Recently, I feel that the Lord has been drawing my attention to the importance of prayer more than ever. It is so easy for Christians(myself included) to become apathetic with our prayer life, particularly living in an increasingly Biblically-hostile society. However, I firmly believe that prayer is the powerhouse for the Christian life. It is paramount that as Christians we realize that “…our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”(Ephesians 6:12, NIV). There is an unseen world around us where Christians are living in the midst of a spiritual battleground. This is why it is critical that we put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 13-17), and that we pray for God’s continued protection. Continue reading
Christlikeness
Suffering, Perseverance, Character, and Hope(Part 4 of 4)
Throughout today’s post I will conclude this four-part series by focusing on the Hope that we all share as believers in Christ.
Although hope is essentially the final resultant fruit yielded from our suffering as Christians(Romans 5:3-4), I feel that its influence has the ability to penetrate into every facet of our lives. In fact, it is the very hope in the return of Christ which serves as the basis for believers to purify themselves in this life (Titus 2:11-14, 1 John 3:3). Continue reading
Suffering, Perseverance, Character (Part 3 of 4), and Hope
Again, I sincerely apologize for the prolonged delayed in continuing this series. Life is far from boring. It seems that there is always something vying for our attention and investments of our time.
Throughout Part 3 of this series I will focus on the intrinsic value derived from character, specifically within the context of Christianity.
As per usual, I will begin with a working definition of character from a Biblical perspective in order to establish a solid foundation for this school of thought.
Dictionary.com defines character in general terms as follows:
Character(noun) – the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing; moral or ethical quality; qualities of honesty, courage, or the like; integrity.
5 Ways To Actually Practice Mercy You Need To Know
Admittedly, I didn’t have the opportunity to read last Thursday’s post, however based on the excerpt you provided here, I absolutely agree with your insightful thoughts.
What I have come to discover is that Truth is often the toughest pill to swallow, especially during particular seasons/times when we have permitted our Christian lives to become complacent (myself included).
Over the recent years, I feel that throughout Western Culture we have allowed Christianity to become too comfortable.
Nowadays, it is very evident that the number of Christians whom actually pursue godly risks, and take leaps of faith is dwindling. This deeply saddens me, and this reminds me even more so of how much work is needing to be done by Christians in this broken world.
Jesus tells us that “…The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Luke 10:2).
Jesus not only clearly identifies the problem (which is just as relevant now as it was then), but He also provides us with the solution. The solution is simply found in faithfully asking(through prayer) our Mighty God to send(emphasis) workers(you and I) into the harvest field(to those in need within the front-lines).
It is worth noting as well that believers doing the praying are no more exempt from actively partaking in this work of spreading the Gospel(The Great Commission) themselves than other believers.
God Bless!
Hate Isn’t Helpful
I definitely agree with this author’s thoughts regarding the destructive influence that hatred has amassed within our already-fractured world. Sadly, hatred has become increasingly more and more prevalent in this day and age. Having said this, I am genuinely concerned for what is on the horizon for this generation in light of the frighteningly significant level of traction that hatred has gained.
Roman 12:21 tells us the solution to this dilemma by instructing us to, “…not be overcome by evil, but [to] overcome evil with good”.Dear Heavenly Father,
Please bless all of us as we fight the good fight by seizing every opportunity while striving to make a difference by being empowered with Your Holy Spirit.
Also, please help us to keep our eyes on Your Son: Jesus Christ, Who is our Living Hope, where we are made completely secure and anchored by means of Your unfailing love!In Jesus’ Name I pray,
Amen.
So…. I sent out a tweet a few days ago about hate. It said basically that you don’t gain anything by hating and that the “hater” loses more than the “hated.” That’s it, it didn’t say anything about who hated, why anyone would hate, it mentioned no name, no race, no sexual preference, no political affiliations, nothing.
Immediately after sending it out, and I mean immediately, I started getting replies about how stupid liberal democrats are and how republicans make it hard not to hate. In short, I received a bunch of hate-filled replies agreeing that hate was terrible but blaming either democrats or republicans for making it impossible not to hate.
I’m going to guess here but I’m betting it was Republicans blaming Democrats and Democrats blaming Republicans.
Other people blamed gays for hate, or Muslims, or TV news, or cops, or blacks, or whites, it went on and…
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Ian and Larissa – 3 Years Later
This is an incredibly inspiring story which illustrates a remarkable level of sacrificial and selfless love–the way God intends for us to love particularly in marriage!
Thank-you for sharing!
God bless!
Products of Christian Culture
Today I feel compelled to share an issue that the Lord has brought to my attention. While it specifically deals with Christian Hip-Hop(CHH), I feel that this teaching is still universally applicable within the context of Christian Culture.
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Theological Reflections 