Monday, 17 February 2014

Questions To Ask God When Life Doesn't Make Sense


Have you watched the news lately? Most of the recent stories cause me to feel frustrated, anxious, fearful, sometimes angry, and frankly, disturbed. Lately, our daily dose of bad news has included the IRS scandal, a poor economy, mandated insurance, horrific local crime and chaos, and reports of terror threats targeting the Olympics. As icing on the cake, the news from our own families and close friends can also be disturbing – illness, job loss, foreclosure, divorce, and crumbling friendships all feel overwhelming.

With all the bad news I sometimes wonder what the world is coming to!

Naturally one question continually comes to mind as we contemplate the news of the day – why? It's normal to ask why, but it is not reasonable to expect the answer to an unanswerable question. When we ask why, we really are wanting an explanation. Somehow, I doubt that the explanation would make sense to most of us this side of heaven. I've found that asking why keeps me stuck in a cycle of frustration, anger, and anxiety.

Christian Dating Culture (Part 1): Majority of Christian Singles Reject Idea of Waiting Until Marriage to Have Sex






A majority of single Christians are rejecting biblical doctrine by choosing to have sex before they are married. Sixty-one percent of self-identified Christian singles who answered a recent Christian Mingle survey said they are willing to have casual sex without being in love, while only 11 percent said they are waiting to have sex until they are married.

In an interview with The Christian Post, two Christian Millennials share their diverse stories on faith, sex and marriage, and explain why many singles are battling against the "purity culture" of their youth.

When Heather Lindsey moved to New York City in 2004 at the age of 22, the Michigan native both attended church regularly and considered herself a Christian.

While Lindsey grew up in the church, she said it rarely emphasized reading the Bible or one's relationship with God. As an adolescent, her mother's only sex-ed advice was to use birth control when she became sexually active. But while in college, Lindsey "gave her heart to Christ." There, for the first time, she became convicted that premarital sex is wrong.

Friday, 14 February 2014

Living the Christian Life


The Bible says that you are a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17) when you decide to follow Christ. Your old "self" is gone, and the new is here. As a result, we want to help you grow in your faith and in your knowledge of Jesus by providing you with some tips:
        Read the Bible Daily
        The Bible is God’s inspired instruction manual for us. It has many answers to help you live a life that pleases God. A good place to start is in the New Testament with the Gospel of Luke. The book of Acts is a great follow up; it contains the exciting story of how Christ’s disciples spread the Good News about His death, burial and resurrection.

        As you read, ask God to give you understanding and wisdom: Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your law (Psalm 119:18). Think about what you read: study and analyze it. Write down questions you have and ask a mature Christian to help clarify your understanding.

        Pray with God Daily
        Talk with God often. Talk over your problems with Him. Thank Him for who He is and what He has done for you. Confess your sins to Him and admit your weaknesses. Ask God to help show you how to live a life that pleases Him. Pray for others, that they too may choose to follow Jesus Christ as their Savior and give Him the leadership of their lives.

9 Things You Should Know About Marriage in America

This week Americans celebrate National Marriage Week, a collaborative campaign to strengthen individual marriages, reduce the divorce rate, and build a stronger marriage culture. Here are nine things you should know about marriage in America:

1. The median ages of people when they first marry (as of 2010) was 28.9 for men and 2010 for 26.9 women.

2. The marriage rate in the U.S. is currently 31.01, the lowest it's been in over a century, according to the National Center for Family and Marriage Center at Bowling Green State University. That equals roughly 31 marriages per 1,000 unmarried women. In 1920, the marriage rate reached its peak at 92.3. Since 1970, the marriage rate has declined by almost 60 percent. In real terms, the total number of marriages fell from 2.45 million in 1990 to 2.11 million in 2010.

Using Social Media in Your Church



The rise of social media has provided for churches both challenges and opportunities. Long-lost connections have been restored giving way to extra-marital affairs. Marriages have suffered as one spouse or the other has been lost in a world of faux-farms, patience challenged fowl, or tales of crushed candies. "Fasting" from social media has become as common as nuns staying away from romance or Tweedledum avoiding the gym.

On the other side are those who have pondered how social media might be used as a means to spread the gospel. As Clark Campbell said on this blog in January:

    [Social media] is a tool for interaction and connection, not merely a megaphone to announce the next church program and party. Social media opens doors and opportunities to engage with people who rarely, if ever, step foot in a church building.

The Poor Shall Inherit the Boards


Several years ago, Carl Ruby, then vice-president of student life at the university where we both used to work told me, "You know, Marlena, you'd make an excellent trustee of the university." I inquired, "What does it take to become a trustee here?" Carl paused. Then he said, "Money and influence." I jovially shot back with "Well, I have very little money and not much influence—I guess there's no chance for me to become a trustee no matter how well qualified you think I am." Carl was sorry, too. He didn't even try to contradict my assertion. He couldn't.

I left his office sad that whatever leadership skills he saw in me were insufficient for me to become a trustee, though the reality was that I simply didn't have the clout to make it onto the board.

Our conversation left me wondering: How often are board members selected because of their deep pockets or their influence alone? How often do we bow to Mammon, the almighty dollar, instead of God? Far too often. Dale Hanson Bourke bears witness:

Wednesday, 12 February 2014

Rethinking the Origins Debate



In 2012, a Gallup poll found that 46 percent of U.S. adults believed "God created humans pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so." Thirty-two percent believed humans evolved with God's guidance, and 15 percent believed humans evolved with no divine guidance at all. The responses to this question, which Gallup has included 11 times on polls since 1982, have been remarkably stable over a 30-year period of time. The findings, showing a public evenly split over the issue of human evolution, have been corroborated in several other national surveys.

These surveys portray a deeply divided and polarized public. Even among the majority who believe that God created humans, the chasm separating creationist and evolutionist views appears to be gargantuan. Are Americans really this divided over human origins?

It's OK to Have a Boring Valentine's Day



It's not unusual for couples to find themselves sitting in front of the TV with their kids on Valentine's Day, the supposed most romantic day of the year. In the case of my family, we spent one February 14 watching a re-run of Wipeout.

The lovey-dovey among us might accuse us of prioritizing our kids over our marriage or avoiding each other on this special day, but that particular year Jeff and I had each had a grueling month of work, hadn't spent enough time together as a family, and had no desire to find a babysitter and fight the crowds.

There has always been a debate about whether it is healthy to have grand expectations for February 14. And for good reason. Because what I've found among those who have the best relationships is that how they handle Valentine's Day has much, much more to do with handling expectations than the celebration itself.