What does it mean to say a Christian has liberty? Chuck Swindoll explains liberty as freedom from something and freedom to do something.
I have swept away your sins like a cloud.
I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist.
Oh, return to me,
for I have paid the price to set you free. (Isaiah 44:22 NLT)
If I choose not to risk, if I go the "safe" route and determine not to promote either salvation by grace or a lifestyle of grace, what are the alternatives? Four come to my mind, all of which are popular these days.
The word grace means many things to many people.
God's nature exudes grace. We can rely upon that truth because we can see that God's deeds exude grace, both in our lives and in Scripture.
Deep within, we imagine ourselves as a mixture of Patrick Henry, Davy Crockett, John Wayne, and the prophet Daniel! But the truth of the matter is that most of us would do anything to keep from being different. We’d much rather blend into the woodwork. One of our greatest fears is being ostracized, rejected by “the group.”
One of the first weddings I performed as a young pastor had all the promise you could hope for in a marriage. Both in their mid-twenties, both believers, he was a medical student, she was a nurse. It should have been a model marriage filled with peace and joy. Struggles would come, of course, but an enduring hope would get them through the dark days.
I remember only two things from my high school chemistry class. First, I got rid of a wart on the back of my right hand through applications of sulfuric acid for thirty-three consecutive days. Second, I watched the slow death of a frog in an unforgettable experiment.
Isn't God good? Generation after generation He provides a fresh set of grandparents . . . an ever-present counterculture in our busy world.
I keep meeting these wonderful people whose lives belie their age. Their enthusiasm is contagious, their zest for life captivating. They're still thinking and dreaming, determined not to miss out on the fun, and they're definitely not interested in planting themselves in a rocking chair and watching sunsets.
You have a museum in your mind. It's a museum of memories.
Anniversaries. Birthdays. Graduations. Holidays. Longstanding traditions. Life's milestones. Even recoveries from serious illnesses. Each memory hangs in its place, firmly fixed in your mind . . . and in the minds of your children.
It comes as a surprise to no one that I love music. Choral music, instrumental music, popular music, as well as classical stuff . . . folk tunes, ballads, fun songs, and serious works . . . country western and bluegrass, as well as the patriotic and romantic. For me, music is a must.
There are several reasons most of us are reluctant to witness for Jesus Christ. One is the feeling of ignorance. We don’t really know how to go about it.
Sometimes when you don’t feel like praying, or you’re consumed with needing to speak to the Lord but can’t gather the words, try that old standby—count your many blessings, count them one by one.
A passage in Joshua prompted me to think of three words. First, create. God wants us to go to the trouble of establishing historic markers. Notice I said, “Go to the trouble.” Creating legacy reminders is not easy. These were big stones. They needed to be chosen, hauled, stacked, and then maintained as a lasting reminder of God’s faithfulness.
What is your final authority in life? Before you answer too quickly, think about it for a few moments. When you're cornered, when you're facing an intimidating obstacle, when you're forced to deal with reality, upon whom or what do you lean?
"I'm totally confused. How in the world do I find the will of God for my life?" I cannot number how many times through the years I have heard that question.
I could probably list at least ten ways that God leads His children today, but I will limit myself to the four that I think are the most significant methods of God's leading.
The special day never arrives without its refreshing reminder that there is life beyond this one. True life. Eternal life. Glorious life. Those who live on what we might call the "outskirts of hope" need a transfusion. Easter gives it.
The late football strategist Vince Lombardi was a fanatic about fundamentals. Those who played under his leadership often spoke of his intensity, his drive, his endless enthusiasm for the guts of the game. Time and again he would come back to the basic techniques of blocking and tackling.
A friend of mine ate dog food one evening. No, he wasn’t at a fraternity initiation nor a hobo party . . . he was actually at an elegant student reception in a physician’s home near Miami. The dog food was served on delicate little crackers with a wedge of imported cheese, bacon chips, an olive, and a sliver of pimento on top. That’s right, friends and neighbors; it was hors d’oeuvres a la Alpo.
Ever since I was knee-high to a gnat, I have been taught and have believed in the infallibility of Scripture.
For as long as I have been in the ministry I have asked the Lord for a balance between a tender heart and a tough hide. It isn't an easy balance. In fact, the latter is more difficult to cultivate than the former. In order to be fully engaged in ministry, job number one is to have a tender heart. The challenge is developing a tough hide.
Slice it any way you wish; ignorance is not bliss. Dress it in whatever garb you please; ignorance is not attractive. Neither is it the mark of humility nor the path to spirituality. It certainly is not the companion of wisdom.
When I was growing up in Houston, our family lived across the street from a widow named Mrs. Roberts. Her husband had recently died from a sudden heart attack. Alone, afraid, and facing an unknown future, her grief knew no bounds.
When most folks hear the term leader, they think of presidents, pastors, teachers, and CEOs. But very few think of themselves. And yet, it’s true. You are a leader. As a Christian, you are an influencer for Christ, an ambassador for the Lord, and a change-agent for the gospel of God’s grace. In fact, I have discovered in the book of Nehemiah seven principles of leadership that apply to you. Nehemiah’s example offers principles you can apply immediately to your sphere of influence.
Overwhelming odds can make cowards of us all.
