November 12, 2015

A Good Place to Start

November 12, 2015/ Dustin Turner

Have we missed what spiritual maturity looks like? That was the question I asked last week. I have been processing that question for months now, and as I shared last week, I feel as though we have missed it. Sadly, the culture in our churches have relegated spiritual maturity to knowledge. If spiritual maturity is not measured by how much we know about God, then how should spiritual maturity be measured? Last week, my simple answer was this: Jesus. If we want to have a picture of what spiritual maturity looks like, we should look no further than Jesus himself. He lived a life free from sin and in complete communion with the Father. The question then is how do we imitate Jesus and become more like him?

November 06, 2015

Running Into Adulthood

November 06, 2015/ Ross Young

For the past few weeks, I've been preparing for an upcoming race. It's not a long thing, but let's just say my prep has been...lacking. Borderline non-existent.

I really do enjoy running, and I'd like to get to a place where I'm able to participate in longer races more confidently.

As I've been reading about longer races, I've come across an interesting component most of them include: the pace sweeper. This is usually a runner, car, or bike that sets an average pace for runners to gauge their performance during a race.

November 04, 2015

Have We Missed What Spiritual Maturity Actually Looks Like?

November 04, 2015/ Dustin Turner

Over the past few months, I’ve become increasingly frustrated with Christians and the church. But I can’t complain too much because as I’ve become more frustrated with Christians, I’ve become frustrated at myself. The frustration that I face is because of an epidemic facing the church in the United States, an epidemic that I often help fuel.

October 28, 2015

The Corrupted & Distorted Good: The Deadly Sin of Lust

October 28, 2015/ Dustin Turner

Over the past several weeks, we’ve been discussing the 7 deadly sins. Until now, many of the sins we’ve discussed like gluttony or sloth are sins that we often overlook in our life as less serious. While that is a dangerous mindset for us to have regarding sin, most of us certainly do not think that way about lust. If you’ve been a part of the church for any length of time, you’ve heard about the sin of lust. In fact, even if you haven’t been in the church, you’ve probably heard about the sin of lust. Personally, I’ve never met a man who doesn’t struggle with lust and I would be naive to believe that women also do not struggle with lust. If most humans struggle with lust, then it is probably a good idea for us to discuss this deadly sin.

October 21, 2015

Enjoying Food the Way God Intended: Resisting the Deadly Sin of Gluttony

October 21, 2015/ Matthew Weaver

It is safe to say that everyone enjoys food. We know it to be true that food is precious, and a good gift. Living in New Orleans, we experience food at its greatest potential. Nothing can exceed what our taste buds experience as we enjoy delicious New Orleans seafood and cuisine. Yet what we do not always realize is how often our pleasure of food reigns in our thoughts, actions and even our hearts. This leads us to the deadly sin of gluttony, the act of excessive eating.

October 14, 2015

The Subtle Slavery of Money: The Deadly Sin of Greed

October 14, 2015/ Dustin Turner

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is though this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” - 1 Timothy 6:10

Money is a reality that almost all humans must face at some point in their life. At some point in our lives, we get our first job, begin to save money, and spend that money. It becomes readily apparent that the more money you have, the more you can buy. Some of us might even experience this prior to our first job. Growing up, some of us have parents who have more resources than others. In looking at our friends’ lives, we are driven to compete and have what they have. I’m amazed at my four year old son. He has no idea what money is, but he knows that he likes toys and wants them for himself.

October 07, 2015

More than Laziness: The Deadly Sin of Sloth

October 07, 2015/ Dustin Turner

Over the past several weeks, we’ve looked at three of the Seven Deadly Sins, including pride, envy, and wrath. Today we’re tackling sloth. For most of us, sloth is not one of those sins we think about often. In fact, sloth might be a something we never even considered a sin. Some of us might be asking ourselves, “what does it mean to commit the sin of being a sloth?” While we might have questions and doubts about the sin of sloth, the Bible and the church throughout history have discussed this sin regularly.

October 06, 2015

What To Do With That Open Door, Pt. 2

October 06, 2015/ Ross Young

Ever feel stuck in a quandary between two open doors in life? Both seem good, but you can only walk through one. What do you do?

Here's some good news about open doors: With Christ, we don't face open doors alone, and they have greater significance than just for us.

October 01, 2015

What To Do With That Open Door, Pt. 1

October 01, 2015/ Ross Young

Do choices scare you? Maybe not like a slasher flick or that roach you know is somewhere in your kitchen, but scary nonetheless? We all face a glut of choices every day.

Don't believe me? Walk in to your nearest Circle-K and see how many choices there are just for Coke products and dried meats.

When we're faced with choices like that, we have some options before us:

September 24, 2015

Erupting with Rage: The Deadly Sin of Wrath

September 24, 2015/ Dustin Turner

I know you’ve been there before. The moment that came where you honestly cannot remember what happened or why you reacted the way you did. One minute you were calm and the next minute you flew off the handle. You became Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Your temper flared and you flew into a rage. You became angry and full of wrath.

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