It’s okay if we’ve had some misconceptions about grace, holiness, and mission. But it’s time for us to go back to the beginning of our faith and sort them out. ✦ Suggested Reading in Dance, Stand, Run: Intro, Chapter 1 (To be read by facilitator) Intro Ladies, friends, sisters: are you ready? This week, we’re…
All Things New: The Hope of Renewal
Picture a treasure chest. Not a small box that might hold jewelry on a girl’s nightstand — a large treasure chest, larger than any suitcase you own, larger than any suitcase you’ve ever seen. Picture a massive oak treasure chest, like pirates might have used, with large iron hinges and a huge clasp. The size…
Prayer That Aligns with Jesus’ Heart
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. — 1 John 5:14 NIV A friend sent me a pretty graphic with the statement “Those who put everything in God’s hands eventually see God’s hand in everything.” I’ve also heard, “Pray and pay…
Freeedomm!!!! Living the Braveheart Life
Every man dies. Not every man really lives. —William Wallace, Braveheart Editor’s Note: More than twenty years ago Braveheart captured the hearts of moviegoers around the world. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning five. In Living the Braveheart Life, Braveheart writer Randall Wallace shares the journey that led him to the famous Scottish…
He Cares About Every Single Detail
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is mankind that You are mindful of them, human beings that You care for them? — Psalm 8: 3-4 We have a fire pit in our backyard and one of our favorite things…
Hope Is Faith Waiting for Tomorrow
Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. — C. S. Lewis We all are hopers. We are creatures who cannot stop wishing. We are four-leaf-clover collectors. We wish on the evening star. We tell stories about genies coming out of a bottle to grant three wishes. After a turkey dinner,…
What Is Surrender Anyway?
I don’t know what you are facing today, but I know what it’s like to face circumstances that are out of your control. Life can be swirling around us, it can be overwhelming and hard. We long for peace over a situation, but we try to hold on tightly for control because we feel we…
Unwavering Trust
Understanding will never bring you Peace. That’s why I have instructed you to trust in Me, not in your understanding. Human beings have a voracious appetite for trying to figure things out in order to gain a sense of mastery over their lives. But the world presents you with an endless series of problems. As…
How Long Should You Pray for Something?
I have often been asked, “Pastor Ronnie, how long should I pray for something?” I do not believe there is a Christian anywhere in the world today who has not asked at one time or another, “How long should I pray for something?” Years ago, some began to teach that if you really had enough…
Praying to Be Able to Walk in Faith
What if this Jesus thing is all a hoax? I thought to myself in horror one day nearly two years after I accepted Christ as Savior. What if none of it’s true? What if the pastor suddenly says, “This is all a joke, and you fell for it! Jesus isn’t real and you’re not really…