One of the most important roles that the Holy Spirit has in the life of a Christian is related to God’s mission. God’s mission of transforming and redeeming the world includes the spreading of the good news about Jesus, including his life, death, and resurrection. Christopher J. H. Wright, in The Mission of God, writes about […]
PRAYER: THE ALIGNMENT OF OUR SOULS WITH GOD
A few months ago I picked up R.A. Torrey’s book, How to Pray, and began reading with some hope that it would wake my tired spirit. I flipped through the first few chapters, letting conviction and information seep in, and, for a few days, I seemed to improve. My motivation to read Scripture and spend time […]
SHARING YOUR FAITH
Evangelizing—or sharing your faith—is scary for the majority of Christians, not just new believers. This is understandable; it’s not exactly easy convincing a person that they need a savior to completely revamp their life, especially if this person believes they are happy without Jesus. When someone accepts Jesus, they leave their old priorities behind and make […]
BEING A GOOD SAMARITAN
If someone were to sit down and contemplate the state of the world right now, it would be easy to find sadness, unfairness, and inexplicably awful things that can’t fully be comprehended. We have mass poverty, pandemic diseases, social injustice, gender inequality and political oppression, just to name a few ills. Then on top of […]
A Forgetful People: A Forgiving God
College gets romanticized as a time for parties and lifelong memories, and while for some that may hold true, my college experience could not be further from that lifestyle. I decided to attend a school way outside of my budget. Because of this choice, I needed to accelerate my graduation to afford such expensive schooling. […]
CONSTANT GRATITUDE
Lorrie Noel found out she had a brain tumor in August 2011. After more testing, she learned it was cancerous. Though the cancer had nestled into an inoperable place in her brain, stretching its deadly tendrils from this safe haven, Lorrie had inexplicable joy. Seasoned doctors wondered at her undaunted smiles, and nurses, hardened by […]
Lord of All
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” The first commandment in Exodus 20 establishes for the people of Israel, who are newly without certain governance, having been successfully and miraculously led out of […]
GOD WITHIN
You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents […]
SHOULD WE QUESTION GOD?
We may have heard that we should not question God because questioning may cause our faith to weaken. I have heard someone say we should never end a prayer with words something like, “If it be your will,” because those words imply we don’t believe we will get what we ask. As new believers what […]
THE 3RD COMMANDMENT
The first three commandments in Exodus 20 set the stage for the latter seven. The first three commandments communicate expectations for how God should be treated and the following commandments (covered in earlier articles) establish expectations for how people should treat one another. This series has looked closely at the commandments in Exodus 20, starting […]