"The Power of Paying It Forward"
What can you do?
What can you do well?
What can you do better than others?
What can you do that you can train others to do?
Which of these questions matters most?
God created us for relationship—with Him and with others. He desires that we experience His Kingdom, His provision, and His life. He doesn’t want anyone to miss out (2 Peter 3:9).
And how does He advance His Kingdom? Through people.
God uses people to serve, help, and disciple others. We all learn from someone—but who is learning from you?
Paul gave Timothy a simple yet powerful instruction:
“The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” (2 Timothy 2:2)
This is how transformation happens—how skills, values, and faith are passed down. God’s Kingdom grows when reliable Jesus-followers build reliable Jesus-followers.
You are placed where you are for a reason. Look around—who is learning from you? Who could you be investing ...
How To Live With One Another
What if God designed us to live in meaningful relationship with others? What if He wants us to impact and be impacted by each other so that we might be changed and transformed in the process? If this were actually God’s design and plan, how might it affect how we act toward others and how we receive from them?
God has placed the lonely in households (Psalm 68:6), with families, friends, workmates and possibly most importantly in the household of faith. He has made us to have effect on each other. It is as if our souls have been created with permeable membranes that allow overlap and exchange when we come close to each other. We experience the most exchange with those who come closest. Maybe that’s why we can be so irritated by our spouse, family or good friend. It can also explain how we pick up mannerisms, expressions and worldviews from each other.
The New Testament is peppered with verses that describe how we can best relate to “one another.” They express how the Kingdom of God i...
How Are You Doing?
“How are you? … I hope all is well.” This is the kind of greeting many of us write to those we have not been in touch with for a while.  It’s a very general and surface approach. When in person, however, we may want to go deeper. Unfortunately, oftentimes people are not very aware of how they are doing and aren’t inclined to answer very deeply. When you ask most people how they are doing, they may describe what’s going on around them – their circumstances.  If you press in a little further, they might describe how they feel about their circumstances and what they are trying to do about them. Few people seem to take stock of how they are doing below/beyond their circumstances. Yet, our lives are deeper than what is happening around us.
Our circumstances will change. Sometimes great things will happen and sometimes horrendous things will happen. Sometimes life seems very routine. These experiences will affect us, but they need not determine the state of our soul.  Jesus told Hi...
Is There Spiritual Leakage in Your Life?
Do you want to walk in God’s power and strength, or do you prefer to go it alone? This is a question we must each honestly ask ourselves. If you want to walk in God, you must learn to positively respond to His commands and directives. You must also be willing to say “No” to lesser things.
A.W. Tozer gave students, at Wheaton College, 5 important “Don’ts” that can help strengthen us and prevent “spiritual leakage” in our lives. Let’s take a moment and consider them together.
-  Don’t trifle (i.e. play or deal lightly) with sin
There is no need to waste your time/life with things that don’t truly satisfy and actually will make your spirit weak and sick.  Don’t slow down to even toy with sin. Keep moving ahead, living full wholesome lives and obeying His positive commands.
-  Don’t steal God’s glory
Don’t be so concerned about other people’s opinion of you. If you live well and give proper respect to God’s provision, direction and power in your life, you will not be overlooked....
Can We Talk?
Many people in our country believe that faith is a personal thing – that it’s not something to talk about or share with others. To believe this, however, is to believe that there is no real, solid, true faith that we must all consider.
The Bible uses the expression “the faith” to describe a solid belief in Jesus Christ that impacts and informs all aspects of life. People are to be strengthened in the faith, encouraged to stand strong in the faith, to examine themselves to make sure they are in the faith, to grow in the unity of the faith and to experience joy in the faith together. Faith is personal.  Faith is also corporate.  We need to be discuss it so we can grow and progress in our understanding, application and practice of “the faith.”
In Ephesians 4:15 we are instructed to “speak the truth in love” to each other. This is what we all need spiritually and relationally. We need to receive both love and truth, and we need to express love and truth others.
The apostle Paul urges...
