It’s okay to talk to God about your problems, but at some point you need to talk to your problems about God.”- Mark Batterson In Chapter 11 (“Fight Club”) of Chase the Lion, Pastor Mark Batterson stresses that there comes a moment in every dream journey when you must fight for what you believe in. […]
“Faith is taking the first step before God reveals the second step.”- Mark Batterson As Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 8 of Chase the Lion, he contrasts faith and doubt: “When we operate in faith, we aren’t risking our reputation. We’re risking God’s reputation! And God can handle Himself just fine, thank you. You may doubt […]
“When you accept the fact that sometimes seasons are dry and time are hard and that God is in control of both, you will discover a sense of divine refuge, because the hope is in God and not in yourself.”- Charles Swindoll “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is […]
“The remedy for the ‘theology of complacency’ is simple- fall in love with Jesus.”- Ron Luce In Chapter 4 (The “Theology of Complacency”) of Resilient, Ron Luce asserts that complacency dulls our spiritual senses. As a result, complacency causes us to misunderstand the faith. Most noteworthy, Ron explains, Christ then becomes more enabler than master: […]
“Prayer is the hand of faith on the door handle of your heart. The willing pull. The happy welcome to Jesus.”- Max Lucado In Chapter 1 (“The Pocket Prayer”) of Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer, Pastor Max Lucado states that “we all pray . . . some.” However, Max asks, wouldn’t we […]
“We can’t understand God’s narrative without understanding Satan’s strategy.”- Max Lucado “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”- James 1:2-3 Max Lucado begins Chapter 2 (“You Know Satan’s Next Move”) of More to Your Story by noting that […]
Waiting on God (Baker Books, 2015) Waiting on God: What to do when God does nothing is written by Wayne Stiles (DMin, Dallas Theological Seminary). Dr. Stiles currently serves as an executive vice president at Insight for Living Ministries. The Old Testament account of Joseph provides the framework for Wayne’s discussion of the most difficult […]
“We need to view our waiting in the difficulties of our daily living as opportunities to demonstrate faith in a future promised by our sovereign God.”- Dr. Wayne Stiles Wayne Stiles concludes Chapter 11 of Waiting on God by acknowledging that we need affirmation of our hope. During Joseph’s life, God gave him encouragement all […]
“Our challenge is to cling to what God says even when everything within us demands we run the other way.”- Dr. Wayne Stiles Dr. Wayne Stiles continues Chapter 11 of Waiting on God by observing that fixating on our problems obscures the reality of their smallness compared to God’s power. Of course, our problems are […]
“Joseph saw what seemed to contradict God’s promise as an opportunity to demonstrate faith- not a reason to doubt or abandon it.”- Wayne Stiles Dr. Wayne Stiles continues Chapter 6 of Waiting on God by empathizing that there will be days in life where you truly believe you can’t hold out. As the author poignantly […]
” . . . the hardest part of dealing with any stabbing disappointment in life isn’t the pain itself as much as it is the spiritual confusion.”- Wayne Stiles As Dr. Wayne Stiles continues Chapter 2 of Waiting on God, he observes that, between Joseph’s brothers and Jacob, there was a lot of refusing going […]
“Anyone can perform good deeds for an audience; the best among us do their greatest work when no one is present to bear witness.”- Ken Poirot “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we […]