God and I wrestled back and forth about whether or not I was to change jobs. The conflict was so great because a co-worker and I had started a Monday morning prayer group that eventually led to most of the employees attending. For some of them, this would be the only Jesus that they would get for the remainder of the week. So, it was important to me that I knew for sure that God wanted me to move on.
Today is the second Sunday of Blogmas! Enjoy this beautiful poem this evening.
God’s grace is not a license to sin. As a matter of fact, according to Paul it’s a deterrent.
By doing what he said he couldn’t do, Trigger saved the rest of his crew, and their mission to capture the Enigma and bring it back to America was ultimately successful. I believe "can’t" is the most dangerous word that could ever come out of any of our mouths.
Maybe you share some similarities with Thomas as well. You might be skeptical, a bit unsure of your faith. You may have more questions than you can count. Jesus has something for you. He can turn your skepticism into belief.
As I have listened to stories today from some of my favorite historians, and pondered the commitment of the greatest generation of Americans on the heels of Pearl Harbor, I am left wondering if we presently have any real understanding of that type of sacrifice.
What I wanted to share with y’all on this very special day is that “Salvation to all that will is nigh.” Meaning, if you desire salvation, a personal relationship with Jesus, He is near to you at this very moment. All you have to do is reach out, call out for Him.
I ask you to please begin each day this holiday season alone in the presence of our heavenly Father. Focus on the Lord. Focus on His attributes, and His precious Word to you. Ask Him to open up your way as you journey through your day with the Prince of Peace beside you.
Happy Sunday! Enjoy this rich and meaningful poem by our most beloved Lewis today.
Did you catch it, friends? Not only did Aslan leap over the Table, representing death, but Lucy scrambled over it too! This is what our death-defying hero has done for you and for me. He has made a way for us to scramble over death and get to Him, never to be separated from God; to have everlasting life! Hallelujah and Amen!
Now, take courage, dear heart, for suffering is no longer meant to produce only misery. Because Christ has assumed human suffering, that means we can also be confident that He has healed and restored it to its most divine form.
The attending process begins when we sort through the things that distract us, and intentionally do away with them as best we can with Jesus’ help. We must make room in our hearts for the light when darkness attempts to fill it daily.
This is what has been rolling around of late in my, saved by a miracle, head. Assuming we are ready for eternity because we have followed Jesus, He has saved us from our sin, and we have the confidence of Heaven; then there is a second question to ponder. Are we ready to live like we have made that decision?
Here's the bottom line. For me, and I don’t know fully why just yet, Jesus lifted the trailer and pulled me out. I walked away with minor injuries and still have trouble believing that I am alive. Only He could have saved me; there is no explanation other than I am living proof our God still does miracles as He sees fit.
Do not allow your quiet personality to hinder you from doing the powerful things the Lord calls you to. But go on boldly, more boldly, in making your mark for the Kingdom of Heaven. Allow God to do His best work in you, and hand your passions over to Him, so they may be used to their fullest extent.
A Poem By: Esther M. Clark
God has nothing to offer us except Himself, and that He does. Will we not have Him? Do we not long, with every fiber of our being, to just take hold of Him?
The Lord has used my father, and Atticus Finch, to teach me that just because what is right may often earn you the hatred of lesser men, and may cost you everything you hold dear, it does not make it any less valuable.
Yes, the American Church is numb, but you don’t have to be. Feeling numb is merely a symptom of not living the way that we were made to. If you love Jesus and live for Him, numbness won’t be an issue of concern.
In order to make people hate America, you have to make America hate-able. This is exactly what the Left does day in and day out. Why is this their aim? Because America was founded upon Biblical principles that have guided us for the last 230+ years. They know it is especially difficult to fight for a common cause when you don’t have a common identity.
A Poem By Kahlil Gibran
Sure, Jesus wants us to surrender the helm to Him knowing He will do a much better job than we ever could, but He still wants us along for the adventure.
