Many times in the Christian community, when we pray for someone who is not present in the church service, we stand in the gap in prayer for that person. In proxy. But what about the people who do not have anyone to pray for them, to stand in the gap for them? There are many people around the world who
What is the first thing you think about when you hear that phrase, that sentence, ‘coming out’? Here in America, when someone makes the decision to come out, they are telling their family, friends, and the world; that they have made the decision to live their lifestyle out loud. They are no longer willing to hide and pretend. They have
Sometimes I think about the state of Christianity in the West. Actually, I think about it a lot. I may step on some toes, but I want us to take a personal accounting. I get upset when Christians refuse to grow. We actually feel we are OK. Recently I was listening to a show where a former terrorist who became
Years ago, when I applied for a job or promotion, asked a friend a favor, or just asked for something in general; if the answer was ‘no’, my feelings would be hurt and I would wonder what I did. I really thought it was about me. Well, as we get older, we realize the world does not revolve around us,
Spirit. This word is used to describe everything from personalities to apparitions. People with spirit are typically described as having high energy, being the life of the party, and easy to get along with. Some people even call alcoholic beverages spirits. Going just a little further, sometimes people use the term spirit as a verb. Example: ‘the kids spirited away
What if we used our struggles to better ourselves, instead of fighting against our struggles. Most people want to hide their struggles, their weakness, their faults, and their failures. What if we admitted them and then used them to make us better, lessening their effect on us and on those around us? How can we do that you ask? It
Many of us have heard of, if not seen, the movie ‘God is not dead’. It was a great reminder of the fact that God is indeed alive and well, and living…in the universe and in the hearts of his followers. But sometimes I wonder how many of us realize God is not stupid. You see, I believe many of
I never thought I would hear those words during my life time: convert or die! The stories coming out of Iraq right now are fluid, but they are not changing much. People–Christians and other ethnic minorities are being chased out of Iraq simply because they do not maintain the same beliefs as the militants that are chasing them. Some of
Many of us are familiar with the hymn ‘Trust and Obey’, written by John Sammis. ‘Trust and obey, for there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey’. Many times I have looked back at situations in my life, thankful I had obeyed God when He told me to do something. Most of the
I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. Many people dismiss it as ‘religious’, ‘holy roller’, ‘old-school’, and no longer relevant. Even Christians in an effort to seem relevant, do not use the term. What really bothers me is that some Christians believe we must stay away from certain terms and tenets of our Bible, to be relevant to people