Category: Christian Living

Christian Living

A Case for Asking Other Christians for Advice

Chris

Life is complicated. The world swirls around us in what can feel like ever-increasing chaos. There are pressures put on us by others: work, spouse, children, society, church. And there are pressures we put on ourselves: professional aspirations, finance goals, character development, comparison with others.

Life is also hard. It takes effort, investment, perspiration. If we allow life to “just happen” to us, we get tossed by a current that is unrelenting and unforgiving. “Along for the ride” is a hazardous approach to life, for the highs and lows will feel like an extreme roller coaster, and the scars will be worse than taking a boogie board through white water rapids.

Thankfully, life is not meant to be a solo endeavor. We are designed for community. This is much more than the presence of others, though. It includes the participation of others. Asking others to help us evaluate the complications and hardships of life is even a default setting for us; we often seek the input of others. And when we are disciples of Jesus, we should prioritize fellow believers as a source for godly input.

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Christian Living, Church Life

The Lesson a String of Lights Teaches about the Church

Chris

When do you start putting up Christmas decorations? Some people get started in October, others wait until the November holidays have passed, and some like to do it in the final days before Christmas.

Getting ready for Christmas means in northern North America means Christmas lights. The winter season means even our waking hours are dark more than see the sun. It is helpful to have Christmas lights brighten our homes and countenance.

One of our first steps is often to check the lights to make sure they work. At least, it helps to make it an earlier part of the process. It is important that the majority of the light bulbs are bright and clear. If only one or a few lights are working we will probably replace it.

A strand of lights can remind us of an important truth about the Church, both local assemblies and the greater Body of Christ.

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Christian Living

Am I Living on the Wrong Branch of the Family Tree?

Chris

I have one of those online accounts to document and explore my family tree. It seems like a lot of people do. As of 2023, Ancestry.com boasted to have 25 million users.[1] That is an enormous amount of people looking to connect who they are today, to who has gone before them, and combine all of their “branches” into one story.

It is a fun, though not always easy pastime. And it can come with some pricey expenses, whether it’s a monthly website subscription or trips to far away places in an effort to track down information and documentation.

As a Christian, I am also part of a spiritual family tree. Thankfully the greatest “price” was paid by Someone else, and the “documentation” is rather handy. But just like researching a physical family tree, as we dig through and consider the information available, we may find out we have some branches missing or connected in the wrong places.

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Christian Living

Christians Need to Stop Using these Words

Chris

Once upon a time, in an creative writing or English class, you probably learned about the eight parts of speech. These are the building blocks of how we communicate, both verbally and in writing.

One of these parts of speech has garnished a lot of attention in the past few years, discussing the use of pronouns. This post is not about that topic. There is actually a much more dangerous class of wording we should consider using less and less.

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Christian Living

5 Reasons We Make Bad Choices

Chris

Every day is full of decisions. Some are simple and have little effect on what happens next or what happens a year from now. Others are so important they can change the direction of our lives forever.

Bad decisions have a way of setting life on a path of difficulty and pain. When we feel the pain early into the journey we are quick to make changes to get back to safety. We change jobs, end relationships, ask forgiveness from God and others.

But how do we get started down those trails of bad decisions and the scars they leave in and on our lives? Is there a way to avoid these pitfalls on our journey?

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Christian Living

Decision Making & Our Default Settings

Chris

What were the last five decisions you made today? Maybe it was what to have for a meal or how you would satisfy a thirsty feeling. Did you turn music on or off in the past hour? What about the television? Are you taking a break right now, choosing to think about anything other than work? Did you have to prioritize some projects for the weekend?

All day long we make decisions. Some of them we agonize over. There may be a hundred different ways the outcome can change my life or those around me. Other decisions just happen and we move on, knowing what we know with confidence in what we like or dislike.

In a time of continual change, uncertainty lies around every corner. Most of the time it is not like a mugger in a dark alley, waiting to strike and make off with the best we have on us at the time (though it certainly can feel that way). Think of it more like taking a drive down a long highway and toll booths are coming more frequently than they used to.

How quick are your decisions lately? Are you coasting on knowing what you know? Does the thought of other people forcing you into a decision you don’t want to make lead you to frustration, anger and defiance? Maybe you’re like a driver stuck in one of those toll booth’s looking for exact change and the blaring encouragement to get moving from those behind you is making it harder to concentrate.

Chances are, whether you just want to move on and get out of the way or you have dealt with so much recently you just can’t stop and think too hard about things anymore, you have learned to rely on your default settings. Over a short series of posts, let’s take a look at how these work in our lives, where they came from, and what we can do to hone or change them.

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