Theology

I can’t remember the last time I asked someone how they were doing and “busy” wasn’t part of their response. Busyness is cool. It’s a sign of importance. It says, “I have a demanding job, family, and life” and sometimes adds, “and I’m not afraid to let you know.” It’s not always in pride. In reality, most of us are busy. It’s a badge of honor worn proudly, and we can’t help but let people see it. Kevin DeYoung, one of my favorite authors, has written a “mercifully short book” about busyness–Crazy Busy. I appreciate DeYoung because although he’s significantly smarter than me, he writes in a clear way, with well-thought through concepts that get to the heart of the matter. He’s not afraid to share his own journey and struggles, which line the pages of Crazy Busy in an honest and helpful way. Weighing in at just over 100 and some pages, Crazy Busy is crazy short. It’s made up of 10 chapters, with the majority of the book being seven diagnostic chapters that help us identify the roots of our busyness. ...

I’m passionate about stewardship. I believe the Lord entrusts each of us with certain talents and treasures to be used for His Glory and His Kingdom. Niki and I often joke that after being disciples of Jesus, we are secondly disciples of Dave Ramsey. We both write often about budgeting. We love to give. But I still haven’t perfected the balance of when to buy something and when to wait. Buying material things is very much a spiritual matter with lots of gray area. Some purchases are no-brainers. If your wife is sick, buy her the medicine she needs. If your car is out of gas, put gas in the car, man! These are easy things. Many purchases aren’t just about essentials. There are countless opportunities for us to use our discretion on buying things, because we have more money than we need for meeting just our needs. I tried to find a good set of questions for helping Christians process through making purchases for our wants, and my somewhat limited search turned up few helpful results. So, I’ve created my own list of questions that I hope aid believers in stewarding well what the Lord has given us. I am not a perfect money manager for God. But I want to grow in this area. ...

A life well lived can be summed up in one sentence. Abraham Lincoln isn’t known for all of his failures (often grossly exaggerated but present nonetheless)–his failed businesses, battling depression and unsuccessful attempts at a few other political offices. He’s known for abolishing slavery and reuniting the United States of America. One sentence about a man who changed the world. His decisions were unpopular with a hefty chunk of his constituents, but we look back on him as one of the greatest presidents (and men) our country has ever been graced with. Bill Gates decided to change his sentence from one about putting a computer on the desk of everyone in America to one about charity and being a voice for generosity. He used his skills and his platform to pursue what he deemed was a more important goal. He decided to rewrite his sentence. There’s a long list of people living with unrelenting, singularly-focused visions for their lives and their hopes for others. ...

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. “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: ...

People who do things the wrong way are fools and people who get in my way are even worse. That’s a nasty thought, but it’s undoubtedly one that crosses my mind more often than I’d care to admit. [It looks worse in text than it does when it runs through my mind, but we all know it’s equally horrifying either way.] I’ve long-confessed that I’m impatient. My honesty about my lack of patience made my feel ok that I was a ticking time bomb. As I reflected back on my time overseas in Slovenia, I realized that one blatant sin that summed up my whole year was impatience. Impatience with students when they didn’t believe the gospel. Impatience with Christian students who didn’t want to grow or share their faith. Impatience with my wife when she didn’t meet unspoken expectations I didn’t even realize I had. Impatience with God when he didn’t answer prayers according to my timing. Impatience with myself when sin continued to creep up or self-improvement didn’t come as quickly as I hoped. I listened to a sermon that is as old as I am (nearly to the day!) by John Piper entitled, “Battling the Unbelief of Impatience.” The title alone struck me. I had never heard impatience framed that way–not believing faithfully in God. Here’s a quote from Piper to set the tone. “Patience in doing the will of God is not an optional Christian virtue because faith is not optional and impatience is the fruit of unbelief. It is no minor skirmish.” Ouch. Impatience is a big deal. **It’s a faith issue. ...

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.  **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. ...

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.  The Process...

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. 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. ...

Doing things you don’t want to do (especially if they are good spiritual disciplines) can cause you (or others) to be labeled pharisee. Going to church when you’ve had a long weekend and just need to relax. Reading your Bible when you don’t want to. Stopping halfway through your meal when you realized you didn’t pray to ask the Lord to bless your meal. Here’s an internal (and sometimes external) dialogue I often have. “Oh, I completely forgot to pray for my food. I should stop and pray for it. But, I don’t want to be a pharisee and do it just to be religious. That’s true. Should I just keep eating? Should I pray anyway?” Legalism is dangerous. It’s faux-spirituality focused on doing the right things with the wrong motivation. Faith and legalism are at odds with one another, because legalism is faith in yourself and your own abilities to earn God’s favor. Jesus called out the Pharisees often throughout the Gospels. They are normally found doing things to the extreme (like tithing on their nutmeg and cinnamon) but they are then found condemning those who don’t do as they do (even if it isn’t required by God). So, how do we keep from being a pharisee while still striving to please God? The difference lies in our motivation. ...

“We struggle with insecurity because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.” – Steven Furtick Social media has given us a window to compare ourselves to everyone we know (and so many we don’t) like never before. Someone has a cuter baby than us. A bigger house. A nicer car. A better job. A more exciting life. And we aren’t only aware of it when we interact with them, it’s in our face every time we login to Facebook or see someone’s filet mignon on Instagram. We are prone to compare because we have constant access to people to compare ourselves to.  Comparison robs us of all joy. It says, “What I have isn’t enough.” It’s a lie, a snare, a trap. It’s one I fall into incredibly often, and I’m a comparer by nature. It’s a nasty sin I’m trying (by the grace of God) to root out. It creates an awful cycle of pride and despair as we say, “At least I’m not like him,” and “If only I could be like her.” It’s a destructive rhythm that will never fulfill us and can only eat away at our hearts like battery acid. The only two people we should compare ourselves to are Jesus and our past selves. Jesus humbles us and our past selves serve to encourage us....