It’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that if the Lord would just give us more clarity, more answers, that our souls would be set at ease. However, what I have found to be true in my own life is that what I really need is more trust, not more clarity.
This man is mentioned in three of the four Gospel accounts. He is mentioned, not for his cruelty, or anything else relating to his profession, but for a miraculous transformation that happened immediately following the death of someone he crucified.
Suffering isn’t easy. Pain isn’t comfortable. Disappointment isn’t ideal. But it doesn’t mean that it can’t be beautiful. On this side of eternity, we have the chance to choose to worship through it all. In Heaven, tears will be wiped away, and our natural response will be to bow down and worship Him. What a privilege it is to be able to worship and choose Jesus when all we feel is disappointment.
What I have found is that God uses those things in powerful ways to not only get in our way, but to show us a much better way. Don’t think that the Lord won’t wreck your plans before they wreck you.
We’re doing a something a little different today. Instead of a typical blog post like we publish every Thursday, we are going to share some behind-the-scenes of our personal lives, along with some cool memories/moments from 2022, and finally what the beginning of 2023 has been like for us personally, as well as The Few!
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.
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.
Far be it from me that I should receive a crown of worldly honor, when my King was given a crown of thorns.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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, 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.
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.
More often than not, our first reaction to a crisis is to run to the world for a solution or “quick fix”, because we are already functioning in a worldly mindset on a daily basis. However, this is a bigger issue than we think it is. Our choices are evidence of whom we ultimately trust.
If Christians would just realize that everything happening to us right now is to make us more Christlike, we would indeed have the passion that our persecuted brothers and sisters do. The problem is, the American Church has little desire to be Christlike because we would rather continue on in our worldliness.
Simple question: What would happen if we would all go to our schools and workplaces with the intention to share the Gospel and live for Jesus, not just to complete assignments or jobs?
The Few 