There is an Easy Way. It is the yoke of Jesus, and it is identical to God’s Hard Way. This is no play on words; it is real and true. From God’s perspective, they are one and the same. In the words below, Jesus gives us this comfort and encouragement: Come to Me, all you…
A Prayer to Renew Our Minds
In order to move forward in something new and different, we need to renew our minds. To do that, our minds need a new connection. Repentance can feel like a heavy word. Maybe it’s a new word altogether for you. But repentance is the way God uses to change us. Let me show you what…
I Can’t Be Perfect
Trying to Be Perfect Dear Jesus, I am so frustrated and disappointed in myself. I want to be better than I am, and I want to do bigger and greater things. I know I’m not being all I can be — not for myself, not for those around me, and definitely not for You. Lord,…
Crash the Party: Radical Repentance
When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, He went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood…
Repentance and Forgiveness: Better Than a Game of Battleship
Although the words repentance and forgiveness sound religious and clean, the practice of these two grace-based words takes sleeves-rolled-up hard work. They’re tough, and they’re sweaty. I’m a sinful man. This fact — and my willingness to confess it — releases the effects of God’s grace in my home. And because I am a sinful…
Withering Faith: The Plant That Struggled
There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. — Jesus in Luke 15:7 I can only imagine being a gardener in Eden, in that place of perfect seeds and soil and weather. What a different experience from, for instance, planting fifty pepper…
Fluency: Speaking the Gospel in Cultural Key
The Gospel in Cultural Key Cultural engagement is one of the reasons the early church was so successful at evangelism. They had a habit of getting into the mind-set of pagans and Jews alike to transpose the gospel into the appropriate key. What does getting into the mind-set of non-Christians look like for us today?…
Repentance = I Quit
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. – 2 Corinthians 7:10 Thought for the Day: Jesus didn’t die so we’d be sorry. He died and then was resurrected so we’d be changed. – Steven Furtick My heart is stirred this morning to say it’s time…
Abortion: God Met Me In My Grief
I was barely seventeen when I sat in the waiting room of an abortion clinic. No one knew I was pregnant, except my boyfriend and a coworker who had recommended the clinic. I was prochoice by default of the fact that my parents were pro-choice, so this decision had been a no-brainer. I was a junior in high school, popular…
Let Go of Regret
Maybe today you’re not living with a mountain of regret, but you are starting to create one. Maybe you’re married and there is something going on. There is behavior you’re involved in. There is a relationship with somebody. Maybe it’s not a full-blown affair yet, but you started crossing little lines. Maybe God is calling you to take a…
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