Today, we have the opportunity to take in the Bible in many ways. We can read it in daily devotionals, listen to an audio reading on our commutes to work, tape verses to our bathroom mirrors, take detailed notes during sermons, and scroll through inspirational pictures and verses on Instagram. Yet even with the Bible—God’s […]
LIMITLESS LOVE
When talking about spiritual gifts, people are often quick to think about special abilities that the Holy Spirit provides. This can include controversial gifts like tongues, interpretation of tongues, healings, and prophecy or can include leadership, preaching, and administration. All of these are listed as spiritual gifts in the New Testament, so this comes as […]
SPIRIT EMPOWERED COMMUNICATION WITH GOD
Perhaps the most controversial of the spiritual gifts listed in the New Testament is the “gift of tongues.” People seem to either insist that everyone should speak in tongues or that no one should speak in tongues! My friend Matt jokingly told me that the only time he prayed for the gift of tongues was […]
A FORK IN THE ROAD
Conviction and condemnation are distant cousins. I wouldn’t call them siblings, but they do belong in the same family. They both have to do with the way we deal with our mistakes or, as the Bible puts it, our sin. They are universal feelings, yet they don’t always stem from universal actions. Some may feel […]
THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS
When a person becomes a Christian, they are told about the grace of Jesus, the love of God, and the “fellowship of the Holy Spirit”; God the father and Jesus Christ the son are familiar and have lots of dialogue in the Bible, but the Holy Spirit is pretty quiet and often overlooked. So what […]
FEAR THE LORD?
Fear is not a feeling that most of us enjoy. We avoid the uncertainty, vulnerability, and powerlessness that often make up that emotion. Fear of an opponent can become a mental barrier that keeps us from winning, and fear of failure can keep us from reaching our potential and pursuing our dreams. Fear can get […]
WHAT DOES DISCIPLESHIP MEAN?
When I became a Christian, I didn’t know what discipleship was, and in all honesty, years after giving my heart to the Lord, I still didn’t. After five years as a follower of Jesus, the senior pastor of my church took me under his wing. He was an example of a mature Christian in my […]
THE ART OF SUFFERING
Over the past several years I’ve started learning from the wisdom of people who have suffered and weathered some of the roughest storms of life. These people come from backgrounds different from my own. This wisdom has brought new sets of questions for me about the nature of pain and suffering and the place of […]
Choosing Wisely
I was 15 minutes early for my hair appointment and had some time to kill when a handsome mall salesman lured me over to his kiosk with the promise of a free gift. I instinctively reached for the little packet he waved in front of my face, prepared to snatch it and dart away. But […]
When Life Throws You Off Track
In high school, I missed sixty days in one semester because of illness. Previously an ‘A’ student, I was flunking out of high school and was threatened with repeating my junior year. I was transferred to an independent study program where I graduated with a class of four other people: a teen mom, a […]