You are powerful through the blood of Christ, dear Christian. But remember, that blood was not shed for you to sit back and do nothing. It was shed for you to overcome the principalities of this present darkness.
Far be it from me that I should receive a crown of worldly honor, when my King was given a crown of thorns.
With every day that passes, we are becoming what we will be. So, I ask you, what will you be in the end? What will it take for you to come to the realization that the central part of you, that is becoming either a heavenly creature or a hellish creature, is all you will be left with in eternity?
Instead of looking at the failure the tortured heroines and persecuted heroes had to suffer through as setbacks, he was taught to look at them as inevitable events which would ultimately bring about that radical, joyful victory of those same weary heroes. He learned to draw one line between Good and Evil, and not allow room for any sort of grey area. Greatest of all these, however, he learned the light always wins, even if it takes a little longer than we want it to.
As much as I would like to pat Christians on the back and tell them it’s perfectly fine to retreat when the days are dark and evil, I can’t. We may be living in a post Roe America, and praise the Lord for it, but it is in large part due to the five Justice’s that didn’t go stick their heads in the sand and ignore this crucial, heartbreaking, unlawful issue.
He will take care of the restoration process, and just remember that when it hurts, He’s doing a new thing in you that won’t just make an impact in your life, but other’s lives as well.
Something the Lord has been convicting me of a lot lately is what I’m consuming my mind with. What I’m watching, reading, listening to, thinking about. Most of us want to ignore the way Jesus is really supposed to affect all these aspects of our lives, and we want to believe He’s only supposed to help us with the “big” things.
A Poem By Robert Frost
Pay attention, Church. The good in this world is quickly slipping away, and if we don’t fight for it, then who will? Now is the time to take action, because every good thing is being distorted.
Madie and I have been so pumped and thankful this week because our Podcast, A Few Minutes With The Few, hit 7,000 downloads and we released our new, free, Christian Resource Page that we have been working on for the last couple of months! It is available to download and print right here from the Blog on our resource tab!
We must come to the realization that God’s ways bring freedom, not when we simply believe that they do, but when we implement them and live by them daily, knowing that it is for our own good and ultimately God’s glory.
This week, I challenge you to not be like Ruby Gillis. Don’t chase after trivial, unimportant, and wind carried tasks and attitudes until you are faced with death. Live in a way that reflects Jesus in everything you do, and in a way that brings a little slice of heaven down here to earth.
You see, when I look back at the days that I would say are the most spiritually fulfilling days of my life, they are the days when I was willing to put a lot of effort into my relationship with Christ. I was praying, studying, and serving every day. They were the days when I learned how to pray with people and share the Gospel with them, and I actually went out and did that on a regular basis. They were the days when I saw the truth being ignored and injustice being accepted, and I spoke out, in love, against it.
It is true that the Christian life is not a constant high, and what matters more than anything else is where we run when we have feelings we can’t deal with on our own. You see, discouragement is a beautiful part of the Christian life only because God uses it to bring us closer to Himself. He helps soften our hearts to feel what He feels, and it is in that moment, when we feel what He feels, that we can best care, love, and serve.
My prayer is that we live our lives so well we can truly look ourselves in the mirror and admit with confidence that we are so much different than every other bundle of bones on this planet.
This Blog Post is going to look a little bit different than it usually does, but I am excited to update you on all the awesome things God has been doing in our little corner of the world recently!
When our world stops turning, I can only pray that we move past our petty grievances, and stand as one nation under God, the One who enables our world to begin spinning again and causes the sun to rise anew over this blessed land.
None of us may be a “master detective” such as Hercules Poirot. However, God has given Christians, who have the Holy Spirit within them, the incredible ability to see the world as it should be (some to a lesser or greater degree). To see a world in which everything is just, and right, and true because we function as we were intended to all along.
