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Stop the “It’s MY Ministry” Mentality
Do you have women who have started ministries in the church and insist they keep going regardless of effectiveness? Has your ministry team been event-driven with one person overseeing Bible studies, another the retreat, & another the Christmas brunch with complete authority in each? If you are a church leader and suggest that some things need to be changed, do they balk at that? We can get so attached to what we want to see happen that we dig in our feet and take on the “it is MY ministry” mentality. Even something good can take our focus off of what is best. Every local church belongs to Jesus Christ…
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Stay Christ-Focused When Telling Your Story
How did you first hear about Jesus? Did someone tell you their story? People love to hear stories. Look at all the time we spend watching movies, reading books, and scrolling through Facebook. Yet, the tendency for all of us humans is to spend way too much time telling about ourselves, focusing on ourselves. This article will help you to stay Christ-focused when given the opportunity to tell your story. Storytelling focuses on self. Storytelling is popular these days, especially on social media. We are continually prompted to “Add to story” on Facebook. Yet, the focus is on “me, me, me, what I am doing, where I am going, who…
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Don’t Bring Toxic Shock to Your Workplace
Are you kind to your Christian friends on Sunday but mean to your co-workers on Monday? Do you tend to talk about other women behind their backs, especially the other women in your workplace? Are you emotionally miserable and take that out on others around you? You might be the one bringing “toxic shock” to your workplace, a poisonous condition that is lethal to relationships and to your purpose as a Christian at work. Toxic Shock Syndrome Years ago, a condition called “toxic shock syndrome” suddenly appeared in the news during the late ‘70s. Toxic shock syndrome is a potentially fatal condition caused by the release of toxins from the…
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Can you pursue the “American Dream” and be Jesus’ disciple?
A question presented at a church-planting conference I attended several years ago was this: “Can you pursue the American Dream and be a disciple of Jesus Christ?” I circled those words on my paper and figured I needed to think about this question. To answer a question like that, you and I must first understand the terms. What is meant by the phrase American Dream? Then, what does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? How do those two concepts influence one another? In this post, I’ll try to define the terms and answer the real question, “Can you follow Jesus Christ as His devoted, committed disciple and…
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May I have your jewelry, please? God’s commission to the women in Exodus 3:21-22
When was the last time you asked your neighbor to give you her jewelry so you could go on a trip? Probably never! But that is exactly what the Israelite women did just before leaving on their trip to the land God promised to them. So often when we think about the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt, we look at how God commissioned Moses and Aaron to go talk to Pharaoh. But God also commissioned women to do something to support their fellow Israelites after the nation left Egypt. In this post, we’ll look at the end of Exodus chapter 3 and see that God indeed planned for…
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Live a Question-Stimulating Life in View of Your Neighbors
Several years ago, I read the book Dwell: Life with God for the World by Barry D. Jones. The author of that book challenged every reader to live a question-stimulating life. What is a question-stimulating life? It is a life that those around us notice and are drawn to ask us why we live that way.
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Never Too Old to Have Impact for Christ
Don’t forget Anna! As you recount the Christmas story and tell about the angels, shepherds, Mary and Joseph, the baby in the manger, and the wise men, don’t forget Anna. Who was she? Anna was an 84-year-old woman who also brought gifts to the parents of the Christ-child and others around her. No one is ever too old to have impact on others for Christ. Anna, an old woman with impact on others This is what Luke wrote about Anna, “Now when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord…There was also…
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Knowing Your Father God
What is God like? How does anyone get to know the true God, not all the substitute gods out there, but the God of the Bible? The God of the Bible is the one who declared, I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. (Isaiah 45:5) Our God is the one true God. God Wants You to Know Him Jesus declared to his disciples and to us, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you have known me, you will know my Father too. And from now on you do…
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When Heaven Comes to Earth
Listen to this as a similar podcast: “The LORD reigns! Let the earth be happy! Let the many coastlands rejoice!” (Psalm 97:1) The declaration that the LORD reigns is common in the Psalms. I know in my head and believe in my heart that God is ruling His creation. It is hard to see in real life, though, in a practical sense. He tolerates more rebellion and disobedience than any earthly king or dictator I’ve read about in history or current events. If left to evidence alone, we could easily think that God’s rule is “hands off” and passive and that Satan is really the ruler. I have to remind…
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Right Thinking When Facing Evil
Listen to this blog as a similar podcast: “Why, God?” The question that always comes up when something evil happens. Yes, something evil is happening in many places around the world, including right here in the United States. God does not do the evil. Evil humans do it. The next question is usually, “Why didn’t God stop it?” Now you are at the bigger questions, which are “Why does God let any of us do evil? Why doesn’t He stop it if He is capable of doing so?”
