Yellow Light – Are We As Christians Too Much Like This World?
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2 Although the practice of email forwarding is waning because of the proliferation of sharing on social media instead, I still get a decent number various messages, jokes, sayings and pics fulling up my inbox. Oh, I do have to quickly mention that…
Darth Vader in Church?
Some churches are adding movie and TV quotes, references, and even showing video snippets from these assorted media to draw in the “seekers.” Not too long ago, there was something that made me raise my eyebrows. I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and came upon a sponsored post advertising a grand opening for a new church here in Missouri. Instead of a typical marketing thrust featuring concepts and ideas surrounding Christ, the cross, God’s love, or being family-friendly, this church…
One of the Best Things You’ll Read All Week: Wrestling with God
I typically wouldn’t put up a direct “repost” of other blog articles, but here is something that I found today that is extremely powerful. Dena Johnson penned a great piece for iBelieve.com titled, “How Wrestling with God Will Change You Forever.” People, this Biblical message will open your eyes and transform you like few things have! It’s based on the wrestling match that Jacob had in Genesis 32. Instead of me summarizing it, I just implore you to just visit the link right now…