I'm reminded of an old movie line when the captain of a submarine was asked a question and said he didn’t know. His second in command pulled him aside and rebuked him. "The captain always knows what to do; whether he does or not." It seems like that is often the esteem our children hold us in. As dads, we are always supposed to know. We are to be their heroes.
My question to you, this week, is: Are you the hero of your own story? Have you thought of your life as a story; one that could impact those around you now and the generations that will come after you? Living in light of eternity demands that you think of your life this way.
As Christians, we need to know that the monster in our story exists and is savagely fierce, cruel, and violent. His name is Satan, and he is our enemy. However, we also need to know that the monster can be overcome.
Church, we do not need “Christianity And”. Only one thing is needful. So, come and lay down the “Fashion of Christian coloring” at the cross and be made whole, so that we may experience true happiness and joy.
Without this week, I wouldn’t be writing to you about hope, about beauty, and about the light breaking into our darkness. Yet here we are, because of what our Lord Jesus has done.
I believe we are all aware that if a piece of land is not cultivated consistently and pruned constantly, it will never cease to return to being a wilderness and wasteland. It will always go back to its former state. There is one thing that I don’t believe we are all aware of, though… Our hearts can do the same if we are not obedient to Christ and allow Him to do His work of cultivating within us.
The present pressure and anxiousness we’re all feeling is a direct result of the evil that is freely roaming about, but there should be a radical difference in the way we continue to operate when compared to people who have no hope and have not put their trust in Jesus.
This dark, gloomy weather here in Ohio made it feel like a good day to share a poem! I love this one in particular because it encourages us to not stand idle when God has given us work to do. Though we may not think it to be grand, nevertheless, it is our mission!
Getting what you want is never really what you want. We are our own problem, and until we get ourselves out of the way by surrendering all to Christ, we will only create more disorder within our lives.
The world is NOT celebrating Biblical womanhood. It’s celebrating a sinful, sexualized, and perverted version of womanhood that it believes will truly satisfy us and make us better individuals. But it’s not what God intended for women, and we will never be truly satisfied until we are surrendered to His design.
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, the same women who watched the crucifixion, are now sitting against the tomb, just as they had sat against the cross; still longing to express their love and devotion to Christ. Still, they were seeking after Him.
The wooden altar, sitting a few feet above the floor, only a short distance from where we all sat, was covered with ridiculous clutter. Game boxes, candy bags, sound equipment, cords, a laptop, and several other objects lined the length of the altar, with only a few small spots of the smooth wooden surface still visible. As I stared at it, I was overcome with a desperate, sorrowful feeling. A feeling of longing to see that altar in use again.
The American Church threw real, Biblical Christianity out the window when we started manufacturing a weekly gathering of people who wanted to be “religious”, yet keep their lives, incomes, and time for themselves instead of sacrificing everything to follow Jesus. We ask God to bless our lifestyles, our activities, and our futile efforts even though they offend His very nature.
I believe that continuing to see ourselves as sinners after we are saved is wrong, and that wrong view of ourselves has a hugely negative impact on our growth as Christians. It keeps us right where the enemy wants us; not living in the fullness of Christ!
Peter, the oldest of four siblings who discover a place called Narnia, quickly comes to realize that he must lead an army against the White Witch who has used force and fear to make all of Narnia cower and comply with her wicked demands. Lewis says, “Peter did not feel very brave; indeed, he felt he was going to be sick. But that made no difference to what he had to do.”
My friend’s response was this, “It’s so good! You got my heart going.” I was struck by her words. Not because I thought she wouldn’t like it, but I was struck by how she said that it “got her heart going”.
We get asked quite often how to practically get serious about living for Jesus, and I pray this list is one you can refer back to time and time again to help you do exactly that. Here are 22 things I believe Christians should do in 2022!
But what if we could be the people to really give them something to follow? What if we helped them to follow the radically different Christ-like path? Throughout history, it has been the people who are willing to live radically who have made a difference, won wars, expanded the gospel, and saved nations. They have been radically different in the face of fear and darkness and have made the decision to break away from the crowd.