Because there is so much to be done, we can easily lose heart and do nothing at all. Because there are so many people in the world to reach, it is easy to forget that God wants to use us to touch those within our sphere of responsibility.
Will you allow me, in this private chat with you, to pick out one "unlovely characteristic" frequently found in Christian circles . . . and then to develop it from a positive point of view? I'm thinking of the lack of encouragement in our relationships. To illustrate the point, when did you last encourage someone else? Be honest: when was the last time you said something or gave something or wrote something or did something with the single motive of encouraging someone else? I firmly believe that an individual is never more Christlike than when full of compassion for those who are down, needy, discouraged, feeling unappreciated, or forgotten. How essential is "the ministry of encouragement"!
If there's one attitude families are guilty of more than any other when it comes to mothers, it's presumption...taking them for granted...being nearly blind on occasion to the load moms carry.
Joy—it makes people wonder at your secret. Yet joy is no secret to the trusting Christian. When we choose to grow closer to God, resting in His character and provision, joy spills over into our lives so that others can’t help but notice.
As time passed the balance of that evening, I kept returning to the reality, “He is coming back. What a difference it will make!” It is remarkable, when you stop and get specific about it, how many things we take for granted that will suddenly be removed or changed. Think about that . . .
Do you ever find yourself wondering, “Does God really have things in hand here, or is my life spinning out of control?” I have. Trusting in Jesus Christ at age 18, I soon concluded that if I simply did enough of the right things, my Christian life would be a steady climb toward maturity. Numerous setbacks and failures later, I still believed God was in control and had a purpose through it all.
I was raised to believe in the importance of a "quiet time." To the surprise of some, the original idea of that concept did not come from the late Dawson Trotman, the founder of The Navigators, but from the Lord Himself.
The New Year is only one month old, and already the pressures of life have returned. Sixty-hour workweeks. Razor-thin balances in the checkbook every month. Children and/or grandchildren who call for unending, boundless bursts of energy. Sound familiar?
Consider the words of Solomon: "He who walks in integrity walks securely, / But he who perverts his ways will be found out" (Proverbs 10:9). Before reading on, go back and read that again.
We never outgrow our love for a good story, do we? There is something compelling, something magnetic, and something altogether unique about the best stories. They engage, both our minds and our hearts. They allow us to empathize with the experiences of other human beings. They also create opportunities to learn from the lives of others.
I can’t think of a better model of leadership than Nehemiah. I once sat down and looked over Nehemiah’s shoulder for a couple of hours, reviewing the things this ancient Jewish leader recorded while rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. As I read, it dawned on me that his journal is a storehouse of leadership insights. The first six chapters of Nehemiah ought to be required reading each year for all leaders as well as those who wish to be.
I have swept away your sins like a cloud.
I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist.
Oh, return to me,
for I have paid the price to set you free. (Isaiah 44:22 NLT)
If I choose not to risk, if I go the "safe" route and determine not to promote either salvation by grace or a lifestyle of grace, what are the alternatives? Four come to my mind, all of which are popular these days.
The word grace means many things to many people.
God's nature exudes grace. We can rely upon that truth because we can see that God's deeds exude grace, both in our lives and in Scripture.
Joseph had an innovative plan, something that had never been done before.
As a lifelong admirer of President Abraham Lincoln, I have devoured more than a few biographies about him. Among the best was Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, a volume that presents Lincoln’s brilliant political act of enlisting into his cabinet some of the men who had run against him. Surrounded by a team that didn’t believe in the viability of the Thirteenth Amendment and pressured by men in his own party to compromise with the South to end the war sooner, Lincoln refused to fold. He challenged his peers to rise above their doubts, to act upon their shared goal of ending slavery in America, and to press hard against the opposition. In the end, Lincoln’s convictions carried the day. Against all odds, clinging to hope against hope, he led this team of rivals to achieve the defeat of slavery.
What does it mean to say a Christian has liberty? Chuck Swindoll explains liberty as freedom from something and freedom to do something.
Since the first Christmas celebration, one word has crossed everyone’s lips more than any other this time of year. It isn’t the word carol or tree or food. It’s gift.
Question:
I recently read the book, The Da Vinci Code. I know that it is fiction, but it has caused me to question everything that I’ve always believed about Jesus. How do we know that Jesus is God in the flesh and not simply a good teacher?
Answer:
For two thousand years, critics have chipped away at the cornerstone of Christianity — Jesus Christ. Yet Christianity has stood firm not because it has successfully covered up a conspiracy, as Dan Brown asserts throughout his fictionalized account, but because it has stood strong in its reliance on the truth of the deity of Christ.
This article was written to answer this specific question, and it explains clearly the theology behind Jesus’s substitutionary death to pay the penalty required for our sins. It explains how God’s holiness and righteous standard require justice and cannot merely overlook our sin. And it helps us understand exactly what Jesus went through when He died to secure our salvation.
No matter how difficult it is to comprehend the mind-blowing visions presented in Revelation, we must not forget that it is part of God’s Word.
If you like stories that end well, you'll love Christianity. One of the great themes of our faith is triumphant hope—an unshakeable assurance that things will end right.
These facts from biblical prophecy about Christ's return may surprise you.
Know that Jesus is your friend indeed.
I remember a fun 'n' games night around the supper table in our house. It was wild. First of all, one of the kids snickered during the prayer (which isn't that unusual) and that tipped the first domino.