Man is deeply touched by the power of forgiveness. To know that you have wronged someone and yet are in perfect standing with them is an elating feeling everyone appreciates. Everyone from every culture loves to be forgiven.
Step 1.) find a clock. Step 2.) watch the clock. count 26 seconds. Step 3.) understand that 1 more child was just enslaved into the sex trade.
This post involves how we see the Lord using the Assyrian Crisis to spread the news about Him. I would submit to you that God frequently uses events like these to evangelize to the nations and to make known his character as a holy God.
There are some seasons that you could call sailing seasons: incredibly exciting and full of adventure. Then there are seasons that feel like snailing seasons. Snailing seasons are the ones that seem like they snail along agonizingly slow. Great news though…
When I first came to be a follower of Christ, I received a teaching that completely revolutionized my life. It was because of this teaching, titled The Plan, that I felt inclined to check out BCOM and eventually become a student here in Minnesota.
In my experience, there is always at least one person who says such and such is a bad idea.
For those of us heavily seeking the Lord, we are very aware of the dichotomy between our thinking and the world’s thinking. If you’re a young, aspiring missionary, you may have run into these deterring words from friends and family:
“Ryley,” something inside of him said, “your journal, get rid of your journal.” He felt perplexed after hearing this echo in his heart. He was being lead to give up something very dear to him: his writing, which slowly was becoming, if it hadn’t already become, his god.
Under the gentle dabbling of the warm sun rays, blankets stretched themselves out in a picnic-like fashion on the lush green grass of a clear day.
I have been told repeatedly of the importance of abiding in the Vine. Time and time again people have told me that I am the branch, Christ is the Vine, and apart from him I can do nothing. So how do you abide in the Vine then? How does one abide in Christ?
I don’t know about you, but I want to know the Bible like the back of my hand. I want to be able to quote verses from every book. I want to know the scriptures, but not for the sake of knowing what it says, I want to know the character of it’s author: God.
We see them everyday. They share our streets, stores, and restaurants with us. We, the followers of Jesus, at times are their punching bag.
Could it be that the more real we understand that the Kingdom of God is going to be, the more we will be willing to invest into it?
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
There are times when you must throw the book at people. It’s up to them whether they receive it or throw it back.
We pray and cry for a formula, for God to give us a layout of life and a how-to plan. God doesn’t want us to consult a plan, but the Planner. While we strive for our guide to be our god, God wants to be our Guide.
“Going to work today” one might murmur while putting their hat and coat on. They walk out the door, get in the car and commute to the same place they go to five out of the seven days of the week. Guess what though… there is hope.
“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “you are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” John 18:37 (NIV)
Where does it all start? It starts with going to the secret place, falling on your knees, and crying out to God for Him to change you into a Godly man or woman. It’s a daily attendance to the secret place that will change you dramatically over time.
Affection for someone is something that seems to rise up instantly when you are young. It’s not something you have to work at, it just comes upon you when they are around. Great. But the real question is… how do you keep that affection?
