My Journey Journal

As a person given to pride, too often my focus is on myself.  I’m at the center of the stories I create in my head.  Upon reading the Bible, however, I learned (and continue to learn) that everything is about God.

I’m made to love, worship, glorify and commune with Him (as is everything else that’s created).

   Read more... (644 words, 2 images, estimated 2:35 mins reading time)

Galatians 3:3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (NASB – sent from CadreBible)

Growing up we learn that responsibility is a hallmark of maturity. Paul even speaks of laying aside “… childish things ….” One thing we need to retain, however, is a complete dependence on God. Jesus likened this faith in God to children trust when He said that without that absolute trust that children display we couldn’t enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.  This seems to present an issue for me because much of my adult life I’ve been taught that success is attainable by greater efforts. The aphorism “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” comes to mind. While God speaks to the value of industry over sloth, He also points out that spiritual goals are not attained by effort but through belief and even submission; characteristics often deemed less effective. One primary goal is righteousness and here’s what the Bible says about a Abraham.  Read more... (407 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

I grew up in smaller churches. I served in a smaller church. We never needed small groups; the whole congregation was a small group. The families knew each other, the kids played together and we’d never been introduced to deconstructionist theology; we simply believed the Bible to be infallible and inerrant. The fellow Christians with whom I served likewise didn’t know better than to confess to one another and pray together earnestly. It never occurred to me to view my faith as anything other than vibrant and alive as a child and young man. Our Wednesday night meetings were several congregational songs followed by the whole church coming forward to the dais, sitting in the first few pews for those who were older, sitting or kneeling at the altar to share prayer requests aloud with one another and then spend time as first one person and then another prayed for the requests aloud with one designated member closing the prayer meeting. Singing and praying; it was a series of events enjoined in devotion and sincerity that I can only now begin to appreciate.  Read more... (866 words, estimated 3:28 mins reading time)