by | Faith Lived Out
photo credit: betterworldbooks
Today I’m asking you for a HUGE favor.
I need you to pray for me.
Tomorrow I will take what I pray and hope is my final math test for the rest of my life. This is two years in the making, and well, to be honest, math is NOT by subject. I have struggled and cried through four classes making it to this point.
My 10-day stint in the hospital put me behind so I’ve had to scurry around and try to get prepared for this thing. I’m nervous.
Tomorrow at 9am I take the test.
Will you pray for me?
by | Faith Lived Out
As I write this, I’ve just finished staring at the agenda of a website created by members of a particular Baptist church. Today’s plans are to picket a gay pride parade, followed by plans to surround the funeral of a fallen soldier sharing the “truth” of God’s Word on cardboard signs.
My stomach turns. My heart breaks at the images of little children forced to wear defiling t-shirts and hold signs up screaming hate towards homosexuals. Honestly, I struggle knowing I need to pray for the parents of those innocent kids whom may never understand the true meaning of grace. Give me a minute. If I don’t pray now my heart may harden too much to do so later. Okay, I’m back.
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by | Faith Lived Out
From Sundi Jo: This is a guest post by Jeff Randleman. Jeff if the the youth minister at Brooksville Christian Church, in Brooksville, Florida, husband to Heather, and father to five wonderful kids. You can read his blog at jeffrandleman.com and follow him @randleman on Twitter. Want to submit your guest post? Click here for the details.
We just moved over 1000 miles.
We left southern Missouri and moved to the Gulf Coast of Florida.
We don’t know anyone here. The culture is different from the small-town, mid-western mindset we are used to. In fact, we’ve barely experienced anything about this state at all. My wife and I visited Florida once, over ten years ago, on vacation.
That’s it.
And so, uprooting my family (we have five kids, with another on the way) and moving them halfway across the continent was no little thing. I feel a little of what Abraham must have felt when God called him to leave Ur and go someplace else. At least, in my case, I knew what our destination was.
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by | Faith Lived Out
I don’t get God. I don’t understand despite what I do, how He can give me so much grace and mercy. Yet He does.
photo credit: matthew venn (creative commons)
A few nights ago I had myself a mini meltdown. I was tired. I wasn’t feeling well. I got triggered during a phone conversation and completely lost it after I hung up. I saw a side of me I hadn’t seen in a while. Through the snot bubbles and not so Christian words, I realized I probably looked like a complete moron. Turns out I’ve got some heart issues to work on I didn’t know were still there.
Does that ever happen to you? All of a sudden something creeps up inside of you that has you asking, “Where did that come from?”
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by | Faith Lived Out, Life Application
From Sundi Jo: This is a guest post by Caleb McNary. He is a writer, husband, father of 2, and an employee at Numana, a non-profit. You can read his blog at calebmcnary.com, and follow him @calebmcnary on Twitter. Want to submit your guest post? Click here for the details.
The power of life and death is in the tongue. This is an oft-quoted verse, but usually with negative connotations. I’ve never heard someone use it as a positive statement, until now.
photo credit: brandon doran (creative commons)
You see, most of us are wired to hang on to things too long. The phrase “beating a dead horse” wasn’t coined but for good reason. Trying to hold on to perpetual youth and phrases like, “I wish this feeling could last forever” are commonplace.
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by | Faith Lived Out
I’m learning these two words in the Bible may perhaps be among the most popular and powerful. It seems no matter what the struggle, God has an answer. Throughout the Old and New Testaments you see the power of but God brought to life.
Sometimes I cry out to God and it doesn’t seem like I get an answer, but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. (Psalm 66:19)
People claim the Jesus who saved me doesn’t exist, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. (Acts 10:40)
Sometimes I get an overwhelming sense of loneliness, yet I’m reminded through the story of Joseph that I’m no alone. Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him. (Acts 7:9)
I used to think I was unlovable. No one could love me, especially God. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
I’m human, which means I can be a real jerk sometimes. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:26)
Where do you need but God today?
