Sometimes a man feels in his heart to do something he doesn’t necessarily know whether is of God or his own ambition. And if he actually does it, many will debate whether it was right or wrong.
When a man communes with God he will have passions laid on his heart that feel an awfully lot like personal ambition, but is indeed from God.
And when he feels that prompting, burden, passion—whatever you want to call it—he must do something about it even if it’s not going to be a popular move.
If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world. – C.S. Lewis
Nobody likes change, yet simply living and breathing requires change. There’s no escaping it. That often leaves us grieving what was, fearing what is to come and uncertain about what to be and do in the meantime.
This is where Teresa and I find ourselves right now.
There’s nothing mystical about writing well. Anyone can do it, and anyone who does it long enough, meaningful enough, and public enough begins to influence others. All you have to do is put one word after the other. That’s it!
Many gifted, eloquent people never write because they fail to discipline themselves at the practice. That’s why I’m introducing a writing challenge. We need more excellent writers. But we won’t get any unless we start practicing.
I challenge you to take a few minutes every day for two weeks straight and write 500 words. That’s it! Five hundred words. Don’t worry about spelling or grammar, just write. If you can do that each day for two weeks, I guarantee you will be a much better writer than you were at first.
Not everyone is a writer; but my guess is many of you are, you just don’t know it yet.
Either you’ve never taken the time to try or you don’t know where to start. You see writing as something done by really gifted wordsmiths (or those who enjoyed school). But that’s not what defines whether or not someone becomes a writer. What defines writers from non-writers is that writers are constantly practicing their craft.
That’s why I’m introducing my own writing challenge. If you would like to test the waters of writing, or if you already are a writer and want to take it to the next level, I challenge you to take a few minutes every day for two weeks straight and write five-hundred words.
I’ve been writing on this blog for nearly three years and it’s awesome to see how God is using it to help others sort through tough questions they face so they can live more vibrant lives of love. My desire is to serve you as readers. To provide a platform for discussion as well as direction for where to go from here.
Part of serving you and giving direction includes spilling the beans on other blogs I believe you could deeply benefit from. If you enjoy following this blog, I’m going to share with you ten other blogs also worth following. This wasn’t preplanned with any of the authors–there’s no promotional strategy behind it. I simply want to let you in on valuable voices and excellent writing.
I’m excited to see more and more people take writing and communication seriously enough to start and intentionally maintain a blog because I deeply believe in the power of communication to influence the direction of generations, and blogging is one small, simple step we can take in communicating and influencing for Christ.
Because of grace, there are no excuses for sinful living. Only, God is for us. Not against us. Too often we live the Christian life expecting ourselves to be more perfect then even God expects us to be. As if holiness is something we are to accomplish before we have peace with Him. But that matter was taken care of by Christ on the Cross. We have peace, period. We can now live in relationship with God, and it is from that relationship we find the ability to live as He designed, to obey Him from the heart instead of obligation as they did under the Old Testament Law.
We still live in a fallen world, though, bound by a fallen nature. Living as He designed goes contrary to our nature. We have been grafted in—we’re not a part of the trunk that gave us root. It feels more natural to live without Him.
It is within this context that Paul is writing in Roman’s twelve.
Until our relationships accurately represent Christ, our doctrines will always be held in suspect.
Not everyone is rebellious, wanting to do their own thing. Many know the Bible and the God of the Bible and how He relates in love and grace, and when that isn’t being lived out in a community that focuses so much on trying to be like Christ, we feel something is missing.
But what if we’re chasing relationships at the expense of faithfulness? What if in our desperation for Christ, we completely miss Him?
There’s nothing wrong in and of itself with doing things different from the world. The problem comes when we spiritualize what we decide to do instead.
What are we talking about when we say we shouldn’t be conformed to the world? What do we mean when we talk about being transformed, or “holy.”
Can I tell when you are being assimilated to an earthly culture? Can I tell when you are assimilating to a heavenly culture (or mindset)? Is holiness something we dissect from looking at each other? Is worldliness something that can be prevented by keeping the external in order?
Does what happens on the outside actually reveal what’s on the inside? Is the heart the only thing that matters?
We all long for a sense of meaning. Until you and I get a picture for how we individually fit into God’s plan of reconciliation, we will always settle for lesser pleasures that give just enough fulfillment for us to sense deep meaning.
Knowing a lot about God and what He created us to do doesn’t motivate us to actually do it anymore than knowing how to churn butter motivates us to churn it ourselves. Knowing our calling isn’t so much about learning facts as it is discovering God’s work in our lives.
Until we discover His work in our lives, the pleasures that following Him requires us to give up will always have a greater pull on our hearts then Jesus Christ Himself.
If God did create, then His plan for my life is the plan that is most fulfilling. Because I am born with a fallen nature, I constantly trying doing life outside of His plan. I need saved. When I am saved, I become a part of a family that far transcends my immediate friends and connections. Experiencing more of God requires my continual engagement with His people.
Creation and salvation are absolutely fundamental for understanding life as God designed. Church, the body of Christ, is a critical part of going deeper with Him. But understanding creation, experiencing salvation, and participating with church are not enough to live a life that truly matters.
True meaning comes from radical love.
What is the point of church? With as many frustrations and variations in the Christian church today, is what we know as church really what God intended? Did He anticipate there being so many different denominations, different approaches to Scripture, and different ways of living out faith? Or this all some grand mistake? Is the church as God designed lost?
The Christian faith is a romance story. God refers to it as such throughout all of Scripture. Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom, relentlessly pursues His beautiful bride, the church.
Do you see the church as a place you experience the agape love and redemption of God, or is church to you a place where you experience the brokenness of man? Does engaging the church of Christ feel like a natural overflow of your commitment to Him, or does it feel like an obligation of the Christian faith?
Author Asher Witmer knows what it’s like to want freedom from sexual sin only to continually fail. We’re often told we need more personal discipline, that we need to think godly things instead of fleshly things.
What if I told you that discipline won’t solve your problem with lust?
Our male sexuality is given by God for advancing beauty and goodness. But somewhere along the line it becomes something that causes devastation and guilt. The good news is we don’t have to live with guilt. In Live Free, Asher Witmer shows us how we can find freedom from sexual sin, live with nothing to hide, and be able to fight for others.
