Category: Level: Intermediate

spiritual growth

Four Stages Of Christian Maturity – Considering Where We Are

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Over the centuries many Christian teachers have outlined what it looks like to become a mature Christian. These outlines, or guides, are helpful because they help us see what we are “aiming” for in our Christian life. In other words, they tell us what it means to become a mature Christian. The New Testament speaks many times about what it means to be “mature” or “complete” (sometimes the word “perfect” is used but it means complete in the Greek.) This idea that Christians grow spiritually and that we can describe what this looks like along the way is referred to as “stages of growth”. We could also refer to these stages as phases or processes. These stages are supposed to encourage us because they describe the good that is ahead for us. In other words, we know what to look forward to. The clearest descriptions in Scripture of some stages Continue Reading →

spiritual friend

Spiritual Friendship And Spiritual Advisers – Should We Admonish?

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Bruce and Tom (or Linda and Rachel) are spiritual friends and have edifying conversations on a regular basis. They encourage one another and each one feels stronger because of the friendship. Bruce starts to notice that Tom makes little joking putdowns of others in his conversations with people. Of course, this isn’t a cardinal sin but it is definitely not godly speech. What should Bruce do? Being a spiritual friend to someone is a huge blessing, for you as well as them. Believers are recognizing they need spiritual help and so life coaching and spiritual direction are more popular now than in the past. But how can we be a spiritual friend who actually makes a difference in someone’s life? How can we be God’s channel for transformation? One of the keys to being a good spiritual friend is saying the hard things that you don’t want to say. In Continue Reading →

rejected by society

It’s OK To Be Rejected By Society – Part 2

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Last week we saw that it is normal for society to consider Christians intolerant or antisocial and that historically people turn to Jesus when Christians are outcasts and lights for Jesus. So isn’t it best to let go of our need to be viewed as tolerant and progressive and inclusive? Is it possible that our unwillingness to be considered irrelevant and morally narrow is really a desire for worldly approval, even though we say it is for Jesus’ sake? Are some of us avoiding the idea of Christians being separate from the mainstream of society? If we let go of these things we will find peace as well as greater effectiveness for Jesus. Instead, we should remember that we do not need to think of ourselves as being on the defensive. Rather, we are always on the offensive because we are bringing “goodness and light” to the world. Thus, we Continue Reading →

rejected by society

It’s OK To Be Rejected By Society – Part 1

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Many of us feel like large portions of our society are hostile to Christians and not willing to respect our beliefs. Christians are vilified in some media just for expressing moral standards. We are considered intolerant towards people, and irrelevant to society. We are misrepresented in order to make it easier to reject us. The good news is that these are all attitudes that the citizens of the Roman Empire held towards Christians for over 250 years. But Christianity still steadily grew and by the end of the 4th century it was the dominant religion in the Empire. Christians in the Roman Empire were considered antisocial because they did not join in the immoral pagan worship or in the violent and bloody spectacles that were popular at the time. Christians were considered atheists because they would not worship any of the Roman gods or worship the Emperor as a god. Continue Reading →

Incredible Motivation To Live For Eternity

Incredible Motivation To Live For Eternity

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I enjoy tennis. And I want to continually improve because it brings some joy to hit the ball well instead of hitting it over the fence. Also, playing well allows me to compete with others without being embarrassed and enjoy the competition. So I am motivated to improve and I am willing to sacrifice for it. Awhile ago I wanted to improve my forehand stroke by practicing with a ball machine. When I finally had time I checked the weather – it wasn’t good. It was cold and windy which is not good weather for standing and hitting balls from a ball machine. Should I go? I debated briefly but I decided to go. I was willing to sacrifice comfort for the sake of improving my forehand. In fact it was cold and miserable and I spent about 20 minutes of my 60 minutes setting up and taking down the Continue Reading →