God will never allow me to face a temptation that is too much for me to bear. God provides me all I need to be able to stay strong through temptation. I can do my part by following four principles: When faced with temptation I need to have confidence in God – confidence that He…
Day twenty seven of The Purpose Driven Life deals with temptation and how every temptation is an opportunity to do good. A temptation is only a stumbling block if I react the wrong way. What Satan uses as his primary tool to destroy me is what God uses as a primary tool to develop my…
Because today is a very busy Sunday, this is an abbreviated look at day twenty five of The Purpose Driven Life God has a purpose behind every trouble. God uses circumstances to develop my character. God will often use tough times in life to test me and mold me into Christ’s likeness. Through the hard…
God’s truth transforms me. The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make me like the Son of God. Unlike any other book in the world, the Bible is alive. It is the spiritual nourishment I need to grow spiritually. I need to not only read God’s Word, but abide in it. There…
God wants me to grow up. It is God’s will that I mature as a Christian, becoming more and more like Jesus. We see that in the Christian world many people never do grow up and much of the reason for this is that people do not dedicate themselves to spiritual growth. Growth is not…
Nominations were announced today for the 46th annual Grammy Awards. My only interest in this is two categories – Best Rock Gospel Album and Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album. First, let’s look at the nominations for Best Rock Gospel Album. My pick in this group is Petra. That will not come as a great surprise to…
Day Twenty Two of The Purpose Driven Life begins the examination of my third purpose – becoming like Christ. God’s plan for me from the very beginning was for me to become like Christ. The way to achieve Christ-likeness is through the transformation of my character. It is important to note that this does not…
Having completed my series on Calvinism and Arminianism, I am now (by request) working on a series on basic Christianity. It is likely to be a long series of at least ten articles. I hope to post the first of them later this week. I just launched a new Web site for a friend of…
It is my job to protect the unity of my church. Unity is a critical component of God’s plan for Christian community and I must do all I can to promote it. The Bible gives several pointers on how to protect the unity in my church. God blesses churches that are unified. It is the…
Today is my twenty seventh birthday. Since we have home church tonight we decided to have my birthday meal and do presents last night. Dinner wasn’t anything too special, but at least I didn’t have to help make it or do the dishes. As for my gifts, I received a good balance of music and…
Day twenty of The Purpose Driven Life is devoted to restoring broken fellowships. Now that I have been shown the importance of community and the ways to cultivate community it seems logical that we would discuss those with whom we no longer have fellowship. Warren provides seven biblical steps to restoring broken fellowship: Bible Passages…
This is part five of our series studying the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism. Please note that this is only a brief overview of a vast topic. A thorough discussion of this topic can (and often has) filled many books. At the conclusion of the series I will provide a list of helpful resources should…
Having discussed the importance of a small group community, Warren now provides pointers on how to cultivate community. Warren suggest making a group covenant that will have each member of the group commit to the characteristics of biblical fellowship. Bible Passages Warren quotes the Bible twenty one times using seven translations and paraphrases. He generally…
I need to belong not only to a church but also to a small group within the church. Life is meant to be shared and it is best shared with a small group of dedicated friends with whom I can experience true fellowship. The ultimate model for a small group is Jesus’ twelve disciples. He…
God does not just call us to believe; He also calls us to belong to His family. The Bible shows that from the beginning of creation “it was not good for man to be alone.” We were formed to be part of a body of believers. The Bible speaks of a human body and shows…
This is part four of our series studying the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism. Please note that this is only a brief overview of a vast topic. A thorough discussion of this topic can (and often has) filled many books. At the conclusion of the series I will provide a list of helpful resources should…
Life is all about love. Because God is love – because He is the greatest example of love and because He embodies love – he wants me to spend my life loving others. Love is the foundation of every law and commandment He has given. Though I am called to love everyone in the world,…
God made me to be part of his family. So begins my study into the second purpose of my life. God, who already had perfect relationships within the Godhead, desired a family to bring Him glory. The only way to be part of God’s family is to be born again as a child of God.…
This is part three of our series studying the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism. Please note that this is only a brief overview of a vast topic. A thorough discussion of this topic can (and often has) filled many books. At the conclusion of the series I will provide a list of helpful resources should…
Sometimes in my life God feels distant, but I need to realize that He is real and He is there, even when it doesn’t feel like it. It is always easy to be worshipful when life is good, but when times are tough am I able to worship God? It is in the times of…