Friends,
Welcome back!
I hope you are challenged by this post.
Please continue to change your world.
Please forward this post to anyone you think would find it helpful.
Bob
Link to a previous post on my blog.
“Jairus and his wife were amazed. They knew he could heal but this was beyond their faith.
The woman was an unclean outcast but had complete confidence.
The religious leader was an insider and a leader and had faith up to a point.
What are the limits of your faith?
When do we have confidence? When are we amazed?”
Links to things I’ve read recently.
You should not assume that I agree with everything said in these articles, but I did find them thought provoking.
In a World of More, We Need a Theology of Enough
How much is enough? This article wrestles with this and related issues and proposes challenging biblical thoughts for us to consider.
If Everything in Life Keeps Getting Better, Why Are Happiness Levels Plummeting?
We live in a land of plenty but we are less satisfied with our lives. How is this possible?
Alien Shock: Would First Century Christians Even Recognize Our Churches?
J. Warner Wallace is a famous cold case detective seen by many on television. In this article he outlines what he read in the New Testament that lead to his conversion to Christianity, the church he first attended, and other churches he attended and served on staff. Then he asks, would the first Christians recognize our churches as Christian?
This is a must read, please find time for this one.
Why do we ask people to pray for us?
Is it more effective if more people pray?
What if they pray in public?
This writer tries to answer these questions for her hospital bed.
Aiming for Conversion in Our Preaching
“Abstract: Sam Romine argues that although the preaching that takes place in the weekly gathering should primarily be aimed at believers, pastors should also aim at the conversion of unbelievers in their preaching. He points as evidence to to the prophets of the Old Testament as well as the apostle Paul’s comments about the presence of unbelievers in the gathering in 1 Corinthians 14:23–25. Romine closes with three practical exhortations to help pastors put this into practice.”
4 Ways to Let Go of Perfectionism in Your Quiet Time
How perfect does our devotional life need to be empower our growth toward Christlikeness?
How much time each day do we spend staring at our phones? What are we not doing to make time for phone time?
We Cannot Afford to Weaken Each Other
“Shortly before England’s entry into World War II, Winston Churchill said, “We are so few, enemies so many, the cause so great, that we cannot afford to weaken each other in any way” (The Gathering Storm, p 331).
When I read Churchill’s words, I immediately was struck with it’s applicability to our spiritual warfare. It is an easy thing to weaken each other as Christians with verbal sparring. I think many of us can struggle with how to handle the comments or beliefs of others different from our own. This is especially difficult in a public venue about things that are important but are not necessarily non-negotiable biblical truths (and instead lie in the “opinions realm” of Romans 14). Sometimes, we begin to view disagreeing Christians as “them” vs. “us.” This thinking can be so dangerous, because we can soon view “them” as our enemies.”
“Would you feel like a success as a parent if, by the time your child turned thirty, they had accomplished the following?
- Studied and memorized almost the entire Bible.
- Maintained near-perfect church attendance.
- Respected in their community.
- Gives faithfully to their church.
A great many good Christian parents would look at that list and say, “Yes! We have won. This is success.” Their children have kept the faith and found success in the world. We get to have our cake and eat it, too.
Herein lies the danger.
The list above describes many of the outward characteristics we might associate with the Pharisees Jesus encountered in the New Testament. Yet something is missing, something infinitely more valuable than all these accomplishments.”
Not all Christian websites are good for your health
“I wonder what the Apostle Paul would say about online Christian discourse? What kind of encouragements and warnings would he give followers of Jesus as we hear and discern and collate the vast quantities of religious speech that’s available on YouTube, Facebook and X?
What online content are you regularly feeding on?”
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