Prayer and Purpose

As a Christian, there are some hard things to deal with because you feel like you shouldn’t be having issues with them at all if you truly love and trust God. Some of these things include anxiety, stress, fear, and depression. Although I can’t speak personally to long-term struggles with issues outside of fear, I have still dealt with many of them for brief periods throughout my life, and just like forgiveness, it is much easier said than done to just trust God. Today’s topic is stress. I hold most of my stress in my muscles. I clench my jaw and get tight shoulders. It also often turns to anger if I don’t do something to vent that stress that builds up like a shuddering tea kettle of water about to whistle. While I know that many say, “Just pray about it,” when it comes to basically everything (and that is true) it is sometimes hard to do. We are finite beings that understand the tangible things of the world much more than the intangible. You certainly should go to God as your co...

Earlier this year I saw an Instagram post that read, “Instead of saying ‘I don’t have time,’ try saying, ‘It’s not a priority,’ and see how that feels.” I’ve since looked up the source of that quote and found an interesting article on the Wall Street Journal by Laura Vanderkam. (see the full article here http://on.wsj.com/2ClteFj ) Vanderkam suggests, “Changing our language reminds us that time is a choice.” She also writes that you may not be spending as much time working or as little time sleeping as you have lead yourself to believe, and suggests keeping a time log. I'm over halfway through my first day of trying to keep a time log, and I have found that I don’t want to write down things like, “looked at Facebook,” or “watched TV,” and I especially don’t want that to take up as much of my time log as those things generally take up in my day. So, when Phoebe woke me up this morning at 0515 hours because she was hungry, instead of either doing nothing or looking at Facebook ...

Abstract The Great Commission to Worship addresses two commands given to Christians, the Great Commission (Mt 28:18–20) and the Great Commandment (Dt 6:4–6; Mt 22:36–40). The authors open the book by discussing common misconceptions of evangelism. They make it clear that evangelism is not optional, [1] nor is it a spiritual gift. [2] A total of twelve misconceptions are hashed out before they tackle twelve common misconceptions of worship. According to the authors, worship is often thought of as synonymous with fellowship [3] and praise music. [4] After revealing and refuting the common misconceptions of evangelism and worship, the authors point to some biblical models as guides for what evangelism and worship are. From the second chapter on, the authors get down to the business of presenting practical guidelines for living an obedient life for Christ that consists of both worshipping Him and adhering to His command to make disciples. They parse out the different aspects ...

Kathy Lee Gifford recently talked about her reaction to Billy Graham dying and brought up how vocal she is about her faith. You can see the whole video here: http://on.today.com/2EXMDwW The thing I loved about it was when she talked about people questioning her bold faith. She said something to the effect of, “I know the cure for the malignant condition of the soul. Why would I keep that a secret?” As Christians, we are all commanded to some degree of evangelism. Jesus instructed the disciples, and I believe this has been passed down to all believers, to “make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). This does not mean we all are called to be “evangelists” but we are not to keep our faith silent. Peter instructs the believers to whom he wrote to be prepared to defend their faith in gentleness (1 Pt 3:15). Today, we too must be prepared. I believe by defending our faith and sharing our faith with others, we are loving our neighbor the best way we know how. For if we do not share ...

Share Jesus without Fear by William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd William Fay opens Share Jesus without Fear in a startling manner. He offers his audience a look into his life before he knew Jesus, including involvement with racketeering, mob ties, and owning “one of the larger houses of prostitution in the United States.” [1] After this startling introduction leading into a brief recount of his conversion, he gets on with providing insights into sharing the gospel with others. Fay relates to his audience his thoughts concerning those who say, “I live a good Christian life, but never share my faith.” Of these people, he says, “But the problem is, if you aren’t sharing your faith, you are not living a good Christian life.” [2] Fay offers that many people do not share the gospel because they are afraid. Therefore, he offers not only a way to share the gospel, but advises readers that they cannot fail, and thus, have no reason to fear. Success or failure does not depend upon whe...

Not everyone has the time, money, or desire for formal theological education. However, it is important to study God’s Word and better understand Him through His Word. As with all things that are not the Bible, there is the possibility of fallibility, thus you must assess all information against the Word of God, even within these resources. However, it can be useful to glean information from people who have dedicated their life to studying God and His Word. We owe much to them even if we don’t think about it, as we are thankfully able to read God’s Word in our native tongue rather than the original Hebrew (and a small portion of Aramaic) and Greek. In addition to language experts aiding our study of God’s Word, archeology and science continue to uncover more that time and again prove the accuracy of the Bible. With all these things in mind, I have compiled some resources for free online biblical lectures and courses, as well as my favorite YouTube series, Real Truth. Real Quick. I...

Did you know that many libraries offer digital resources like audiobooks? If you did, then great, I hope that means you are using them. If you live in a traffic congested area or for some other reason spend a great deal of time in your car, then why not make that time productive, and maybe even a little less stressful? One way to do this  would be to use said digital resources from your local library and listen to audiobooks while in the car. Hopefully this will allow you to better yourself during a time when you ordinarily would only be listening to music, news, or getting frustrated with the person in front of you that didn’t signal. My local library (Sno-Isle Libraries www.sno-isle.org ) utilizes a neat app called Libby. This makes it incredibly easy for me, because it automatically downloads audiobooks (or e-books) that I have placed on hold as they are available (you can edit this if you don’t like it). That way I have all the books I am currently listening to ready to...

I think we all struggle at one point or another with what we are supposed to do with our life. I agree with Matthew Perman in his book  What's Best Next  that we are all created with the same purpose. That purpose could be summed up by saying we are created to love and worship Yahweh. Beyond that, however, what does God want me to do with my life? Should I be a missionary or a rock star, a receptionist or a ski instructor? Maybe your calling is your career, or perhaps your calling is outside of your career. Ask God to help you with that, but even before you figure that out, you can be living with purpose. At this site you will find resources and my thoughts on how to live each day with purpose.  First thoughts Pray and invite God into your day.  I hate mornings, but my morning is much better if I start out by talking to God. Some of my best mornings start with my girls and me praying and reading a short children's Bible story even before b...