Category: Level: Beginner

(This is the first part of an article I wrote titled “Christformation And Embracing Forgiveness” that appeared on the Renew.org website. You may click on the link to access the whole article.) What is God up to in our lives? When we look throughout Scripture, we see that, above all, God is restoring his image in us so we can be fruitful members of his eternal community of love. Restoring God’s image is another way of saying “becoming like Christ,” or as I like to put it, “Christformation.” I would like to explore the importance of embracing forgiveness in order to progress in Christformation. Throughout Scripture, we learn that God has forgiven our sins through the cross of Christ: “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3, NIV). I want to persuade you to fully believe in this forgiveness from God. In fact, I want us to believe in this Continue Reading →

In 1985 19% of college freshman reported being overwhelmed by all they had to do; in 2016 it was 41%! Anxiety has become a huge social-psychological issue. “Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health concern in the United States. Over 40 million adults in the U.S. (19.1%) have an anxiety disorder.” It affects approximately 25% of adolescents . Mental health providers report that for youth anxiety is often linked to fear of failure, perfectionism, comparisons to others (often through social media), or difficult neighborhood environments. So, let’s look at what Jesus says about anxiety. We all feel anxiety some of the time and some of us feel it much of the time. Anxiety is an issue in every place and time. But the Kingdom of God that Jesus announced was a place where one could become free of anxiety. He taught us the foundation of overcoming anxiety in Matthew chapter 6, Continue Reading →

Does it seem mysterious to you to say that we have “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”? (Eph. 1:3) ESV. This idea has seemed very abstract and fuzzy to me, especially the part about the spiritual blessings being in heavenly places. Why does it say the spiritual blessings are in heavenly places instead of in our hearts? And if the blessings are in heavenly places and we are living on earth does that mean we are separated from our blessings somehow? Do we have to wait until the next life until we have them? As we look at Ephesians 1:3-14 we can see that Paul lists the spiritual blessings he refers to in verse 3. If we look at these blessings perhaps we can answer some of our questions. Verse 4: God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world; He chose us to be holy and Continue Reading →