THE BLOG
Category
Topic
- Anxiety 2
- Beauty 1
- Bible 4
- Blessings 1
- Body of Christ 1
- Burden 1
- CEO 1
- Christian Living 91
- Christlikeness 6
- Christmas 9
- Commandments 1
- Community 1
- Conflict 1
- Cults 1
- Culture 1
- DDM 1
- Death 1
- Discipleship 3
- Emotions 4
- Eternity 2
- Evangelism 6
- Faith 2
- Forgive 2
- Freedom 1
- Fusion 1
- Gather 1
- God 1
- Gospel 2
- Gratitude 1
- Hebrews 11 1
- Holiness 1
- Holy Spirit 1
- Homosexuality 1
- Humility 1
- Israel 2
- Jesus 5
- Joy 2
- King of Glory 1
- Lying 1
- Missions 1
- Outreach 1
- Pastor Jeff 1
- Perspective 2
- Prayer 7
- Psalm 119 3
- Reading 1
- Salvation 13
- Sanctification 1
- Satan 1
- Scripture 2
Staying Centered
It is so easy to get sidetracked and forget what really matters in life. Our time and lives are full of activities, responsibilities, schedules, and the plethora of endless information that can distract and overwhelm us from staying centered on what keeps us centered. The gospel of Jesus Christ keeps us centered. It is the good news about the Person and work of Jesus Christ on our behalf and how it transforms every aspect of our life.
The Voice of Faith
"By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks" (Hebrews 11:4). The verb “speaks” is a present tense, active voice form. It suggests that Abel’s influence and the lessons we can learn from him have been relevant down through the centuries—even to our own day.
6 Things Everyday
I read a summary excerpt by Justin Taylor about J.I. Packer’s renowned chapter on adoption in his classic book, Knowing God. This is a book I read in high school that significantly opened my eyes to understanding the God I was learning to serve, love, and worship. I can’t recommend it enough as one of those classics that all believers should consider reading.
Whose Fool Are You?
I am not aware of anyone normal who is amenable to being called a “fool” or “foolish.” Those words are offensive and pejorative terms that can easily trigger outrage and strife. But truthfully and sadly, all of us have acted like fools and displayed foolishness as sinners who needed and still need God’s saving wisdom in our lives.
Feeling Inadequate?
Remember this life-enriching truth: “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant” (2 Corinthians. 3:5–6a).
What If We Disagree?
I read an excellent article the other day, Your Conscience on a Spectrum (and a Flowchart) by Bobby Jamieson. He shares some important truths about how we handle believers with differing convictions. He provides a helpful flowchart he calls “How Not to Judge” as a visual that helps us think through how we can resolve disagreements with other brothers and sisters about sin and personal convictions.
Is Grace That Amazing?
The word “amazing” is an adjective that we use to describe something we think is astonishing, astounding, eye-opening, jaw-dropping, stunning, or stupefying. The problem in our day and age is the effect of the law of diminishing returns…nothing really amazes us. We have been so over-exposed by instant access to everything “spectacular” that we shrug off the truly amazing as ordinary and commonplace.
No Downside to Gratitude
It turns out that being thankful can have many positive health effects: more intimate and connected relationships, less depression, diminished likelihood of developing post-traumatic stress disorder, more motivation and engagement, better sleep, and overall mental well-being. So says Dr. Gail Saltz, psychoanalyst and assistant attending physician at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Medical Center and clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine.
