Mike Rowe - The High Cost of College

What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do

How's that for a confusing title? Just like that title I have found some of the most confusing teaching in my Christian life has been discerning the will of God. I've never heard God's audible voice but I have had His Spirit confirm with my mind when I spend time in His Word and prayer. Here is the short version of this blog, First, do everything that you already know that God wants you to do. This includes studying the Bible, praying, serving, sharing your faith, being active in His church and being thankful for His blessings in your life. Remember, God will not give you more opportunities until you are faithful in doing the things He has already taught you. He knows that not only will you not be ready for His call, you probably won't even recognize His call. Second, ask God to reveal His will for your life. If you ask, He has promised to answer. "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." (James 1:5) Third, recognize that God is more than capable of blocking doors that He doesn't want you to open. Walk toward your goals, asking God for confirmation and for Him to make clear if you are going in the wrong direction. His Spirit resides in you and is more than able to communicate with you through studying His Word, prayer, other believers and any other divine intersections He chooses.

What Hell Is Like

The Battle of Midway 1942 - (Told from the Japanese Perspective)

The Founding Document of The Church (Part II)

Have you ever struggled with your self-esteem? I used to be a musician and even though I didn't enjoy the spotlight, I did enjoy the immediate gratification that came from people who enjoyed my music. Today we can search for that need for acceptance and approval in not only relationships but through social media. But that is a double-edged sword that can at the drop of a hat turn turn your social fortunes from worship to hated. And unlike any other time in history, we can't seem to remove ourselves from the misfortune of reading and viewing posts that shape not only our world views but our emotional health.

So how can we reclaim our emotional health? We need to re-calibrate our emotional health by regaining our spiritual balance. Only be viewing ourselves the way God views us can we be the persons He created us to be. And why is that so important? Because each of us is gifted to perform unique tasks for the Kingdom, and without an proper understanding of our role and importance the work will go undone.

The Book of Ephesians provides us with the blueprint for a healthy self-esteem. We just have to understand who we are at our core to achieve the life balance that God wants each of us to possess. God's Word and my obedience to His teaching is the antidote to this world's dependence upon gratification and narcissistic behavior. Okay, so enough talk - let me show you God's solution to this problem.

The Founding Document of The Church (Part I)

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him." (Ephesians 1:3-4)

Before we can unpack the wonderful blessings of the  first chapter of the Book of Ephesians, we need to understand the phrase, "in Christ".  [Side note: one of my favorite songs is by a group called Big Daddy Weave called, "In Christ". I'll wait while you give it a listen.]

That song has some great wisdom including these lyrics, "In Christ I can do all things / In Christ I mount up on eagle's wings / In Christ I wait for a great reward / That I have in store / In Christ I have His righteousness / In Christ I have what I confess / In Christ I don't worry about all the rest / Cause everything I need to be is in Christ."

But what does that mean, to be in Christ?