by | Faith Lived Out, Spiritual Warfare
This is part three of a series I’ll be teaching on the Sin of Ignorance. You can read
Part One here. Read
Part Two here. I hope you’ll join me for the whole series and walk away with the tools necessary to be set free.
We can also be ignorant to sins we’ve committed because we simply didn’t know. Perhaps you’re thinking, “But everyone knows right from wrong, so how could we do something and not know it?” The answer is simple. Because we were ignorant to the knowledge.
Known as one of the most influential preachers of all time, Charles Spurgeon translates the word “ignorance” to “inadvertence” in his November 25, 1877 sermon on the sins of ignorance.
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by | Faith Lived Out, Spiritual Warfare
This is part two of a series I’ll be teaching on the Sin of Ignorance. You can read
Part One here. I hope you’ll join me for the whole series and walk away with the tools necessary to be set free.
Ignorance isn’t just a lack of knowledge in understanding something. It’s more than that. Ignorance can also be defined as the want of knowledge.
When I first became a Christian, I had no idea spiritual warfare existed. I knew there were “spirits” because I’d watched enough ghost stories to entertain me. I didn’t know then that I’d need to be set free from those open doors in my life. (More on that later.) I believed the devil was real because I’d heard about him on occassion. However, I had no idea just how real he was. I assumed he walked around in red yoga pants with a pitchfork. Beyond knowing there was a battle between good and evil, I truly had no idea just how real that battle was. I was just beginning to drink the spiritual milk Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians.
Though I’ve seen people come to Christ and be radically delivered, I’m not sure that’s the norm when it comes to becoming a Christian. Most of us start out drinking spiritual milk, unlike Paul who was knocked off a donkey and had a pretty radical transformation. But God knew that was just about the only way He was going to change Paul’s heart. Doing an altar call on a Sunday morning just wasn’t going to work for him.
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by | Faith Lived Out, Spiritual Warfare
This is part one of a series I’ll be teaching on the Sin of Ignorance. I hope you’ll join me for the whole series and walk away with the tools necessary to be set free.
Do you remember that old saying, “Ignorance is bliss?” Eighteenth-century poet, Thomas Gray wrote those words in his poem “On a Distant Prospect of Eton College,” right before he finished the last line with “’Tis folly to be wise.’” It is foolish to be wise? Really? Gray wrote the piece using first-person point of view, through the eyes of a former Eton alumni. This former student realized that life gets pretty real after college and he encouraged the current students to focus on the now, have fun, don’t take life too seriously, and remain oblivious to the trials they will face.
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by | Faith Lived Out, Life Application
I was planning to end my life. I dropped some cards in the mail to friends and family to remind them I loved them. I didn’t say goodbye – just reminded each of them I was grateful for having them in my life. I left one more in the door of a friend before I left for Nashville. As I headed south I wasn’t sure I was coming back alive. I’d told God He had to meet me there. He had to show me He was still in this with me or I was done. He had to save me.
It was October 2017. I was in the midst of a darkness I could hardly have words for. Sometimes I still don’t. I’d reached burnout in ministry, people I trusted betrayed me with their words and actions, and I was experiencing a level of spiritual warfare I didn’t even know existed.
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by | Faith Lived Out, Life Application
I’m currently working on creating some curriculum I’ll be teaching for a brand new program the Missouri Department of Corrections is unrolling. I’m beyond excited! I literally get to be a part of watching Isaiah 61 unfold as I watch the release from darkness for the prisoners.
As I was focusing on the life-planning section of the curriculum, my heart was heavy and emotional thinking about two people whose lives both ended in very different ways. I decided to share the story with you, too.
I want to tell you a story about two men I knew, Sandy and Doug.
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by | Faith Lived Out, Life Application
If I could pick a theme for 2018, I’m just not sure what it would be. Perhaps grace. Ya, Grace. That was, after all, my one word for 2018. To read my one word for 2019, check out this blog post.
• I started 2018 out leaving work in an ambulance.
• A close friend died.
• I watched man close a ministry God called me to.
• I cussed at God in anger, fear and heartbreak.
• I got on my knees and surrendered to Him again.
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