The hardest thing for me lately in my Christian walk is not daily prayer, reading my bible, or simply possessing faith in God. The hardest thing for me to handle is that my mother, one of the most beloved and important people in my life is an unbeliever. Things of today frighten me, look at the society around us -- it is corrupt.

Many will say, "the end has been coming for hundreds of years.", but we are closer to the end today than yesterday. I have also heard many say that we are actually living in Hell right now -- well Hell is not so bad then in their perspectives. Yeah, I have my bad days but the Bible says their will be wailing and gnashing of teeth, and this world we are living in is not that. The end could come at any moment of any day or night. And my mom is not saved.

I cannot bear the thought of my mother living through the rapture and then spending eternity in hell. She has gone through so much pain and so many horrible experiences and is still a good person. Although she loses her temper, swears, and does many things that displease the Lord, I still hold tightly to the hope of her believing. More Here...

By Sharon at SheWorships

Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest
is my lover among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

He has taken me to the banquet hall,
and his banner over me is love.

- Song of Solomon 2:3-4

In 2005 an author named Ayelet Waldman became the center of a huge controversy after publishing an article in the New York Times entitled “Truly, Madly, Guiltily” in which she confessed to loving her husband more than her children. Immediately, Waldman came under tremendous attack from angry mothers everywhere. The backlash was so intense that Waldman eventually appeared on Oprah to defend herself. Since then, Waldman has written an entire book on the topic, Bad Mother, that elaborates on the controversial subject, as well as detailing further “maternal crimes.”

In general terms, Waldman and I do not have a whole lot in common. Our moral ideologies are rather remote, but on this particular point I believe Waldman is on to something. More Here...

By David at The Mockingbird Blog

The latest issue of Modern Reformation contains articles from not one but three Mockingbird Contributors: Jady Koch, Nick Lannon and Sean Norris. Well done, guys! If you're not a subscriber, do yourself a favor - ModRef is one of the best theological magazine going. It manages to be accessible to the non-academic and engaged in the real issues facing "people in the pews," without sacrificing one iota of intellectual firepower - all delivered with a healthy dose of stridency and self-effacing humor. If the Protestant Reformation is even remotely a concern for you (as it is for us!), then Modern Reformation is for you. Plug over. 

Sean Norris' article "An Introduce to the Law and the Gospel" is available online in its entirety, and it is indispensable. We talk a lot on here about "The Law" and "The Gospel," about the importance of dividing them in preaching or reading the Bible; in fact, these concepts lurk behind much of our output. Well, if you've ever wondered what we mean, or just want a refresher, walk don't run. A few paragraphs from the intro and the conclusion each to whet your appetite:

The distinction between the law and the gospel is a completely foreign concept to many Christians and one that eluded me for many years. Before I heard Christianity presented in these terms, the standard framework by which I understood Christianity was couched in relational language. The foundation of religion was expressed something like: "I want to get to know Jesus more," or, "It's all about a relationship with the Lord." The result of such a framework was a rather ambiguous understanding of the faith. If I was honest with myself, I only kind of knew what I believed, and I sort of knew why I believed it. My faith was dependent on my experience and emotions, which meant that I really had to work hard to keep the experience going. It was important to feel close to the Lord at all times because that was the primary indicator of a good relationship with him. More Here...

By Matthew at Jesus Needs New PR

Crazy Pastor Jesse talks about his visit to Heaven in the clip above (found at Christian Nightmares).

The clip reminded me of snippet from a chapter called “Jesus® Will Make You Weird” from Jesus Needs New PR–you know, when Jesus Needs New PR was going to be a book.

Just remember, I wrote this like three years ago… More Here...

Yes, I am looking into finding a new church.  I've been at my current church since October 2008, and things are just not working out there. 

I know it sounds crazy to say that announcements are a problem for me, but they are.  Announcements plus the parents with babies and young kids in the sanctuary during service.  On top of that, I've been struggling to pay attention during sermons for the past few weeks.  It seems like sermons are becoming overly simplified, especially today's sermon.

The announcements portion of weekly services can last anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes each week.  Earlier this year, the leadership tried to shorten announcements by having slides of major announcements that would play before service started each week.  Announcements that were in the slides weren't mentioned in the weekly announcements, which shortened that portion of the service.  Then those announcements were added back in with the others.  Last week's announcements took 22 minutes, which I find to be far too long.

Point #2, and this could possibly irritate anyone with kids: Babies and young kids do not need to be in  the sanctuary during service.  I do not find their squealing, cooing, crying and screaming to be cute.  I find it to be a huge distraction.  I brought this up in a meeting with a pastor last year, and he agreed that kids in the sanctuary is a distraction.  The church leadership, however, did nothing. More Here...

