Posts

Well Anchored....

I became a believer in Jesus Christ during my freshman year of college. I grew in the faith through an amazing collegiate ministry committed to discipleship and multiplication. I have many a friends that I consider great brothers and sisters in Christ that I am not as close to now because of the progression of life and where God has lead all of us with jobs, families, etc. I remember reading through Hebrews 6 with friends and close guys in my discipleship group and thinking how scary it is that some can fall away from the faith to the point of not being able to be restored.  I also remember thinking that none of those I have come to know through our ministry and church would be regarded as those that fall away. It did not take but a couple of years to see this actually manifest itself. I wont go into details as to how all of that happened. The point is that over the last 10 years I have seen friends from college ministry, church, and seminary that I considered rock solid suddenly
1 comment
Read more

Steadiness

     As I am considering what to write in regards to steadiness I have this mental picture of a horse trainer riding a new horse. I picture the trainer saying "Whoa, steady girl...steady..."  Obviously, I'm no horse trainer, but I did read of a horse trainer seeking for help.  This particular horse owner has a six year old Mustang she has been training for 10 months. Problem is, he can't seem to slow down. The result: "of course then I [the owner] get nervous and then he [the Mustang] gets nervous and we end up in a mess."      I wonder how many of us can relate to this?      Has there ever been a time in your life when you just can't slow down? You get nervous and then put your nervousness on someone else? Your wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, friends, family, etc? All of a sudden, now you "end up in a mess" with your spouse, friends, families. There seems to be a cycle: You get nervous, you bring someone else into your nervousness,
Post a Comment
Read more

Accountability

Hey everyone, So in effort to back up what Trea mentioned tonight about accountability I wanted to share some quotes from Dr. Lawless' book  Mentor .  The book focuses more on the one on one mentoring/discipleship relationships that we hope to have in our churches today, but I think the same principles can be applied to our small group.  First, "In mentoring relationships [in our case deep relationships with another in small group] confession is essential - people need to be utterly honest.  Spiritual full disclouser brings our sin out of the Enemy's darkness into God's light where we can deal with it through repentance and forgiveness." "[Leaders and fellow believers] who grant grace to people who have failed aren't ignoring or negating the consequences of sin. Instead, they are modeling God's love to a fallen yet repentant people.  Good [leadership and relationships] create an atmosphere for honest confession because the [person] knows that admittin
Post a Comment
Read more

What Leads to Proclaiming God's Majesty?

Psalm 8 begins and ends with the exclamation: "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" Clearly, this is an expression of praise that David is giving to God, yet it seems to come in the context of preceding psalms that speak of trouble, fear, trial, and hopelessness. Perhaps this psalm gives a great picture of how it is that we can make it through the troubles of life. How does this happen? Since this psalm is bracketed, verses 1 and 9, with this exclamation of praise, then whatever fuels this praise will be found in verses 2 to 8. First, we see how God establishes his strength on earth (verse 2) God has established strength on this earth because God has foes in this world.  Think on Ephesians 2 and the truth that prior to salvation, all were "sons of disobedience" and lived in willing and open rebellion against God. This verse shows us that God's purpose in establishing strength in this world is to "still the enemy and the aven
Post a Comment
Read more

The Progression of 'Unchecked' Desires

"What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions   are   at war within you?   You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.   You ask and do not receive, because you ask   wrongly, to spend it on your passions.   You adulterous people!   Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?   Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." - James 4:1-4      This passage, to me, seems to be one of the most black and white passages in all of Scripture.  James is asking this incredibly strong rhetorical question: Why do you fight? What causes competition among you, Christians?  Why does all of mankind seek to overtake one another?  Why is there anger and hatred in the very relationships that should be marked by peace and fellowship?  Because of your desires!  You want something and you do n
Post a Comment
Read more

The One Who Fights For You and I

Psalm 2 and 3 have been amazing to read and study! We often hear preachers talk about the Psalms in beautiful words.  The way the poetry comes to life and draws us into the Scripture so that we can experience God in very intimate way is a blessing that is only experienced by those who have "taken refuge in Him" (Psalm 2:12). Psalm 2 : God laughs and mocks and consider it vanity for that which is wicked to conspire against God's people.  God has a King whom he has placed on his holy hill of Zion. God has told David that he is God's Son (implying divine annointing) and that God has made him to be king of His people. [Reference to Biblical theology here, the Son  can refer to David and/or the Messiah.] God will subdue the nations and give them to David as his possessions. David, strengthened by God, will break  and smash to pieces  his enemies, like a potter and his clay. Thus, the warning is to the nations and all whom are against God. The plea is to kiss,  make peac
Post a Comment
Read more

The Paradox of Solitude and Community

So this post might actually be more journal than blog today, which makes me feel like a high school girl.  Sorry for all other bloggers who read that.  That's just usually what I think about when it comes to blogging and the whole "dear diary" shibang. Whatever...light humor. Let's face it today has been crazy, but there has been some sweet graces from God in it. So the title mentions a paradox...well I've adopted this from Deitrich Bonhoeffer's book Life Together  (highly recommended).  The focus of the book is around Gospel-centered relationships.  In the book, Bonhoeffer mentions that an individual is never fully capable of being alone unless he/she understands life in community; and an individual is never full capable of community without understanding life in solitude. Essentially, the idea is that you can't live out life alone, yet you cannot be utterly dependent on community.  The Gospel community speaks truth into your personal life, while at t
Post a Comment
Read more