Articles Tagged '' (Page 47)

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Think You Are a 'Hopeless Case'?

The Father is looking to use you, no matter how unlikely it seems possible!

Rubel Shelley reminds us that God does his best work through the most unlikely of people.

Not Enough

What you have to offer isn't enough

What I have to offer God isn't enough. But what God can do with what I offer is more than enough. He can take my unholy life and make it right. He can take my weak faith and help me overcome. He can take my vulnerable humanity and let me say no to tempta

Tweeting Heaven

When's the last time you used your divine Twitter account?

Phil Ware reminds us that drive-by prayers and tweeting heaven and tweet prayers are ways to include God in all of our everyday activities and build upon our life of prayer.

The Most Important Thing to Know

With all the information in the Bible, what is the most important thing to know?

The Bible itself says this is the most important thing to know: Jesus died for your sins and was raised on the third day.

Neglected Expeditions

What are we forgetting before we try our ultimate ascent?

Phil Ware reminds us that in a search for a new minister, especially a preacher or preaching minister, that we need to know our specific mission as a congregation.

Let it Begin with Me!

What are we to do with such great human need and such great risk?

Phillip Morrison is back as our conscience asking us about how we sort through the refugee crisis in Syria and what are we going to do about it.

Yogi and Red Trucks

Don't you have any of those red trucks to send?

Rubel Shelly reminds us of the character who was Yogi Berra and reminds us that we need to be certain about our communication.

The Last Letter

Death is done for

Today, now, as our world continues to spiral from disaster to warfare, to inhumanity, we must also proclaim the Urgently Important: that our Savior, Jesus Christ, has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.

A Way Through the Ice Fall

How do we avoid magical thinking and shortcuts that dangerously risk our doom?

Phil Ware continues his series of articles on churches facing the challenges of the interim season and uses the imagery of high mountain climbing to help us appreciate the challenges.

Golden Rule, Golden Door!

Some connections God makes inescapable no matter how costly obedience may be!

Phillip Morrison reminds us of the need to be open-hearted to the refugee crisis both as Americans and as Christians and to see this as a moral imperative.

'What prevents me from being baptized?'

What stands between you and the water?

The Bible says the Ethiopian eunuch was baptized and went on his way rejoicing. You can too. It was good news for the Ethiopian. It's good news for us. Everyone who is willing to put their faith in Jesus may come to him.

Some Mountains Matter More

So how do we know our mountains of greatest importance?

Phil Ware continues his series on knowing the mountains on which we are willing to die -- both doctrinal and missional mountains of significance.

Sin and Grace

Do we really need either of these? Absolutely yes!

Rubel Shelly writes about Pope Francis and the year of pardon for abortion and other sins that is available and how the world doesn't seem to get sin and wrong doing and guilt.

Following Jesus Is Not About You

Making a decision to follow Jesus is really not about you at all.

The decision to follow Jesus is not about you. If anything, it is about rejecting yourself.

Willing to Die on This Mountain

What are the mountains you would die on for what you believe and what you are called to do?

Phil Ware talks about finding our theological and missional mountains and how important it is to know them if you are going to call a minister with whom to partner.

Your Default Face

What do you look like when you are not trying look any certain way?

Deonna Shake uses her vast coaching and playing experience to introduce a key concept called "default face" and reminds us that how we carry ourselves says a lot about us.

The Immovable Ladder

The ladder has been there since the 18th century!

A ladder sits outside a window of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The ladder has been in place for over 250 years; there are writings from the 18th century that mention it. No one really knows where it came from. Nobody uses it. The ladder

Unhinderedly!

God will get us where we need to be when we need to be there!

Phil Ware continues his series on Saved at Sea focusing on Paul's promise in Philippians 1:6 and Paul's shipwreck and travel to Rome to fulfill his calling from God.

Almost Destroyed by the Actions of Another

Can you come back from near total destruction?

Stacy Voss shares the parallel between a house burned by a nearby car and the destruction in her life because of infidelity and divorce.

What a Rescue Dog Taught Me About God

A rescue dog, God, and a love story

I love God because of how much he has done for me. I was reminded of this by watching Lulu, our rescue dog.

But One Thing I Do!

How do we keep from letting the past dominate our future?

Phil Ware reminds us to let the past stay in the past and gives us Paul's advice for moving beyond our past: forgetting, straining, pressing on.

Ready for Anything That Comes

Here is someone whose faith has stood the test of time and continues to display that faith in the face of great challenges.

Phillip Morrison reminds us of the decency, faith, and goodness of two former presidents, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.

When Life Takes You Off Guard

We need to remember that hardship and family dysfunction and unfairness are not new for God's people and are the backdrop of their courageous lives of faith.

Rubel Shelly reminds us that the heroes of scripture had to endure many of the same kinds of challenges we do, that is what makes their witness so powerful.

The Instructions

Some assembly required…

The Bible, Scripture, holds God's directions for his followers. If you don't read it, you don't know how to put your life together. And what you actually get doesn't resemble anything close to what you envisioned; you have pieces lost or pieces that are

A Forgotten, but Necessary, Grace of Jesus

Should we be surprised that so many call themselves Christians but never live for Jesus?

Phil Ware shares a passion on his heart about the way we have privatized and personalize conversion and salvation that eliminates the necessary grace of Jesus' community, family, and spiritual community.