The LORD is near to all who call on him,
       to all who call on him in truth.
  -- Psalm 145:18

As the new week begins, we here at Revelife like to take a moment to pray for our community.  We believe that Christians in community should pray with one another -- not only to encourage our community to grow closer to one another, but also to allow for us to grow closer to God. 

If you've had a rough week or weekend, are struggling, facing pain or illness, or just need some hope, we want to pray for you.  Please let us know how we can pray for you by leaving a comment on this post.  If you'd prefer to leave a prayer request in private, send us a message and we will pass your prayer request on anonymously to our prayer team.

How can we pray for you?

The Bible is great for stories like turning water into wine, healing the sick, and feeding the hungry, but where did Jesus preach about being a Christian in your cubicle?

The workplace is where we spend most of our days, and for some of us, our nights. It can a friendly or frightening place that requires just as much anointing as Sunday morning.

Being a Christian coworker is a daily challenge especially when working with difficult people. What does it mean to be a Christian coworker? How can we rely on God's promises to redeem us from the rote minutiae of office space?

I've struggled with living out my faith at work. I've stumbled--and fell, multiple times. Now, I work for my church part-time and they hold us to a great standard that works while I'm there, but seems to fade when I step outside the doors. More Here...

Repentance of the evil act, and not of the evil heart, is like men pumping water out of a leaky vessel, but forgetting to stop the leak. Some would dam up the stream, but leave the fountain still flowing; they would remove the eruption from the skin, but leave the disease in the flesh. --Charles Haddon Spurgeon

I started the biblical counseling course at my church the other day, the reading list is a hefty 14 books I think. It is important to note that we are a very Reformed, Presbyterian church. I opened the first book which was written by a very well known exponent of biblical counseling. I got through a few chapters and to be honest, it was abhorrent to me, it read like Freudian secular psychology en-couched in Reformed theology. The author seemed content to carry on with what the world was teaching and adding nice Reformed-words like "God's sovereignty", "elect" and "irresistible" every few sentences. I found it seemed content to let man is searching for personal growth, or self-fulfillment, which is realistically only secondary to learning how to praise God. In fact all fulfillment and growth is found when we are praising God.

I find that many people say they are saved, but if their hearts are not changed, and they live lives that are not God-centered. Counseling first and foremost has to begin from the notion of sin. This is the fundamental difference between secular psychology and Christian theology, secularity assumes that man is not good or bad, but rather neutral gaia entities and lacking any meaning, while Christian theology asserts that man is a sinful creature. Biblical Counseling has to be distinct from secular psychology because it requires reconciliation to God, and submission, essentially diminishing in stature, while secular psychology consists of boosting in self-confidence and increasing self-esteem. Both are polar opposite medicines in the answer to pain and suffering in the world. More Here...

Most my life, I've had a hard time believing that God is real. I really craved a strong faith. I often found myself asking God to strengthen my faith.

After about twelve years of struggling in my faith, God finally showed himself in an undeniable way. It all started when my cat went missing.

I went out looking for him, and to my horror I found he had been killed, probably by my neighbor's dog. This was a very traumatic event for me. I had nightmares about it for weeks.

Finally one night I just couldn't take it anymore. On one hand, if I went to sleep I would have nightmares, but if I stayed awake I would only think about what was giving me nightmares. Either way I would be tormented with the memories.

So I talked to my younger brother about it. He told me to think about one of my friends. So I did. More Here...

Technically my diet is ovo-lacto-vegetarian.  I eat eggs and drink milk, but eat no form of meat, including poultry or fish.  It has been over two years since I have eaten any meat.  But I avoid the term 'vegetarian,' because vegetarianism isn't a philosophy to which I subscribe.  Rather, I choose to avoid eating meat as a concrete manifestation of my acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as lord.  But how does that work, when most Christians, both throughout history and today are quite enthusiastic meat-eaters.

Certainly, they are within their rights to.  The Bible speaks to meat eating at a few different points, always emphasizing that eating meat is permissible for Christians.  To argue for a form of Christian vegetarianism, as I do, cannot mean to argue that eating meat is a sin.  Rather, Christian vegetarianism may be seen as a high point of discipleship, a discipline to which some are called even as many ignore or reject it as a calling.  So the question becomes, why do I feel called to abstain from eating meat? 

