What Do You Think About...

The past few days I have been listening to sermons by Francis Chan.  One thing I really like about him is his challenge to look beyond the scope of "typical Christianity."  You know, the "I go to church on Sunday...I give a few dollars for offering...I say thank you once in a while for the easy life I have."  Now, first, I don't want to generalize and say thing is everyone, because while I know people follow this pattern, I also know there are very strong believers out there, who are legitimately just wanting to follow the LORD.  I also don't want this to be just a post about the exact same things that he talks about.  I want to focus on one key question that he asks, which challenged me to think beyond my typical mindset.  Francis Chan asks the audience what areas of life do you need to change.  The thing I really liked about it was not that he asked that, but how he phrased it.  Basically, he is tells everyone to ask God what it is that needs co...

Every Sunday in church, after singing songs for worship, the screen always says "coming before the throne."  Seeing it every Sunday, I often don't think about what this means.  I was challenged recently about this idea of coming before the throne.  Although I don't remember what it was that triggered this thought, I remember just wondering what it truly meant.  Those who have not experienced a monarchy, often can have a difficult time picturing what this would look like.  I want to think about two different things when it comes to the phrase, coming before the throne.  First, I want to think about what the throne of God looks like vs. how I often picture it (maybe others can relate).  Secondly, what should our respond be when approaching the throne of God. Every time I think about coming before a throne, I start thinking of movies, because this is all I really have to go by.  Looking at different movies, they represent the throne room differentl...

Lately, there are been many different occurrences that which has really helped me understand both the power of God, but also the plan in which God has laid out for everyone.  One of those examples happened Friday night.  I decided to go on a prayer walk, so that I could spend some intentional time with God.  We have a very nice trail (White Pine Trail) right by my house, which made it easy to figure out where I could spend this time.  So I was walking on the White Pine Trail praying that God would soften my heart.  I know that over the years, one thing I have struggled with immensely is being so self-centered and as a result, my heart would be hardened to, well, pretty much anything that didn't have to do with making my life better. Little side-note in the story:  lately I have been trying to focus and understand what it means to meditate on God's Word. As I was walking, I decided that I would just start reading scripture verses out loud.  I opened...