Month: October 2018

What If My Personality Does Not Fit My Church?

While I was never one of the cool kids in school, I have a personality that’s easily welcomed in church. I’m bubbly. I’m a married, creative mother (bonus!) with domestic-diva interests and a bleeding heart. I’m high-capacity in my time management and irreverent in the right ways. So my gifts, talents, and temperament can really gain me respect in these circles.

The Trial of Faith

If you have faith as a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you. —Matthew 17:20

We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, and it may be so in the initial stages. But we do not earn anything through faith— faith brings us into the right relationship with God and gives Him His opportunity to work. Yet God frequently has to knock…

Discover How The Holy Spirit Encourages Our Hearts

In our day-to-day struggles, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with negative emotions; fear, anxiety, anger, despair. But gratefully, we don’t have to deal with those feelings alone. Today on Discover the Word, the team will explore how the Holy Spirit strengthens and encourages our hearts. Tune in today for Discover the Word!

Love and Harmony

Following the death of my father, some of the children in Uganda I’ve known and worked with for years made signs for me expressing their love and condolences. The gesture warmed my heart, buoyed my spirits, and reminded me what it means to have others acknowledge your losses and to walk with you through them.

Hope in the Darkness

According to legend, Qu Yuan was a wise and patriotic Chinese government official who lived during the time known as the Warring States period (475–246 bc). It has been said that he tried repeatedly to warn his king about an impending threat that would destroy the country, but the king rejected his advice. Eventually, Qu Yuan was exiled. When he learned about the fall of his beloved country to the foe he had warned about, he ended his life.

Qu Yuan’s life resembles some aspects of the life of the prophet Jeremiah. He too served kings who scorned his warnings, and…

The Trial of Faith

If you have faith as a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you. —Matthew 17:20

We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, and it may be so in the initial stages. But we do not earn anything through faith— faith brings us into the right relationship with God and gives Him His opportunity to work. Yet God frequently has to knock…

Discover How The Holy Spirit Encourages Our Hearts

In our day-to-day struggles, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with negative emotions; fear, anxiety, anger, despair. But gratefully, we don’t have to deal with those feelings alone. Today on Discover the Word, the team will explore how the Holy Spirit strengthens and encourages our hearts. Tune in today for Discover the Word!

Hope in the Darkness

According to legend, Qu Yuan was a wise and patriotic Chinese government official who lived during the time known as the Warring States period (475–246 bc). It has been said that he tried repeatedly to warn his king about an impending threat that would destroy the country, but the king rejected his advice. Eventually, Qu Yuan was exiled. When he learned about the fall of his beloved country to the foe he had warned about, he ended his life.

Qu Yuan’s life resembles some aspects of the life of the prophet Jeremiah. He too served kings who scorned his warnings, and…

Faith

Without faith it is impossible to please Him… —Hebrews 11:6

Faith in active opposition to common sense is mistaken enthusiasm and narrow-mindedness, and common sense in opposition to faith demonstrates a mistaken reliance on reason as the basis for truth. The life of faith brings the two of these into the proper relationship. Common sense and faith are as different…

Faith

Without faith it is impossible to please Him… —Hebrews 11:6

Faith in active opposition to common sense is mistaken enthusiasm and narrow-mindedness, and common sense in opposition to faith demonstrates a mistaken reliance on reason as the basis for truth. The life of faith brings the two of these into the proper relationship. Common sense and faith are as different…

Turning To Christ When You Feel Defeated

When life doesn’t go as planned, we often feel defeated and hopeless. But there’s one place we can always turn for help. Today on Discover the Word, the team reminds us that God is our ever-present source of help in times of need. We’ll save you a seat at the table, today as we Discover […]

4 Ways To Celebrate Reformation Day

While October 31 is more popularly known as Halloween, the date also holds a special place in the heart of many Christians. On this day 501 years ago, a German monk named Martin Luther published a list of grievances against the Catholic Church. He nailed this list—which later came to be called the 95 Theses—to the door of the chapel at the University of Wittenberg, and this ignited a movement.

Agreeing to Disagree

I remember hearing my dad talk about how difficult it was to walk away from unending arguments over differing interpretations of the Bible. By contrast he recalled how good it was when both sides agreed to disagree.

But is it really possible to set aside irreconcilable differences when so much seems to be at stake? That’s one of the questions the apostle Paul answers in his New Testament letter to the Romans. Writing to readers caught in social, political, and religious conflict, he suggests ways of finding common ground even under the most polarized conditions (14:5–6).

According to Paul the way to…

Is God the same in the Old & New Testament?

What’s going on with God in the Old Testament? He’s so angry and violent. If he’s not flooding the earth then he’s blowing up entire civilisations or telling His people to invade enemy cities and kill everyone! It can be hard to digest some of the things God does in the Old Testament—and to really believe it’s the same God…

Is God the same in the Old & New Testament?

What’s going on with God in the Old Testament? He’s so angry and violent. If he’s not flooding the earth then he’s blowing up entire civilisations or telling His people to invade enemy cities and kill everyone! It can be hard to digest some of the things God does in the Old Testament—and to really believe it’s the same God…