“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9)
What is peacemaking and why is it so important? Who exactly are we trying to make peace with? And why did Jesus connect “peacemaking” with being a “son of God”?
All that and more in the final installment of our series HAPPY.
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It’s sad but it’s true. The trend is clear. The studies all say the same thing. Despite the clear Biblical mandate to share our faith with others… despite a sincere desire to advance the kingdom of God… despite the deep concern we might have for our friends and family who are far from Christ… despite all those things, the fact is this:
The longer someone attends church, the less likely that person is to have a meaningful spiritual discussion with someone who is far from Christ.
Why is that? How can that be? Shouldn’t it be that getting closer to Christ and attending church more frequently would lead to MORE evangelistic discussions? More times of sharing our faith? More times where we take a risk and invite a co-worker or neighbor to church? Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be?
My experience tells me that the graph above is right on the money. Here’s how it works:
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I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “Preach the gospel at all times; and if necessary, use words.” It’s become a popular cliché amongst Christians today. We use it with regards to the idea of doing evangelism in our workplaces, schools, communities, etc. The principle behind it is that we should let our actions speak louder than our words.
So don’t tell people to be honest; be honest yourself. Don’t tell people to be kind-hearted; be kind-hearted yourself. Don’t tell people that you are a Christian…show them that you are one! Let people “see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
Very nice…very spiritual-sounding…very true indeed. No one can disagree with the concept.
But the question is this: is that enough? Or do we sometimes need to do more? We all agree that our witness should BEGIN with our actions, but should it END there as well?
Read MoreI may not be able to bring light to THE world;
but I can certainly bring light to MY world.
Yesterday we celebrated the start of a new year according the calendar of the Coptic Orthodox church. And during this yearly celebration, we always remember the martyrs who died for the sake of the Christian faith.
But what can we learn from those martyrs today? Do we just honor them for dying and that’s it? Or is there more?
That was our topic in The Well yesterday – as we looked at the mindset which the martyrs had and how we need to acquire a similar one. We also looked at a modern day example of someone who has that same mindset and is getting ready to display it in an AMAZING way.
Be sure to watch till the end so you see for yourself. Trust me; it’s a “once-in-a-lifetime” kind of thing.
"Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, SEASONED WITH SALT, that you may know how you ought to answer each one." Colossians 4:5-6
I AM SO PUMPED UP ABOUT THIS SERIES! It's called Seasoning Life and we're talking about 5 habits that we need as Christians to make sure that our lives are "properly seasoned." (you have to listen to the message to understand what I mean)
In today's intro message, we talked about role in the kingdom of God - not as civilians, but as soldiers...troops on the front lines in the mission for God's kingdom. If we're going to live as soldiers, then our objective must be one thing: TO LEAD A QUESTIONABLE LIFE.
What does that mean? Check out the video above and see for yourself. And did I mention that I am PUMPED UP for this series?!
We SPEAK BOLDLY about what we BELIEVE DEEPLY.
That was the key thought in Part 3 of the World-Changers series at The Well. The title of this week's message was "World-Changing Speaking" and the main idea is that if something is dear to our hearts, it must find its way to our lips. If we truly believe that God has given us new life through His Son Jesus Christ and we value that gift as we should, then at some point in time, that belief must find its own out of my mouth for others to hear.
I know, I know, you'll say "I witness with my deeds" and "actions speak louder than words" - I've heard (and said) those same excuses. But I invite you to take a look at the video above and see if you still feel that way after listening to the message.
Everyone loves Christmas music right? This morning I heard one of all-time classics on the radio, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Like you, I’ve heard this song millions of times, but for some reason today, I actually thought about the words. They kind of made me think that each of us is a little bit like Rudolph – but just with different names.
Uhhhh….excuse me…what are you saying about my nose?
Think about it. Rudolph is owned by Santa; he works for Santa, bringing gifts to Santa’s children across the world. Similarly we are children of God. We “belong” to Him and our purpose is to spread love to His children across the same world. And just like Rudolph, we aren’t always accepted by the rest of the world.
“Christians are weird…they behave differently…they speak differently…they aren’t like us.” This shouldn’t come as a surprise to us. The Bible predicted this would happen:
“In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.” (1 Peter 4:4)
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“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
Last week I wrote about how excited I was for this past weekend. It was the weekend of our public launch at STSA – the weekend where we felt God wanted to take the good things we have going inside the church and make them known to the community outside. And just as the first century church “went public” on the Day of Pentecost, we felt like God wanted us to do the same this past weekend as we celebrated Pentecost as well.
So how’d it go?
FANTASTIC! Magnificent! Best weekend to date! YAHOO!!!!!!
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This is one of those weeks for me. One of those weeks where I don’t know what to blog about or what to say. It’s one of those weeks that I absolutely live for and dread at the same time. It’s a week where I really feel – with all my heart, soul, mind and strength – like God is going to do something big… something huge… something massive… something historically grand… something that is exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or even imagine! And He’s going to do that right here – right in front of my eyes!
What in the world am I talking about? Let me explain.
As you probably know, I have been blessed to be serving at St. Timothy & St. Athanasius church (STSA) - aka THE GREATEST CHURCH EVER!. I love my church so much and from day one, I have felt that God has a special calling and a special mission for this church (go back and see the very first blog post I ever posted and you’ll see what I am talking about).
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