Faithful Writers

We tend to skip the “fly-over” Bible chapters filled with names and places we can’t pronounce. But what if one of those forgotten chapters actually tells the story of your life — your journey, your struggles, your growth?

I was skeptical of modern miracles. But in a rented classroom, during an ordinary Bible study, I saw something I can’t explain away—and neither could anyone in the room.

If you have been fed, you can feed. From Kay Arthur to John Piper, the baton of discipleship has been passed—who will you nourish in Jesus’ name?

The word abomination in the Bible has gone through a lot of reinterpretations and redefinitions. 

Now, you might be saying, “If you know the tips, how do you fall to the bottom of the well?” Because it’s not magic. We’re all living real life here and — for whatever reasons — I’m sometimes tripped up along the way.

I think more so, my mind should stay fixed on my Savior, the Author and Finisher of my Faith. The beauty of Who He is far more captivating than any of my five senses have beheld, albeit they’ve beheld much.

The Bible isn’t dead ink. Not because the pages themselves are like a magic potion. But because they have the ability to inspire the reader to living a wise life. There are lines in Scripture I’ve read a hundred times. But then one day, in the middle of a mess, or a moment of quiet, or a hard conversation with God, I’ll read that same line again — and it lands different. It breathes.

‎Some people are toxic, some are not meant for you. You need to do a deliberate act of sieving the number of people on your friend list, contact list, et cetra.

Turns out, the most unexpected place to grow your faith is on a classroom floor with a glue stick in one hand and someone’s lost tooth in the other.

Discipline is needed in child upbringing, but not abuse - they are 2 separate waters that do not mix.

Tear rolls down a cheek in close-up of an eye with long eyelashes. The grayscale image conveys a mood of sadness or emotion.

It’s what makes us morally responsible before God. He gave us a will so that love and obedience could be genuine, not robotic. God doesn’t force obedience — He invites it. The will is where we answer that invitation.

I keep seeing this argument pop up, and I find it both obnoxious and very ignorant. The argument is that Mary wasn’t actually a virgin, and

I’d feel bad if I skipped a day. Worse if I missed two. By day three, I was convinced God was giving me the silent treatment and I’d better double up on devotions just to get back in His good graces.

The encouragement for today is that having great faith does not exempt us from making mistakes. Such errors originate from either attempting to help God do what He alone promises, our to add our own desires to the limits of what actually commanded us to do.

Today, some have tried to surgically separate the teachings of Jesus from those of the disciples. In effect, they eliminate all the New Testament save for the four Gospel stories. Some prefer the teachings of Jesus without the complications the Epistles bring to Christianity.

However, there is a qualitative difference in those born of the Holy Spirit and those who pretend to believe and have not received the special anointing mentioned by John. Jesus told his disciples that one of the benefits of receiving the Holy Spirit is that He would teach them and remind them of everything Jesus had taught them.

No Christian who is elect of God seeks revenge or attempts to be a catalyst that encourages vengeance. This is not consistent with anyone born of the Spirit of God. However, today, as in the past, many so-called Christians have championed conflict, wars, and deaths. Seeking to enforce the commands of God on a fallen world through instruments of punishment.

When I read that verse or heard it from the pulpit, I thought it meant: Read your Bible. It’s the inherent, infallible Words from the mouth of God. In reality, it was intended to reinforce the notion that the preacher’s dogmas (called doctrines) represented God's word and will on the matter.

We usually come to God ready to unload.But good conversation starts with listening. Scripture gives us God’s side of the conversation — His tone, His heart, His repeated themes of mercy, justice, presence, and love.

Doubt was treated like a disease. If you had doubts, you were either backsliding, disobedient, or not truly saved. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, it was the process of dealing with doubt that I discovered a richer relationship with Christ.

The loving Jesus you follow, and cling to certain teachings of, said this about the Old Testament: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17

When the Disciples couldn’t cast out the demon, Mark 9:14–32, Jesus demonstrated that the way life is lived between prayer sessions is much more important than the eloquence of the prayers spoken — after all, He knows what you’re about to say before you do.

That’s the tricky part, right? Because the Spirit doesn’t always show up the way we expect. We want a booming voice, a divine sign, maybe something with flashing lights and a deep Morgan Freeman-esque narration. But more often than not, the Spirit’s help looks like: