At some point in our walk with Jesus we have to face it: the S word. It’s something we try to avoid. We even invent theologies that suggest we won’t have to because Jesus did all of it for us. But the truth is, we will undergo SUFFERING. It’s part of our identification with Christ. [...]
Category: spiritual rewards
Building a Relationship with God’s Spirit
Building a relationship with anyone is hard work. That’s not because the person is necessarily difficult to know or enjoy. It’s just that we must be willing to spend the time to find out things about them – what they like and dislike, their background, their future dreams, as well as the fears and concerns [...]
March Madness
Anyone who follows college basketball looks forward to the annual conference we call March Madness. The best teams from universities across the country compete to see which team will become the nation’s champion. It’s a dizzying few weeks of high octane basketball. Part of the fun is seeing underdogs take out highly ranked teams and [...]
Engaging the New Year with Joy
A brand new year! Spotless and full of promise at this point but also fraught with new challenges, maybe even danger. So how will we engage it? To boldly step out and face 2018 without fear won’t be easy for some of us. We’re struggling with health problems that could become serious in the months [...]
The End Goal of our Faith
Have you ever wondered what the end goal is for our faith? We become Christians and enter into a living relationship with the true and living God. We embrace Jesus as our Savior and Lord. Then we begin to think through all the implications of what that means. As we read Scripture we look for [...]
Prayer: Blessing or Burden?
Prayer seems to be both a blessing and a burden for Christians. We love the idea of it – to have access to the living God at any moment -- but we struggle with how poorly we execute our privilege. And in our private moments, when we’re alone or with somebody we trust, we [...]
Lending to the Lord
Have you ever run across a Bible verse that sets you back, making you wonder what on earth the writer is saying? Some of these are the result of culture. Being from the West, we just don’t understand Eastern expressions and ways of thinking. Other times, it’s more a matter of connecting the dots. One [...]