The dynamics of trust and obedience define the relational and personal dimensions of faith. We tend to treasure what we trust and trust what we treasure.
At its most basic level, Christian faith is a centered, personal, relational response involving trust and obedience.
Human identity is formed as we navigate a process of separating and joining. We become most fully who we are, not when we reach independence, but when we understand our interdependence and recognize that we are both separate and connected to those around us.
As Christians, we have a great deal to say about the meaning of suffering.
The Holy Spirit is present, active, and involved with all of creation in a life-giving way.
Creation is never an extra in Christian faith; it is foundational. All else moves outward from there.
“As Christians, we have a great deal to say about the meaning of suffering.”
Let your eyes wander to places you’ve never heard of, or cities you can’t pronounce. Ask God to be at work in those places. When you’ve prayed around the world, turn the globe so you can see your home region. Picture a map being zoomed in around your house or flat, and pray for God to be at work in
Seminar participants are so committed to faith and evangelism. If you want to be Christian here you have to be incredibly committed.
It may just be that we don’t make connections between our experience of being in relationship with Jesus Christ and the experience of the rest of the world through massive efforts and structures. It may just be that it’s about the intimacy of crossing a footbridge to meet another in the middle.
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.
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