Our Deep Desire To Be Fruitful – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.” John 15:5 (NIV) Humans don’t do well if they think their life is pointless. We don’t do well if we can’t be productive. We want something good to come from our lives. This is how God made us. When he put Adam and Eve in the Garden he told them to “be fruitful” (Gen. 1:28). We were made to produce good things and our soul will feel empty if we can’t do so. Moreover, we have a desire for deep fruitfulness. We don’t just want to build buildings, farm for food, or invent new medicines, although these are all good pursuits for fruitfulness. We also want to be fruitful in the hearts of others. We want to help satisfy the deeper desires for joy and peace in human Continue Reading →

Some Guidelines For Discernment (Discernment Part 3)

We have looked at some importance of discernment in two of our recent posts. Part 1 and part 2. Today we provide a list of some important guidelines for actually doing discernment. In order to improve our discernment we need to be open to impressions from God and step out in faith on the ones that pass the discernment process. In other words, we need to take some risks with ourselves (but be careful with others). Do not use one simple formula for doing discernment. Discernment is not simple and if we reduce it to a simple formula then the Enemy has a great opportunity to deceive us. Some people teach that if it sounds like a voice in your head separate from your voice then it is from God. This doesn’t work because your mind can create voices inside itself that sound like someone else is conversing with you. Continue Reading →

God Loves His Lovers – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

“The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them” John 14:21 (NIV). It is interesting how much humans can endure when they know they are loved. When a lover knows they are loved in return, will they not voluntarily submit themself to all kinds of hardships for the sake of the one they love? The inner experience of love outweighs the value of external circumstances. Likewise, God’s love attracts us to him and if we love him in return; then God’s love for us can bloom. Even more, Jesus, our divine-human-king loves us and reveals himself to us. We can see him with the eyes of our heart now and in the next age we will see him with physical eyes. This verse encourages us to remember that God does love us and because of that we Continue Reading →

Christians Should Judge?! (Discernment Part 2)

Last week our post on discernment was “Discernment is the guardian of the soul.” This post takes a look at discernment as described in the New Testament. Depending on the bible translation, several different Greek words are translated as “discernment” in the New Testament. The various words all have the sense of the word “judge” and most instances are based on the Greek word krino which means to judge. But aren’t we supposed to avoid judging? In Matthew 7:1 Jesus told his disciples not to judge lest they be judged. However, this does not appear to mean that we should never judge others, for in verse 5 he says that once we get rid of our own fault we can then see clearly (in other words, judge) to take the “speck” from someone else’s “eye”. Also, in verse 6 he explains that we shouldn’t throw our “pearls” (wisdom, etcetera) before Continue Reading →

Seeking Justice For Income And Wealth Inequality

Part of our responsibility as Christians is to work for justice in our society, especially to help the poor. Over the past few years the gap between the rich and the poor in America has been widening. Here are some statistics from Business Insider: ” The average American millennial household today (ages 20 to 35 in 2016) has an average net worth of $100,800, while the average American baby boomer household today (ages 52 to 70 in 2016) has a net worth of $1.2 million, reported Mallika Mitra for CNBC, citing a MagnifyMoney analysis of Federal Reserve data on household assets and liabilities (all values are adjusted for inflation). That means that baby boomer households in 2016 had twelve times the net worth of millennial households. ” In 1998, the average household aged 20 to 35 had a net worth of $103,400, while households aged 52 to 70 had a net worth of Continue Reading →