Posts with the category “discipleship”

So what about this complaining? Is it right or wrong? The circumstances and difficulties are unavoidable. The tiredness, frustration, and all of my feelings are obviously real. Complaining in difficulty just seems to naturally happen. Is it ok? Is it not? What should I do?  Read More

Are you a forgetful person? I’m not talking about losing your keys, the garage code, or needing to use “Find My Phone” regularly. I’m talking about forgetting about what is most important — things like time in the word, time in prayer, pursuing your relationship with God, and sharing it with your friends and family. Do you ever forget those things? I would venture a guess that we all forget those ...  Read More

In the midst of difficulties, trials, and suffering; what do you ask God for the most?If you were to stop and think about your prayers and requests during your most difficult times, I’m guessing you would find yourself frequently asking God to remove them. This is natural, understandable, and even exemplified by people throughout scripture (see Psalms). If you’re worried about a project, your boss...  Read More

Here in Northwest Ohio during the winter months we usually get a good amount of snow. Sure, there are places north of us that would say we have no clue what a lot of snow is, but we get our fair share. We're used snow on the ground during the winter months, and for the most part it doesn't really phase us...unless the forecast is 12-18 inches over a 24 hour period causing what is being labeled Sno...  Read More

As you look back at this last week, what did you allow to rule your life and sit on the throne of your heart? You may think that’s an odd question, but I would like you to give it some thought. Everybody is pursuing something each and every moment of their day. Sometimes all we can think about is little things like getting lunch, getting in our workout, or finally finishing all the laundry. For ot...  Read More

The Thanksgiving holidays are upon us which means many of us are planning to get together with family. We’ll gather around the dinner table with our closest family and friends to enjoy a meal, conversation, and share out of the thankfulness of our heart. Some of us look forward to this time with family throughout the year, while others simply hope that they can get through it without too much fami...  Read More

Over the past few years as our kids have started to grow up to understand the meaning of the Christmas season a little bit better, we decided as a family to be more purposeful in our gift giving to our children. We didn’t want Christmas morning to become all about getting them everything on their want list, but rather a time where the tradition of gift giving and receiving would be thoughtful, mea...  Read More

Provision. So often, in my life I’ve thought of the idea of provision as being God giving me all the things to make me comfortable. Food to eat (not just any food but what sounded good in that moment), clothes to wear (not just any clothes but what I felt I looked good in), a home to live in (not just the building but all of the things inside of it to aid me in my comfort)… I could list many more ...  Read More

Unknowns. They’re awful. I don’t know about you, but I like to know things. I like when things go according to the plan or, at least, by my expectation. I like people to react to what I say, do, think, and post on social media in the way I find pleasing. I like when life goes in the direction I imagined it would. I like when nothing throws a wrench in my day and I’m able to accomplish my goals. Bu...  Read More

What is God’s providence? In our 9am Bible hour this last week, we learned that God’s providence is God’s personal and direct intervention, as opposed to a hands off approach, that affects not only the natural order of things but also the individuals and events within human history. As we studied Genesis 11, we saw that the people had come to a conclusion: they wanted to settle together, make a na...  Read More

We are now 4 weeks into the Gospel Project. We have seen the power, creativity, and majesty of God in creation (Genesis 1). Only God, the Creator and King, could create the vast universe as we see it today. Then we took a glimpse at God’s creation of human beings. We were formed by hand from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:5-9), and we were made in the image of God Himself (Genesis 1:26-28), uni...  Read More

Did you know that you were created for worship? Worship is the reason that we are here. It is the foundation with which we are able to build our relationship with God. I love Genesis 1:27-28 because within them we can see God's desire for a relationship with us! You see, proper representation and imitation of the Creator of the universe demands an intimate relationship. Without a deep and developi...  Read More