How to keep a vibrant faith

How do we live a consistent vibrant faith? To be vibrant means to be full of energy and enthusiasm. The etymology for the word, enthusiasm, is instructive. It’s directly from Late Latin enthusiasmus, from Greek enthousiasmos, meaning: “divine inspiration”…from enthousiazein to “be inspired…be rapt, be in ecstasy.” In other words, to be filled with the fullness of God (Eph.3:19) and His joy! (John 15:11).

Walking out our redemption

Graham Cooke said, “We’re saved once, but we get redeemed from our old ways every single day! We’re learning how to be a new creation.” This is critically important to understand if we’re going to walk in what God intends for us. While Paul said “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith” (Eph.2:8), he also said, “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”(Phil.2:12).

Turning traps into triumphs in Christ

I want to continue where I left off last time about how we can thrive during troubling times. We should understand, first and foremost, that God has appointed us to live a fruitful life, and that our fruit should remain (John 15:16). But we also know there’s a diabolical strategy set against us, designed to keep us from living this fruitful life.

Overcoming in troubled times

We win. I thought I should start with that reminder. It’s important that we remember this every day, especially in a crazy year like 2020! When all hell breaks loose around us, we need to remember that heaven is for us, and the One who holds the cosmos together abides within us.

You know that, right?

Why do we resist freedom?

What is it about us as human beings that we resist being truly free? Why do we prefer to be held by fear, to be the victim or the perpetrator, the oppressed or the oppressor? Why do we cling to our woundedness? I’m asking myself this question: what lies am I believing about myself and those around me that keeps me from being all that God created me to be?

All Christians should get a divorce

If you’re a follower of Christ, you need to get a divorce. Really, you do. As soon as possible, even though there may be a long custody battle. Don’t worry…God approves. What…not married? Well, actually, we’re all married in this way. We’re married to our old self, married to a mindset that’s contrary to God’s, even though we’ve been given His mind (1 Cor.2:16), and it’s causing Dissociative Identity Disorder in us.

Rescued from an empty and futile life

In at least one way, 2020 has been a gift to us. It’s gotten us all off our daily hamster wheel and allowed us to get some fresh perspective about our lives. Which makes it interesting that we’re wearing masks! Maybe we should “unmask” some hidden things we don’t like to think about. Because, like Mariah’s story, there’s a part of us that seeks greater meaning and purpose.

Mariah’s story IS the Gospel

Bill Johnson once said, “A man who has an encounter is never at the mercy of a man with an argument.”  I’ve always loved that statement because it expresses the difference between authentic Christianity and empty religion. In this case it’s a woman named Mariah Jones who perfectly expresses why Jesus came, and why He’s better than any theology could ever describe.

“White, Woke, but Spiritually Broke”

This video is an important conversation every Christian needs to hear. While we all should support real justice for black Americans and be for police reform, we must also be discerning about the agenda and ideology behind social justice movements today. I’ve talked about this here, here, and here. This interview is with two Christian leaders that I highly respect— Sean Feucht and Ryan Bomberger.

What compassion looks like in “fly over” country

Okay, I just have to share this video. I actually cried when I first saw it because it was so moving and in such stark contrast to all the anger, divisiveness, hatred, and violence we’re seeing on the news these days. What I saw in this video was that the spirit that makes America truly a great place to live is still alive and well.