Spiritual Formation
Fighting Sin
Fighting Sin
It's not time to rest yet.

Most of us know the feeling of being all tied up inside. We get stuck in sin or just stuck in turmoil. And when we've tried to conquer something for a long time, it feels impossible to conquer it by ourselves.

God grants us moments when we get to ...

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Is the Bible, or Your Perception of the Bible, Shaping You?
We have to guard against being bent by cultural winds.

If someone asked what you were doing as you surfed the web, you probably wouldn't say, "Oh, I'm being discipled." You probably wouldn't say you were "receiving moral instruction" while you watched last week's primetime ...

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Understanding Lust
Understanding Lust
Our desires aren't the problem—it's what we do with them.

Use of pornography and other sexual sins are rampant in our culture and in the church. Many have concluded that such behavior or at least the lust that drives them is fundamentally an unsolvable problem, a sin that will not be defeated in the lives of ...

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Creating Space for God
Creating Space for God
Where, when, and how has God tapped you on the shoulder but you missed it because you were too busy or distracted to listen?

When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you (Matthew 6:6 NIV).

From the earliest days of Christian history, believers have developed ways of ...

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Willing to Be Weak
I always wanted to be the strong one …

Perhaps it's because I'm the youngest of five. Or maybe it's because I'm short and always looked young for my age when I was a teenager and in my 20s (although nobody says that anymore!). It could be because my mother really valued strong women. Or possibly ...

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Prepare for a Shock
Prepare for a Shock
The Resurrection is cause for celebration, but it should always shake us up a little too.

When I was 14, my church did something unusual for Easter Sunday. Instead of meeting in our building, we chose to hold our service on a hill overlooking the city. We wanted to watch the sunrise as we pondered the Resurrection.

Yet when we arrived, we ...

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I Gave Up Worry for Lent
I Gave Up Worry for Lent
Consider taking 40 days to give up a deep-seated sin.

I am not part of a church that regularly practices Lent, but the last few years I thought it would be good for me to give up something for 40 days, helping me to see my addictions and dependencies. In our indulgent, instant-gratification society, I saw ...

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The Drive for Perfection
It's a dead-end street.

Company's coming! Our house must resemble House Beautiful, or heads will roll. I could feel my anger rising. How many times had I shown her how to put the towels in that closet? Yet, there they were, uneven again.

Have you ever seen the reactions of those ...

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Living with Depression
Living with Depression
Finding hope when life seems hopeless

A gentle touch woke me. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and saw my dad standing beside the bed.

"Sweetie," he said softly, "your Grandma Louden passed away this morning."

A door slammed in my mind. The hollow echo left me in a dark, ...

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Silence and Solitude
Silence and Solitude
These spiritual disciplines supply fuel for my soul.

I was raised quietly. My mother was a country girl and loved to hear nature around her, so we never had music playing in the background and had strictly designated times to watch TV. She often avoided conversation too, much to my chagrin when I was trying ...

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Serving God in the Ordinary
Serving God in the Ordinary
Greatness in God's kingdom is different than we think.

The disciples asked Jesus, "Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" (Matt. 18:1). We learn that answer from both Moses and Jesus.

The Kingdom-Mindedness of Moses

I am inspired by the life and character of Moses, because he exhibited ...

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UnPoverty
UnPoverty
Rich lessons from the working poor

Unpoverty [uhn-pov-er-tee] -noun

1. the state of eradicating extreme poverty2. the reversal of a perpetual state of deprivation3. the provision of basic human needsBase word origin: 1175; Medieval English poverteOld French poverte Latin paupertatem, small ...

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Christmas Is for Those Who Hate It Most
Christmas Is for Those Who Hate It Most
Because the manger is the most hopeful place in a universe

We are by now accustomed to hearing about how Christmas is difficult for many people. The story of Scrooge and his—ahem—problems with this season are no longer anecdotal. It is now par for the course. Maybe it always has been. Maybe the joy ...

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The Best Way (for me) to Pray
The Best Way (for me) to Pray
Find the prayer method that suits you best.

As a child, my understanding of prayer was shaped largely by what I observed at church. Sure, my family prayed before meals. And yeah, my parents prayed with me when they tucked me in at night. I understood that prayer was, essentially, communication ...

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Finding the Jewel in Job Loss
There is more to the process than just finding another job.

It was a typical Monday morning when the senior pastor, with whom I had worked for ten years, knocked on my door and asked if we could talk for a moment. As I listened to him speak, my mind began to whirl, Did he just say what I thought he said? No, ...

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When You're Scared Senseless
When You're Scared Senseless
Are you going to trust God or not?

My three-year-old granddaughter is afraid of everything. She's afraid lions lurk in the dining room when the lights are off, that the next page in the storybook is going to show a cat scratching a dog (we skip that page), and that any food other ...

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The Social, Economic, and Political Commitments of the Early Church
The Social, Economic, and Political Commitments of the Early Church
They were all about faith in action.

"What answer shall you make to the judge, you who dress walls, but will not clothe a man; who spruce up horses, and overlook an unfashionable brother; who leave grain to rot, but will not feed the starving; who bury your money and despise the oppressed?" ...

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Unbalanced Blessings
Unbalanced Blessings
Why do some people get all the blessings? The balancing act of life is always tempered by the one gift that cost God everything.

As we toured my friend's beautiful home, I was struck with the details of design and construction. Walnut woodwork accented each room with coordinating built-ins. Archways led into the kitchen and family room area while granite countertops polished ...

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Counteract Your Troubling Emotions
Counteract Your Troubling Emotions
There is a way to joy and peace.

Dave Boon and his family were on their way to a youth group ski trip when an avalanche swept his car over a guardrail. The blast of mountain snow sent the car down the mountain slope, where it was stopped by a tree.

Fortunately, they survived, but Boon ...

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Is Patriotism Christian?
Is Patriotism Christian?
Finding the right balance

One Sunday morning in college, I attended church with an Austrian friend who hadn't been to many American churches. So after the service, I asked him what he thought of the experience.

"It was fine," he said. I could tell something was troubling ...

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