October 4, 2012 in
Change, Christian living, God's Way for Our Lives, Growth, Making Mistakes, Overcoming Sin, Personal Responsibility, relying on God, Spiritual Growth with
“How on earth can a Christian commit that sin?” Have you ever heard someone ask this question? On the surface, it seems like a good one, doesn’t it? We’ve all heard of Christians, even preachers or pastors, who commit what seem like heinous sins. We are certain they should know better. But they’ve fallen. How on earth can they commit that sin?
But this is the wrong question. Read on to find out why.
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September 13, 2012 in
God's Way for Our Lives, Growth, People with
I’ve just got to get this off my chest. There are four people who really, really bug me (especially when they are bloggers). I can’t stand it anymore; I have to let someone know. And then there is one person I really, really like. Are you that person? I hope so.
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September 4, 2012 in
Christian living, Church Growth, God's Love, God's Way for Our Lives, Grace, Growth, Jesus, Making Mistakes, Overcoming Sin, Personal Responsibility, relying on God, Spiritual Growth, surrender, Victory in God with
What does God’s grace look like? Consider Matthew 14:28-31.
And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’
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February 16, 2012 in
Christian living, God's Way for Our Lives, Growth, Honesty, Overcoming Sin, Relationships, Shame, Spiritual Growth, Victory in God with
On April 26, 2003, Aron Ralston was trapped between a rock and a hard place. Hiking and rock climbing alone in Eastern Utah, his right hand was crushed between a shifting boulder and the rock wall. Over a period of five days he made various attempts to free himself. Nothing worked. When he ran out of his water supply, he was certain of death.
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January 11, 2012 in
book reviews, communication, God's Way for Our Congregations, God's Way for Our Family, God's Way for Our Lives, Growth, Husbands, Marriage, Raising Kids, Relationships, Wives with
Last week was New Year’s and many of us resolved to watch less tv, read more books. Whether or not that’s the case for you, if you only have one book that you have time to read this year…well, of course, make it the Bible. But if you have time to read two books this year, I’d like to make a recommendation: How to Have That Difficult Conversation You’ve Been Avoiding
by Drs. Cloud and Townsend.
Check out the video review by clicking the link below.
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November 16, 2011 in
Christian living, evangelism, Forgiveness, God's Way for Our Congregations, Growth, health, Making Mistakes, Overcoming Sin, relying on God, Sex and Sexuality, Spiritual Growth, surrender with
The more I’ve worked with addicts and dealt with my own sins, the more I’ve realized that most churches are falling short in a very important area–freedom from sin. Oh, don’t get me wrong. Most churches teach freedom from sin. Most command freedom from sin. But very few are helping people become free from sin. Most of them simply tell people to quit sinning and then slap them on the wrist when they catch them sinning again or belittle and shame them for doing so. What can we do about this?
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November 10, 2011 in
Christian living, God's Way for Our Lives, Growth, health, Honesty, Husbands, Manhood, Marriage, Relationships, Sex and Sexuality with
***WARNING: This is the second in a series of three posts on this topic. And I repeat yesterday’s warning. This post will be specific, factual, and even explicit. However, I will try not to be gratuitous or graphic. But if you normally let your kids read these posts, you may want to read it first. If you’re good with that, click the “Continue Reading” link below.
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November 8, 2011 in
Change, Christian living, God's Way for Our Lives, Growth, planning with
Goals! Everyone talks about them. We all need them. But I’m convinced a mere goal is never enough. We need to move beyond simply setting a goal to having a vision of what life will be like once we have attained that goal. If all we have is a goal, then it seems like the end result is just achieving a goal for achieving a goal’s sake, we won’t stick with it. At least, I never do. So, whether we are talking about our physical, mental, financial, or even spiritual lives, we need to move beyond goals and envision what life will be like having achieved that goal.
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November 1, 2011 in
Being human, education, goals, God's Way for Our Lives, Growth, health, Videos with
The other night I was driving my kids to a trunk or treat. Ethan was Batman (read that with a gravelly, gargling marbles stage voice in your head). The part of the costume that was supposed to look like a huge muscular chest kept popping out and Ethan said, “I hate this. It keeps popping out and makes me look fat.” Trina quickly jumped in, “You mean like Daddy!” OUCH!!!
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August 17, 2011 in
Christian living, Church Growth, God's Way for Our Congregations, God's Way for Our Lives, Growth, Success with
If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. At the same time, if you always do what everyone else does, you’ll always get what everyone else gets. But sometimes, just sometimes, when you step out of the mold, stare down the critics, and do things a little differently, you just might take home the gold.
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