Spiritual Life
How do we keep from letting the world press us into its mold?

As a Christian leader, I am grieved by statistics indicating that believers and non-believers live almost identical lives: similar sexual ethics, spending patterns, and lifestyle choices. Despite spending millions of dollars on transformation campaigns, ...

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How can I make sure I'm applying what I'm learning in Bible study?

Cindy was in the Bible study I led for three years. She always answered the questions and participated in the discussion. She accumulated a lot of knowledge, but her life never changed.

I have puzzled a lot over people like Cindy. I've met quite a few ...

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How do our Christmas celebrations miss the mark?
How do our Christmas celebrations miss the mark?

As evangelicals we have focused on the saving death of Christ but thrown out the Incarnation in our Christmas wrappings. As we cover God with Christmas, we hide what is most distinctive about Christianity. And this is the tragedy: What many don't ...

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What do we bring to our Bible study that prohibits us from learning?

Bible study requires a pen, a notebook, and maybe a highlighter. But unfortunately we can bring some other supplies to our study that may actually prohibit us from learning all we can. Here are three office supplies that you'll want to leave behind when ...

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How should we balance in-depth teaching with lighter fare to draw crowds to our churches?
How should we balance in-depth teaching with lighter fare to draw crowds to our churches?

Are churches more interested in entertaining people and drawing crowds than in actually doing the work of worship? The demands of cranking out services and sermons are intense. We are trying to edify people who already attend our churches as well as ...

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Who was the earliest post-New Testament martyr?

Ignatius of Antioch was going to die. He knew it. He wanted it. The only possible problem, as he saw it, was meddling Christians.

"I fear your kindness, which may harm me," he wrote to Roman Christians hoping to free him. "You may be able to achieve what ...

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How can I manage my emotions?
How can I manage my emotions?

The key to managing your emotions is in focusing your thoughts. The following help me do that.

1. Perspective

Two Bible insights make good anchors for perspective. The first is the prayer recorded in Psalm 90:12, "Teach me to number my days aright." ...

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What do teenagers need from youth ministry?

A few years ago I volunteered at an event put on by a national youth ministry. The evening was fun but grueling. We bobbed for apples, captured flags, and raced eggs across the floor using only our noses. The games culminated with a frigid indignity: ...

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Are the secular classics I love to read compatible with my Christian faith?

"It does sometimes seem a shame that Noah and his party did not miss the boat," quips Mark Twain as his sharp tongue aims at the heart of humanity. My favorite thing that Mark Twain satirically advocated, however, was to bring home missionaries from ...

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How do you keep your congregation's passion for ministry from deflating?

Whether it's across the table with another church leader, at a planning retreat, or talking to the whole church—every time you talk about what could be and should be, you're casting vision.

for instance, every one of the newsletter articles that ...

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I've been studying the Bible a lot, but I feel stuck. How can I truly grow in my faith?

When people are around you, do they get glimpses of God? Or do they just see a lot of knowledge?

First Corinthians 8:1-3 says, "Now concerning food offered to idols, we know that all of us possess knowledge. This knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. ...

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Can you give me one good reason for why I should observe Lent?
Can you give me one good reason for why I should observe Lent?

Before I went to college, I had a cloudy understanding of Lent. I knew it involved giving something up. Usually chocolate. Not my idea of a good time. But beyond believing that it was legalistic—and maybe even a little masochistic—I didn't ...

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Is America going the way of Europe in turning its back on Christianity?

Henri Nouwen wrote with melancholy about return visits to his boyhood home in the Netherlands, where in one generation vibrant Catholicism had faded into a quaint ritual. A few months before his death, he spoke to a paltry crowd of 36 students at the ...

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How should churches handle the delicate issue of abortion?
How should churches handle the delicate issue of abortion?

Whatever the church has been doing to combat abortion, the problem persists. Statistics tell a disturbing tale: of the 4,000 women who go into abortion clinics every day, almost one in five describes herself as a committed believer.

How this can happen ...

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With so many curriculum to choose from, how should I pick a Bible study for my group?

With hundreds of Bible study resources on the market, selecting a study can be a daunting task. Answer these questions to determine if a study guide is right for your group:

Is this study biblically based?

Is it consistent with the teachings of my church?

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How can I avoid being discouraged about my spiritual growth?
How can I avoid being discouraged about my spiritual growth?

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to spiritual formation.

Each person has a completely different story, personality, and lifestyle. Therefore, it's important for us to develop our own plan for spiritual growth, instead of just trying the same ...

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What kind of music is best to use in our worship services?

A: Christianity claims a unique place among the world's religions. Our faith tells of a God before whom the strongest saints took off their shoes, bowed down, fell on their faces, repented in dust and ashes. At the same time it tells of a God who came ...

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How can we have the joy the Bible talks about when we feel unhappy?
How can we have the joy the Bible talks about when we feel unhappy?
A happy heart takes root in the discipline of giving thanks.

Being happy doesn't require us to turn a blind eye to troubles such as crime and natural disasters. Neither does it mean we chant shallow platitudes such as "Don't worry, be happy." Like most attributes we long for (peace, patience, ...

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How can we handle the "dark nights of the soul" that we all go though at times?

In his book, Dark Nights of the Soul, Thomas Moore speaks of both the mystery and necessity of the soul's darkness. I don't know about you, but my usual response to the dark is to switch on the biggest spotlight I can find. Yet, Moore reminds us that ...

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How do I overcome my fear of being in a small group?
How do I overcome my fear of being in a small group?

Sure, it's risky doing life together in a small group. But the rewards outweigh the risks. For many years on any given Sunday after church, I'd feel like Lisa Simpson, the daughter on the TV sitcom The Simpsons. As the Simpson family opens the ...

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