Christian Life

Is God Judging Us or Disciplining Us? - Part 1

To Embrace All of Christ, Steer Clear of Quashing Him and Cherry-Picking His Teachings

To Embrace All of Christ, Steer Clear of Quashing Him and Cherry-Picking His Teachings

During young adulthood, Mark, who was uninterested in Christ, worked as a laborer painting houses. He often worked alongside another young man, who was a strong believer in Christ.

Is God Judging Us or Disciplining Us? - Part 2

Is God Judging Us or Disciplining Us? - Part 2

In part 1, we discussed the first of two erroneous ideas many Christ-followers have: I must pay for certain sins in spite of what the Bible says to the contrary. In part 2, we will look at the opposite side of the spectrum, where many do not fully understand the full weightiness of their sins, and in return make an equally dangerous mistake.

Is God Judging Us or Disciplining Us? - Part 1

Is God Judging Us or Disciplining Us? - Part 1

Do you remember the old village stocks? They were wooden structures positioned in the village square. Many had a hole through which the head was placed, and two holes for the left and right hands. Some had holes for the feet.

Does Your Self-Image Match God’s Image of You?

Does Your Self-Image Match God’s Image of You?

For those who follow Christ, believing in “God’s image” of us means we stand on this truth: God sees us as those He loves, accepts, and values. In fact, this is why He sent Christ to die for us—to demonstrate His unconditional love, to enable absolute acceptance forever, and to reveal thereby our intrinsic worth to Him.

Embracing Optimistic Realism: Finding Middle Ground Between Naive Optimism and Cynical Pessimism

Embracing Optimistic Realism: Finding Middle Ground Between Naive Optimism and Cynical Pessimism

Have you ever met someone so optimistic that you considered them more naive than realistic? Because they believe everything to be hunky dory, they blind themselves to the red flags leading to bad decisions and painful consequences.

Does Your Self-Image Match God’s Image of You?

Embracing Optimistic Realism: Finding Middle Ground Between Naive Optimism and Cynical Pessimism

Our Position in Christ, Part 2

Our Position in Christ, Part 2

I told this story because a while later, I was still struggling with my identity. Would I be left in the shadows as a nobody compared to all the students who excelled at everything way beyond me? Did I have value? And most of this centered on my relationship to God. Did God really love me? Was I fooling myself about how God felt about me? Was I really a reject in God's eyes as I struggled with my failings and and immaturity? There were times I'd awaken in the middle of the night wondering about how God felt about me. One such time as I laid there it was as though God Himself spoke gently to my heart, "If Evan Welsh, a mere man, could love you that much, would I love you less?”

Our Position in Christ, Part 1

Our Position in Christ, Part 1

As a child of God who has confessed your sins and chosen to follow Jesus, have you ever asked yourself what all exactly this means? How did this decision change your identity? How did it change your position, now, here on earth and in eternity? Because of your belief in what Jesus Christ did on the cross for you, it is extremely important that you recognize exactly how God the Father now views you and what this means for you personally.

Righteous Indignation or Something Else?

Righteous Indignation or Something Else?

When we become angry toward someone because of their unjust or unworthy manner of acting or speaking, we are letting them know they cannot treat us or others this way. We feel righteously indignant, which is more than okay. Jesus, in fact, became righteously indignant toward the money changers who were attempting to profit off of those coming to worship at the temple (Matthew 21:12–13).

This Christmas Will You Speak Only What is Necessary When Gathered as a Family? Why?

This Christmas Will You Speak Only What is Necessary When Gathered as a Family? Why?

A person who modeled thinking before speaking what was unnecessary was my mom. My parents divorced when I was one, remarried, then separated again for five years. Even though Mom could’ve thrown Dad under the bus while raising me on her own, I appreciate that she abstained from doing so. She expressed later in her life that it was unnecessary for me to hear such things. Mom was other-focused. Because of her heart of love for me, she sought to serve my needs with her words. She was not careless in her words because she cared. She pulled back from communicating information that I didn’t need to hear, even though she may have felt better after having done it.