Tag Archives: jesus

Theology

No Need for Regrets

This is a guest post by Mike Mobley from Before the Cross. Mike is “Saved by grace through faith. In love with Jesus, his Glory, and obviously my beautiful wife Joelle and daughter Peyton! Seeking Him in everything to glorify Him and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.” You can connect with him on Twitter as well.

We all have opportunities from our past that we missed out on by not acting. Regrets can fill our lives. We can sulk in our guilt for and keep beating ourselves up, saying, “I could have done this. I could have done that.”The reality is, you won’t get that same chance again. To keep living in the past shows a lack of trust in God and results in a waste of time in the present.

no regrets

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” – Deuteronomy 31:6

Let’s remember that for those who have a relationship with Christ, that we have God. There is no reason to fear or be afraid. Instead, be strong and courageous. God is not going to leave you or forsake you.

Here is a good example from my past: Continue reading →

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Theology

Evaluating Daily Success with Two Simple (but Challenging) Questions

What gets measured gets improved.

I’m reasonably obsessed with personality tests, measurements, data, information and using those tools to make better decisions. Unfortunately, I have a tendency to collect data and then do nothing with it [*”Some day I will,”* I assure myself] or to flat out collect the wrong data.

evaluation-test

I normally measure the success of my day by how many things I accomplished and how many things I left unfinished. I never check off all the boxes on any given day because I’m constantly thinking of more things I need (or would like) to do. Instead of evaluating my day by the number of boxes checked and list items crossed off, I felt led to completely change my method of evaluation.

At the end of each day, I’ve started to ask myself these two questions. Continue reading →

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Theology

The Process for Answering Tough Questions About Christianity

Every day I talk with students who ask nearly impossible questions about Jesus, Christianity and the Bible. I don’t have all the answers (and I never will). Thankfully, that’s not what God requires of Christians to share our faith.

This isn’t a perfect process, but it is a way to equip yourself in answering questions like “How can we trust the Bible?” and “Was Jesus really God?”

Instead of answering specific questions, I’d rather share ways to prepare to answer tough questions and pass along a few resources you can start checking out today.

answering-questions

The Process Continue reading →

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Theology

Defining Sin So We Can Understand Its Consequences

You’d be hard pressed to find a guy who thinks he’s a bad person.

When I ask others how they would define a good person, the qualifications normally range from not being a murderer to never doing anything that hurts another person.

Most often, I hear a good person defined as someone who does more good things than bad things.

I understand. That makes complete sense if good and bad held in equal tension. Simple acts that have one-level of ramifications, here on earth. A bad thing is a withdrawal from our moral bank account and a good thing is a deposit.

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If I steal a candy bar, then if I give some money to charity, help an old lady cross the street, or give up my seat on a bus, than I can make up for that stolen candy bar, according to the karmic view of the world–good negates bad. If I just make sure I’ve got enough in my account to pay for the bad withdrawals, I’ll be good to go.

However, according to the Bible, our bad isn’t just a withdrawal from an account.

As I talk with students each day about the reality of our human condition, I’ve found one analogy in explaining the true cost of sin to be especially helpful.

Continue reading →

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Theology

Mike Mobley at Before the Cross invited me to guest post, and I describe how my lack of understanding of the Grand Canyon and its beauty relates to my lack of understanding about Jesus and who he is.

Here’s a little taste to whet your appetite:

I think, for most of us, we treat Jesus a lot like the Grand Canyon.

We’ve heard a fair amount of stories.

We know he’s a pretty impressive guy.

We’ve possibly even placed our faith in him and say we know him personally.

But we haven’t even begun to explore the depths and riches of who Jesus really is.

You can click here for the rest of the post, and be sure to browse around Before the Cross.

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