If you want to have the best year yet, stop chasing what you want and start chasing what Jesus wants for you. If you’ve been found, why are you living like you’re lost?
Our mission remains the same. Madie & I, and our family, want to help people just like you get serious about being serious for Jesus. We don’t believe that anyone can take Jesus and living for Him too seriously.
Most of the time they sat in silence, but every now and then one of them would pick up a flute and start playing; breaking through the oppressive silence. Pushing back the darkness.
You see, we wage “wars” that won’t ever satisfy us like real war will. All because we don’t want it to be an inconvenience on our part. We want to create the “wars” we fight. We want to plan them so that we’re certain we can win them before we even start.
You see, I believe that Scrooge’s story is so powerful because it can so closely relate to us and our present lives. I want you to think back over your life. Think about the past, about your innocence. Think about your present, the things you most want. Think about what your future may be, about whether your eternity will be dark as Scrooge’s was once bound to be.
In the final scene, Churchill's minister for war asks him one question in regard to his position on Hitler. "Changed your mind?" to which Churchill responds, "Those who never change their mind, never change anything."
You see, in that moment, I focused on the darkness, and the power I thought it had over the way we may celebrate Christmas in the future. Now, I focus on the small things, as I wrote about in one of my other, recent posts. I began to focus on the things I can do to keep darkness at bay, the intimate gatherings we have during this season. The good food we are blessed to enjoy. The presents we have the privilege of giving, and I was reminded all over again that Christmas is about the little things.
But let's stop and sit for a minute. Just let the Holy Spirit refresh our minds. Who is the Baby in the manger... Really?
From the time when he was that innocent child in a manger, this was his goal. This was his mission. This is the reason He suffered and died. To deal with Darkness.
As I have listened to stories today from some of my favorite historians, and pondered the commitment of the greatest generation of Americans on the heels of Pearl Harbor, I am left wondering if we presently have any real understanding of that type of sacrifice.
I believe that a childlike faith actually consists of this thought that we are merely a small part in the big scheme of life, but we take pride in Jesus wanting to use us. We still see those endless possibilities, but they are now cultivated by God, and used to help us step off the shore and dive into an ocean of incredibility.
Advent is a chance for us to prepare for the coming or arrival of the most important person into our midst. Friend, is Jesus your longed-for guest today and every day? Do you desire the arrival of the kingdom in your home and in your heart this Advent season?
I invite you to allow God to bring you back to Him this Christmas. Back to His heart and what truly matters in life. The reason He came into this world was to save us from our wretched sin and the misery that pertains to it. May revivals take place in our hearts and homes this year as we begin where we may have left our first love.
The American Church has always stood strong on fighting for life in the past; we cannot stop now because of our ignorance. I strongly believe that this is Satan’s plan. If he can keep us ignorant, then we will fall for anything.
How sickening it is to watch Christians listen to and genuinely believe not only what the enemy says, but also the devout liars that he has specifically placed in this world to manipulate our minds. We lack discernment. We lack courage. We lack a passion for the truth to be revealed in the American Church.
Suffering isn’t easy. Pain isn’t comfortable. Disappointment isn’t ideal. But it doesn’t mean that it can’t be beautiful.
Let me tell you, I’ve been hit for a little bit of all those things at one time or another. But the moment I made the decision to not get hit for my stupid decisions, but for the truth I want to spread about Jesus, the atmosphere completely changed in my boxing ring.
It is indeed up to my generation to be God-fearing, educated, intelligent individuals or we will live our lives believing and falling for every lie the world chooses to tell us. Unfortunately, this is how most of the generation that came before us currently lives.
So, don’t lose heart! Stand for truth and speak that truth. Do not back down under the schemes of our enemy. Invite Jesus into the ship and be careful to keep your eyes focused on Him and His plan.
The Few 