First, the most fundamental task for anyone who claims to follow Jesus is to live as though Jesus is lord.  The Bible describes what society was like before human rebellion and what it will be like after Christ's victory is manifested, and in both descriptions the eating of meat is notably absent.  In Genesis, Adam and Eve live peaceably with the animals, but are given vegetation and fruit and every green thing to eat, and it is not until Genesis 9, after the flood, that God gives permission to eat meat.  And the prophets envision God's future by observing that the lion will lay down with the lamb, the wolf with the goat, and "the lion will eat hay like the ox."  Vegetarianism in the Bible is thus a sort of shorthand for the peaceableness between humanity and creation only present when "the right God is worshiped rightly", whereas in this time between the times creation is characterized by strife and violence.  Life requires death to continue living, but this isn't how it was meant to be. More Here...

By Matthew at Jesus Needs New PR

Wow.

Much gratitude to @hughlh for sending this picture to me.

By Will Green

One of the reasons why belief in a devil - a malevolent being who tempts people into doing more bad things than they would otherwise do - is criticised is that it is hard to imagine why God would allow such a being to tempt humanity (another problem of a mind without a body is not as difficult because it's possible there can be bodies that aren't physical in the sense we're accustomed to). Let's re-examine this 'absurdity' from a philosophical point-of-view.

There was a debate on Nightline a while ago (YouTube link) which discussed the existence of the Biblical character Satan. One of the persons in favour of an actual Satan said that she became a Christian because such a character existed, or in a skeptical explanation because she experienced a negative force that acted like Satan (i.e. self-destructive urges in human nature).

I find this statement interesting because it seems that many, many people become Christians because there is a sort of self-destructive or selfish force within people. What sometimes happens is that people's lives are falling apart and they need to make a choice between giving in to the self-destructiveness, and falling into an 'abyss', or giving their life to the Jesus of the gospels. In this way many people decide to do a complete turnaround and commit their lives to Jesus. More Here...

At the heart of the Christian Sunday tradition is teaching. Each week, our pastors take the time to impart spiritual truths and wisdom to us to strengthen us and grow us in our faith. 

Of course, if you can't attend church today -- or if, for whatever reason at all, you feel uncomfortable with the idea -- we don't think that's a good enough reason for you to miss out on teaching. 

Today we are featuring the first installment of an exciting new series from our friend and blogging partner Justin Wise of BeDeviant and Immersion in Des Moines, Iowa.  This sermon is entitled, What Does the Bible Really Say About ... Marriage.






We really hope you enjoy today's sermon and this entire series.  Feel free to discuss the sermon in the comments section, and don't forget to return next week for part two of the What Does the Bible Really Say About series, in which Justin will talk about that dreaded s-word: Sex.  Have a great week!

Morning has broken on this Sunday, and for many of you, that means heading off to church for some great praise and worship!  We understand if you can't make it to church or if you don't plan to go today, so let us provide you with some alternative worship to remind you of God and His unending love for us!  Of course, we do not anticipate being a complete substitute for all the benefits of going to church, such as fellowship and community, but we do hope that you will be blessed by these songs this morning.

Don't forget to join us later today, when Justin Wise starts a new sermon series with a message entitled What Does the Bible Really Say About ... Marriage.

"One Way," by Hillsong United


More Here...

I am coming out again, it seems. I had finally gotten open to so many people at my College, and amongst my friends, but now I am tossed into this new environment of seminary, and, with meeting all of these people, I must come out again. Luckily, I have many friends from my College there, so some people already know, but it may be a difficult road. However, it is one I want to face to open the path to other transgendered Christians. It is time for Christians to realize the Bible does not speak of transgenderism, and there should be no reason we are not involved in the Church.

Of course, I am a loving caring person who likes to be cautious and strategic in coming out -- until the ball really gets rolling; then it's unpredictable. So I have some first steps planned. Already a small group knows, and my first major step is to talk with a certain professor and come up with a plan to do it in a smart way.

So some of my immediate questions include:

What buttons should I be wanting to push while at seminary?

While I was mostly out in college, I still "laid low" and only did some minor activism and did not ever present at school. I tried to make my approach work in the framework of how things worked there, and it succeeded. We managed to get a support group for LGBT students going. I changed a lot of opinions and opened minds. However, I had been there for two years before coming out, so people had some respect for me as a smart person. But with Seminary, I am only there two years, and I want to be mostly out by the end of this semester. What buttons do I push? More Here...

