Do you ever feel uncomfortable being a Christian where you live, work, or play? I’ve just finished Ian Morgan Cron’s book, Chasing Francis.* In it, the main character observes: “Once you’ve been outed as a conservative Christian, [people] assume you’re a right-wing, self-satisfied fundamentalist with all the mental acuity of a houseplant.” I’ve felt this way sometimes. It tempts me to hide. 1...
Spark
The internal struggle against sin is itself reason to hope. It’s evidence of the Master’s work in your heart, a spark of goodness within that wants to grow. But for many who struggle, however hard they try, the spark of good remains just a spark, seemingly ineffective amidst the familiar dark waters of temptation. Can you relate? You want to stop yelling at your kids, but you lost your temper...
How to Keep Relief from Ruining You
We live in a culture addicted to relief. Whether aspirin, TV, workaholism, gossip, food, or porn, we run to relief at every turn. Why not? If we can experience relief now, why would we not take it? Because it’s ruining us. Why? Because individually and collectively we’ve elevated relief over restoration. Relief is a lessening or removal of suffering. Restoration is when something is brought...
When Experience Isn’t a Good Thing
Nothing on earth has the authority to define you. Your identity—your true identity—is who God created you to be. And yet, what you experience regularly informs your sense of who you are. In other words, your experiences—your circumstances, interactions, feelings, temptations, actions, etc.—all give you their opinion about who you are. And as you might guess, their opinion frequently doesn’t align...
Jesus Isn’t Scared
Anxiety is a breeding ground for sin. So when an area of sin in your life or in a loved one’s creates anxiety in you, it doesn’t help. In fact, it can make things worse. Have you experienced this? In stark and beautiful contrast, Jesus is not anxious: He talks alone with a scandalously sinful woman as though she were his next-door neighbor (John 4:5 – 26). He invites himself to lunch at a corrupt...
Why Does God Allow Temptation?
Why does God allow temptation? Could it be you're tempted because this is what God wants for you? Or could it be he has something much better for you?
