WE AUTOMATICALLY BECOME LIKE WHAT WE PUT INTO OUR BRAINS Have you ever struggled with why you don’t grow spiritually as fast as you would like to? Have you ever thought that you ought to be further along in your spiritual life than you are? I know...
HOW WE WORK REFLECTS OUR COMMITMENT TO GOD My father taught me to do my work well. He taught me to show up on time, work hard while I was there, and not quit until the job was done. I remember a time I learned firsthand the...
A BREAKTHROUGH SPIRITUAL GROWTH TOOL In the last few blogs, I have made several key points: The Shallow-ization of Christianity: Because of the power of the hostile culture in which we now live, it may be more difficult to live the Christian life than at any...
WE ARE TO LIVE FOR THE NEXT WORLD, NOT THIS ONE In his book, Brave New World, Aldus Huxley envisioned a very unpleasant future, not because things people wanted were being withheld from them (as was imagined in Orwell's book 1984), but rather, because everything was given to...
FIVE WAYS WE CAN FUEL OUR SPIRITUAL IMAGINATION We made the point last week that we can use spiritual imagination to pull ourselves in to the future, spiritually. We made two observations from neuroscience: The brain always changes in the direction of that which is put into...
YOU CAN “IMAGINE” YOUR SPIRITUAL FUTURE Elbert Einstein once famously said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Your imagination is a preview of life's coming attractions." Now, that statement must be understood in context. As Christians, we believe that knowledge is extremely important. Jesus said, “You shall...
THE GREATER THE TRIAL THE GREATER THE POTENTIAL JOY Something historic happened in Chicago last Saturday night: the Chicago Cubs won the National League Pennant and will be going to the baseball World Series. But if you’re not a sports fan (nor a Cubs fan) keep...
ANY PERSON OR CIRCUMSTANCE THAT ANGERS YOU CONQUERS YOU We all know that anger is not generally a virtue. There are times, of course, when it is called for. Even God may get angry (Psalm 103:8). But regarding the ordinary affairs of people, it is, perhaps,...
THE EYES OF FAITH SEE DISPROPORTIONATE REWARD ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TRIALS One of the truths that helps get me through hard times is the belief that every trial has something greater on the other side, either in this world or in the world to...
WHEN LIFE IS DARKEST, WE HAVE THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY TO TRIUMPH For a number of weeks now we have been exploring the issue of coping with trials in the Christian life. When things are going relatively well for a Christian, this subject may seem academic or...