By Matthew at Jesus Needs New PR

According to The Daily Beast…

We’ll believe it when we hear it from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Israeli Defense Minister and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak tells Haaretz that his government is willing to split Jerusalem, a reversal for a regime that had previously insisted that Jerusalem “remain the undivided capital of Israel.” Barak says, “West Jerusalem and 12 Jewish neighborhoods that are home to 200,000 residents will be ours. The Arab neighborhoods, in which close to a quarter million Palestinians live, will be theirs. There will be a special regime in place along with agreed upon arrangements in the Old City, the Mount of Olives and the City of David.”

?Uh oh.

No doubt the biblical prophesy peeps are jumping up and down about this! I’m betting that John Hagee has already contacted his publisher with a new book idea, possibly called It’s Once Again the End of the World As We Know It–and I’m Excited To Sell You This Book!

And uh, is it an accident that I found this news from a website called The Daily (Mark of the) BEAST. I think not. It’s a sign!

Here’s what’s going to happen… More Here...

By Dave Burchett

Jeffrey Zaslow wrote an interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal detailing how the younger generation places less value on the advice of their elders. 

When Amy Turek informed her parents that she wanted to have a destination wedding—on the beach in South Carolina—they gave her their best advice.

“They told me, Don’t do it. It’s too inconvenient for guests, too ‘vacationy,’ too selfish.”

Her parents and other older relatives “were actually horrified,” says Ms. Turek, who is 28 years old and lives in Wheaton, Ill. Ms. Turek disregarded her elders’ advice and is getting married later this month by the ocean.

“The older generations totally mean well,” she says, “but they’re giving advice based on things they did in the past, when times were different.”

We do totally mean well you young whippersnappers! Totally! I have to admit that I was amused as I read this article. More Here...

By Sharon at SheWorships

It’s hard to believe but I have been blogging for over 4 years now! Crazy, huh? And during those 4 years I have been extremely blessed to have gracious and thoughtful commenters. I like to think it’s because my arguments are so compelling and sympathetically written, but it’s probably because most of my blog readers are my friends! Regardless of the reason, I count myself fortunate for the general absence of vitriolic criticism in the comments section. When I look at other blogs and articles online, even the most seemingly benign ones, they are often met with scathing critiques.

My blog being an exception, the general tone of comments sections is a sign of the times. According to a 2008 study conducted by the Mental Health Foundation, anger is rampant in our culture: “Almost a third of us (32 percent) have a close friend or family member who has trouble controlling their anger. More than a quarter (28 percent) of us worry about how angry we sometimes feel; and one in five (20 percent) of us say we have ended a relationship or friendship with someone because of how they behaved when angry.”

While these statistics are readily apparent in the people around us (last week I saw a guy actually get out of his car to yell at someone who cut him off!), the numbers are evidenced by my own life as well. More Here...

When criminals commit a crime, there are two paths most people believe they can go. Depending on what country you live in, you might get put in prison; in some others you might be put to death. Whichever one, people who seem to omit one vital point in support of lifetimes in prison:

Every crime not only a crime against an individual but a crime against society.

A woman walks home from work one night. It's 10pm, and the law office is always so busy around Christmastime. She's too absorbed to notice a rapist lurking in the shadows down one of the many alleys on 42nd Street. The rapist’s wife had left him that night, and he was too tired the previous to delete his text messages and forgot his cellphone that morning in the rush. Behind closed doors he lost his job that day; outside the office he was convinced that his boss hated him. His actions that night are not only sins against the woman by violating her body and her rights, but his sins are also against society by denigrating the values held by society. Each limb found floating in the river by a group of schoolchildren were not the woman's limbs only, but limbs of society's morals being trashed by a hopeless man.

I think what is so hard to fathom about capital punishment is the privatization of society that has occurred. The impact of a crime doesn't affect one person, but impacts the unity of society by offering a discordant intepretation of the world. One of the dangers of privatization of morals -- the general goodness of it can be discussed somewhere else -- is what we see today with the loss of a common good for society. With the decline of Christianity, it is only natural that the loss of the common thread between individuals in society results in individualization of society where what happens to one man, as long as it doesn't affect me, is meaningless. 

This is where prison is so important because it alienates people from the rest of society. More Here...

I hold weekly online office hours on Wednesday afternoons. A set-aside time where I open up the virtual doors of my office and say, “Come, child. Let us discuss the matters of life.”

Anything is fair game, but mostly we end up talking about blogging, social media and velociraptors. Yes, velociraptors.

At any rate, a question came through from a reader who asked,

Do you have any PRO TIPS for branding a church plant?

I liked the question because I don’t think enough church planters think this through before they start. Frankly, I don’t blame them for not putting design and branding at the top of the list. With Bibles, budgets and buildings to be worried about, design slowly sifts to the bottom of the list. More Here...