Prayer and Purpose

“We have learned that ‘politics is downstream from culture, not the other way around . . . . Real change has to start with the culture.’” (page 18 of Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey) I have been reading about apologetics a lot recently. Thinking about its usefulness both inside and outside the church. After all, we are called to make disciples of all nations (Mt 28:19) and while the truth of God is evident in nature (Rom 1:20), I believe sound apologetics within the church can help people walk through their doubt more easily. With Easter season just recently behind us, I had a memory brought to mind frequently in the last few weeks. When I was a Freshman at Pacific Lutheran University, I attended the Easter Chapel service. One of my friends was in the choir group that was singing at this service, so I was especially excited for some Easter selections sung by the ensemble she was a part of. The homily was to be delivered by a professor rather than one of our campus pastors. The music...

Jesus endured the greatest testing any human will ever endure when He spent 40 days in the wilderness without food or drink, and He was tried and tempted (Mt 4:1-11; Mk 1:12-13; Lk 4:1-13. While Jesus walked on this earth He was fully God, yet also fully man. By allowing Himself to become man He was able to truly be tempted by Satan's lies. He was alone during this time, alone in the sense that there was no other human with Him. However, this does not require that we should do spiritual battle alone. Indeed, Jesus shortly before being arrested asks His disciples to pray for Him in Gethsemane, a time when He knew His time to die was drawing near and the temptation to not die must have been brutal (Mt 26:36-45; Mk 14:32-41; Lk 22:39-46).  Paul instructs us to keep watch over ourselves to avoid temptation and to "[b]ear one another's burdens" (Gal 6:2). Bearing one another up helps us, as Paul says, to not begin to think to highly of ourselves, and just like a yoke,...

Spiritual warfare is real. We need to be prepared and know how to handle ourselves in the midst of a battle. The strongest attacks rarely come along when you are ready for them or at least not when you are expecting them. Some of that is because Satan is sneaky and he often attacks in such a way that you don’t realize at first that it is him. Doubt or fear creeps in and you just attribute it to your situation or your own reasoning, but it may not be. No matter where you are at in your walk with God, remember to keep your eyes on Him. He can handle all your doubts, fear, pain, suffering and anything else you can throw at Him, whether it is just a result of the fallen world, or a strategized attack to fight for your soul. The enemy has been defeated And death couldn’t hold You down We’re gonna lift our voice in victory We’re gonna make Your praises loud. [1] The above lyrics from Hillsong’s “Shout unto God”, along with Newboys’ “He Reigns,” bring a smile to my face in rem...

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 ...