Forged By Faith

1 Peter 5:8 NIV We tend to think of our enemies as these groups of people overseas. We think about monsters that are so clearly terrifying and ugly that there's no doubt about the evil they carry. But it's not always some ruler or beast that is lying in wait. It's not always something that looks scary and menacing on the surface. Truth be told, evil is a lot closer than we care to realize. And it may not look quite so dangerous on the surface. We've been talking for a few days about how God gave us His Spirit and calls us to walk through this world of evil and depravity while not being overtaken by it. We're surrounded by all sorts of badness, and it is undeniably a fight to keep it out of our lives. But whether we want to admit it or not, that's a fight we've all lost. We've let this world sneak in. We've given sin a foothold. We've followed the lead of people only seeking their own agendas, all because we blindly trusted in lies. With what'...

Isaiah 59:4 NIV I've been reading through Isaiah for a while now and there's so much talk about the problems and sins of the people back then. Pointing out all the errors, flaws, and wickedness that was thriving in their culture. And I can't remember how many times I've found myself just stopped in my tracks, completely amazed at how it sounds like the writers are talking about our world today. It's seriously incredible! The word of God is seriously powerful, so powerful that it isn't bound by time. It is just as accurate today as it was when it was written thousands of years ago! Today we hear so much about justice. Everyone is screaming about how badly they want justice. But in reality, it's not justice that the masses are looking for. It's not justice that fuels the fire in all these riots and protests and anger that we see erupt in a moment's notice. No, it's vengeance. It's retribution for years of not getting their way. It's an outp...

1 Peter 5:8 NIV This one has been on my mind for quite a while now. As you know we're right around a couple of weeks from a rather different kind of holiday. As I've grown in my faith my view on halloween has changed. Now there are a bunch of different aspects to it and we could spend plenty of time discussing the finer details of it all. But this one part has really weighed heavy on my heart in recent years and I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about it a bit. Be very careful what you allow into your life. We're taught to consume. And entertainment is all around us. We have instant access to all kinds of different things that we can pick from. As we get closer to halloween there is this influx of some pretty messed up movies and shows that suddenly come pouring into our world. As harmless as they may seem please understand that isn't the case. We're so focused on being entertained that we rarely stop to consider what we're looking at or listening to. Th...