I believe these Holy Spirit-infused moments, when the thin veil of reality billows ever so slightly and we gain a glimpse of something larger and deeper than ourselves, are the moments that form and strengthen and sustain us in faith and in life.
Although email and video conferencing are effective tools, there is nothing quite like meeting face to face – praying, eating, laughing, planning, hoping, and learning together.
As we enter a season of offering thanks in the United States, consider what proportion of your prayers express gratitude.
When we participate together in worship, we not only allow God to form and shape our hearts, we allow other Christians to serve as channels of God’s grace in our lives.
My experience in the Eternal City taught me three important things about evangelism.
Our witness for Christ is always strengthened when we become keenly aware of our journey in Christ.
Joining together in fellowship, in physical presence, allows our senses to whisper that among a group of particular people, we belong.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians, “So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.”
The interesting thing about praying for needs that aren’t our own is that many times God’s response is not as much directly about those needs as it is directly about us.
Peace is not simply the absence of threat, danger, or conflict. It is also the abundant presence of well-being, in which we breathe flourishing.
The disciples were transformed into messengers by the presence of Jesus in real time, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
It’s dangerous to live your life with a past focus, with a two-dimensional Jesus, because you may end up following a tradition instead of following Jesus, God’s living Word.
Jesus wasn’t about hanging out on the “healthy” side of the river, the side of the “haves.”
It is better to stop worrying about the results of our evangelizing and instead worry about whether we have truly made the gospel known in our relationships with others.
Deep and authentic faith is meaningful; but can be costly, challenging, even frightening.
If you reflect on your spiritual walk, how do Peter’s various responses to Jesus resonate with your experience?
Yet, for our faith to be real, for it to be authentic, we must risk moving out of the shadows. So the question is, how close to the fire will we get?
Integrity as a core value of authentic evangelism is not only about our integrity, but about the integrity of others as well and allows space for the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.
And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
Prayer is asking. It is a request. But here is the difficult truth: all prayer is answered but not all requests are granted.
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