Category: faith

The Spontaneity and Joy Of Christian Freedom

In the Old Testament, God had a miles-long list of instructions for the building in which His presence would dwell; in the New Testament, He has two paragraphs for the believers in whom He dwells. Such a command seems simple, sometimes too simple, and sometimes it goes against our instinct to complicate things. [Click title to read more.]

The Slow Fade of Consistent, Independent Bible Study

If believers lose the desire among themselves for consistent, individual, and independent Bible study, we've lost the core of our entire Christian walk: the foundation of our understanding of God, of Christ, of the Holy Spirit, and of what He expects and desires of us. [Click title to read more.]

Sports and Misleading Narratives of Christian Victory: Or, That Time I Swore I’d Shave Off My Eyebrows

It's interesting to me that we never equate God's victory with loss. That we never equate God with the less-than-happy-end, or with what happens when things don't turn out right. The team that slumps into the locker room doesn't say, "Well, He's the reason we're here." After a fumble or a turnover, the football player doesn't crouch and quietly thank God.

God’s Sacrifice

I still don't know why God does what he does. I still wonder about the tension between what God can do and what God will do and why sometimes our faith doesn't move mountains - even when we have as much as we can muster. But God asks so little of us in comparison to what He has demanded of Himself to love us. Truly, He is not far. [Click title to read more.]

To Those Who Are Struggling

On the frustrating day, on the dark day, on the hopeless day, our prayers and our faith - tarnished and stumbling and broken as they are - shine brighter. And what matters the most is not if they are strong, and not if they are hopeful, and not if they are packed with praise, but that they are there at all. [Click title to read more.]

Don’t Say “I’ll Pray For You” (Unless You’re Willing To Follow Up)

Prayer can't become a believer's band-aid. It can't become that thing we do so that we don't have to do anything else. In the times that it's possible to do more than shoot a wish skyward, we are obligated to do so - for those to whom much is given, much is required. Follow up. Give. Care. Our role in grace-giving does not end the moment the words leave our lips. Love does not stop at the foot of the throne. [Click title to read more.]

Faith Is A Christian With No Answers

Faith is not the blind belief that everything will be fine. Faith is not a self-hypnosis that magically transforms the bad things in our life into good ones, or automatically makes us content to struggle forward without answers. No. Faith is an effort of will. It is the resolution of heart and mind. [To read more, click title.]