The Mingling of Souls Marriage Conference

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The Mingling of Souls Marriage Conference

As creatures designed to live life in community, it is no exaggeration to say that relationships have a profound impact on our lives. From the time we are born, it is the relationships with those around us, from parents to friends to coaches and mentors and teachers, that shape us into the people we are to become. For those who are married, there is no doubt that our relationship with our spouse can be a source of joy, struggle, happiness, bitterness, or fulfillment—and often it is a combination of these things. The relationship with our spouse is the most important human relationship in our life, yet can sometimes be one of the last things to receive our attention in an overpacked schedule. Regardless of where your marriage currently sits on the spectrum from “couldn’t be better” to “adequate” to “struggling” to “barely hanging on”, every couple can benefit from some encouragement and investment in their relationship.

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Rediscovering Lent

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Rediscovering Lent

I have recently become more aware of a way of living as a Christian that is far older than any ideas of mine on the subject. It is called the liturgical calendar. Basically, as I understand it, the church created a way to celebrate the life of Jesus throughout the year by means of different seasons, fasts, celebrations, and holidays. You probably know that as a part of this we have Christmas and Easter, but what I did not know is that throughout the course of one calendar year, the liturgy covers the entire life of Christ. The surprise for me was that there is a great intentionality behind it all. It wasn’t just the accumulated festivals and religiosity of the ages. Not only is there intentionality, but that intentionality is designed to where if you follow the calendar, you have over the course of one year recognized Jesus’s entire earthly ministry. I could talk more about this, and you can find a blog on it HERE, but what I really want to set the stage for is Lent.

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Fight

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Fight

To play out the “might happens” and “what ifs” time and again. To be consumed and strangled by thoughts of things that may never happen. To trade present joy for fearful, future, thoughts thus missing out on today. 

These are the thoughts and feelings that I have when I worry, when I give into and become consumed by anxious thoughts. 

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the ruler, against the powers, against the world forces of the darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

Fighting against the spiritual forces of wickedness or evil. No wonder it’s so hard to fight against worry. Worry isn’t something that can be grasped and thrown away. It can’t be physically removed. It is a battle of the mind, where all sin starts, where Satan can hit the hardest, where he can create an entire world of false “truth” that affects our physical actions and our lives. This in turn ripples out and affects not only our lives but the lives and relationships of those around us. Tragically, the ones we love most end up getting the brunt of our false truth, our alternate reality.

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Committing to One in a Postmodern World

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Committing to One in a Postmodern World

Have you ever heard this line before? “Look, I appreciate what you are telling me and I’m glad that is what you believe, but that’s cool that is your truth, but it isn’t mine.” or “all paths lead to a God” This is a postmodern thought process where one declares that truth is determined by the individual, but if this is confronted with love and grace, it is a worldview that can be easily dismissed.

As Vintage Church wraps up our series, 1More, I thought it would be helpful for the body to be able to understand a common worldview that we face in our time. College professors, public school systems, celebrities, and even some mainline protestant denominations toe the line of postmodernism. I grew up in Sunday school in the Methodist church in the early 90s being asked, “what does this Bible verse mean to you?” As we look to invest in the next generation we must accept the reality that only half of millennials believe in God,1 which creates a moral dilemma and asks who has ultimate authority. Most of the time the answer is “ourselves." Before we dig, in I think it may be helpful to first base our discussion on a verse in Scripture which is more relevant today than it has ever been: Romans 1:18-32. Reading these verses, it becomes completely apparent we are living in a modern-day Rome where the culture is telling us we are our own gods and we answer to no one postmodernism perpetuates that line of thinking. So, what exactly is postmodernism?

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When Does this Kingdom Come About?

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When Does this Kingdom Come About?

As a part of my Kingdom Series of blogs, which can be found here and here, we have been taking an intentional look at the Kingdom of God and what implications it has for our lives. In this blog, we will ask, when does this Kingdom come about?

The short answer is:

Now/Not Yet.

When Jesus first started teaching about the Kingdom of God, he would tell people that it was ἤγγικεν. That term is translated as “has come near.” Note that it is not has come, will come, is coming, is here, or has already been coming. Think of it not as the kingdom is on its way, but the Kingdom has come close to you. 

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Be Still

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Be Still

Confession: I’m not very good at being still. I’ve always been someone who wakes up early. I’m not someone who can regularly nap on the couch or flip through a magazine or binge watch TV shows. The truth is, it feels like my mind is ALWAYS working in overdrive. As a mom, my last thoughts before going to sleep at night usually revolve around whether my two-year-old is okay, whether she’s sleeping soundly, whether I’ve done all the things that need to be done to meet her physical needs for the day. When I wake up in the middle of the night, my mind is swirling with thoughts of spreadsheets and work deadlines, chores around the house, and all the things I didn’t get done the previous day and other tasks that I should be thinking about.

Somewhere during the course of my life, I convinced myself that constantly thinking through my to-do list, constantly multi-tasking, and constantly working harder would yield the fruits of success and stability in my life. And, to be honest, the results have proven my theory of striving to be somewhat true—at least from the outside. I have a good education, a satisfying job, and a growing family. These are all great things and I consider them gifts. However, despite appearances, each of these gifts comes with its own set of responsibilities and expectations, which can be overwhelming, especially to a recovering perfectionist, and if I’m not careful, I start working out of my own strength and become worn down and worn out in the process.

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What To Do When Evil Is Legal

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What To Do When Evil Is Legal

If I had to guess, most Americans have heard of the tyrannical government of Nazi Germany, along with its leader, Adolf Hitler. This was the regime that sought to overtake much of western Europe, and possibly the world, if it had not been stopped by the opposing forces. This same group not only was responsible for the deaths of the Allied forces but also for the mass killings of those unfortunates who were trapped within her own covetous borders. Genocide was present on a massive scale. A government program was in place that allowed for the execution of those deemed not fit to live, most notably the Jewish people, among others. You might ask yourself, how could such a thing happen? I hope to give you an answer that could prevent it from happening again.

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Stacks and Boxes and Life

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Stacks and Boxes and Life

We moved this summer. We moved before our house was completely ready, but we were graciously allowed to store all of our things in a room in the house that we now call home. We have a large front room where everything was stored. Stacked to the ceiling of this one room was almost everything that we own. Every time we brought another load in I saw the room and the stacks. All I could think was, “There it is, my life in boxes.” Then I caught myself and reminded myself and I knew the truth: that room is not my life. That room is stacks of stuff: furniture, clothes, books, shoes, pictures, dishes, etc. My husband and my kids are not stacked in a room. My faith and my heart aren’t stacked in a room. My life is not in boxes, my life is not my stuff.

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The Word, Kingdom

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The Word, Kingdom

In a sermon that I gave at Vintage Church that can be found here, I suggested that the gospel, or good news, that Jesus came to bring wasn’t simply that he was going to die. When Jesus talked about the good news, he was talking about the coming of the Kingdom of God. 

I felt as though I should explore this concept a little further. This series of blogs gives me the opportunity to do just that. So buckle up and put on your thinking caps. Remember, there is absolutely no downside to learning more biblical knowledge about something that was important to Jesus. The first three blogs in this series will be more research and biblical study based, while the final three will be focused on how Kingdom-based thinking can change the way we look at Christianity. 

Let’s see how and when this word is used and what it means.

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