We had a fantastic time this weekend on our Camp Trek trip. The subject we discussed while picking marshmallows out of our teeth, wafting at smoke in our eyes, and anxiously waiting for “that girl” to realize someone put a bug on her shoulder…was…MISSIONAL LIVING.
It’s a topic we have been circling for a long time now, and feel like it’s time to start landing the plane. Therefore, over the next 4 weeks on Saturday nights, we are going to look at an Old Testament example of this in the book of Jonah. You may hear us as well discuss an acronym giving us confident steps in the “how to go about” it. Here it is:
T. arget (who is the Lord putting on your heart to minister to due to: friendship, circumstance, similar talents, etc…)
R. elationship (What steps do you need to take to develop a deeper trusting relationship with them?)
I. nitiative (What are some gospel steps or situations you could be proactive in?)
B. aby steps (What small steps need to be taken in the process of “them having the full gospel”.
E. engage them with Truth (What hard questions are being presented that the Word is the ultimate answer too?)
We’d like for you to process and pray through this on your own, in your small groups, and with your monk mentors. We are trying to wrap out hearts around Christ’s missional charge to Go and Make Disciples out of every TRIBE and nation.
~deep thoughts from a shallow guy~
mn
Monday, November 9, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The Meaning of 'in me' in John 15
Last Saturday night, we looked at John 15, the story of the vine and the branches. We hit a snag (no pun intended) when we came across a controversial element of the passage. Theologians have long debated the meaning of “in me” that is used throughout the passage, as in “every branch in me that does not bear fruit” (John 15:2a). We said that there are traditionally two ways to understand “in me.” In this article, we want to explore these to interpretations and see if we can learn anything about them. The first interpretation is that “in me” refers to our salvation. To be “in Christ” is to be a born again child of God. In the second interpretation, “in me” refers to fellowship or relationship with Christ. The difference is something like this. Compare it to the relationship between children and their parents. We can talk about whether or not children legitimately belong to their parents. Or we can about their relationship. Children can have a bad relationship with their parents and not lose them as parents.
Now, I am no theologian. Most of what I will discuss here come from Joseph C. Dillow’s article “Abiding is Remaining: Another Look at John 15:1-6.” Let’s consider first the idea of “in me” meaning salvation. This reading makes sense to us because we so frequently hear “in Christ” refer to salvation, as in “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor 5:17a). Under this interpretation, when Jesus says “every branch in me” He is referring to saved believers. There is a bit of a problem with this. Verse 2 says that “every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away” and later in verse 6 “if anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers.” If we understand this passage as talking about salvation and heaven and hell, we have two options. Either Jesus is saying that genuine believers will lose their salvation if they do not abide or somehow the “in me” in verse 2 must be different than the other “in me’s.” We know the first option cannot be correct because of the overwhelming amount of Scripture that teaches that we cannot lose our salvation. Therefore, most theologians who take the salvation view of “in me” claim that the branches that do not bear fruit merely claim to be “in Christ” but are not so. This is difficult to justify, but there is another option for interpreting this text.
We must recognize the context of Jesus’ teaching. Judas has left to betray Jesus, and the only people with Him the 11 faithful disciples. Therefore, He is speaking to those who are all genuine believers who will serve Jesus faithfully all of their lives. But, they are scared and confused over the news that Jesus will be leaving them soon. Jesus is teaching them how to follow Him and bear fruit when they can no longer see Him face to face. It would make sense that Jesus would not need to teach these men about being saved, but rather how to maintain this wonderful relationship they have been building for 3 years. There are at least 4 reasons to understand “in me” as being good relationship.
1) The various passages in which “in Christ” refers to salvation are written by Paul. We have to look at how John uses the phrase, which is mostly to talk about relationship. This does not mean that they teach different things, but rather that they use words differently.
2) The context lends to the idea that Jesus would want to give His disciples practical, comforting words about how to stay with Him.
3) The command to abide means that Jesus thought that the disciples had to work to “remain in Him.” This does not make sense in salvation, but makes perfect sense in relationship. The whole of Scripture teaches that salvation is God’s work in us. We are not saved by our works, but by faith in God’s grace. However, we do strive and work to know the Lord more fully in our lives.
4) It removes the problem of interpreting the branches not “in Him.” We then see that Jesus is using the dried up branches to describe the relationship between Himself and non-abiding believers, not the state of their soul.
Though there are good reasons to follow both interpretations, I believe that understanding “in me” as referring to fellowship with Christ is the most accurate interpretation. It explains that Christ is urging the men He dearly loved (and also us!) to stay close to Him by abiding. He longs for relationship with us. This abiding relationship yields fruit, which glorifies the Father (John 15:8), witnesses to the world (John 15:8) and gives us joy (John 15:11).
For His glory and our joy,
nr
Now, I am no theologian. Most of what I will discuss here come from Joseph C. Dillow’s article “Abiding is Remaining: Another Look at John 15:1-6.” Let’s consider first the idea of “in me” meaning salvation. This reading makes sense to us because we so frequently hear “in Christ” refer to salvation, as in “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor 5:17a). Under this interpretation, when Jesus says “every branch in me” He is referring to saved believers. There is a bit of a problem with this. Verse 2 says that “every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away” and later in verse 6 “if anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers.” If we understand this passage as talking about salvation and heaven and hell, we have two options. Either Jesus is saying that genuine believers will lose their salvation if they do not abide or somehow the “in me” in verse 2 must be different than the other “in me’s.” We know the first option cannot be correct because of the overwhelming amount of Scripture that teaches that we cannot lose our salvation. Therefore, most theologians who take the salvation view of “in me” claim that the branches that do not bear fruit merely claim to be “in Christ” but are not so. This is difficult to justify, but there is another option for interpreting this text.
We must recognize the context of Jesus’ teaching. Judas has left to betray Jesus, and the only people with Him the 11 faithful disciples. Therefore, He is speaking to those who are all genuine believers who will serve Jesus faithfully all of their lives. But, they are scared and confused over the news that Jesus will be leaving them soon. Jesus is teaching them how to follow Him and bear fruit when they can no longer see Him face to face. It would make sense that Jesus would not need to teach these men about being saved, but rather how to maintain this wonderful relationship they have been building for 3 years. There are at least 4 reasons to understand “in me” as being good relationship.
1) The various passages in which “in Christ” refers to salvation are written by Paul. We have to look at how John uses the phrase, which is mostly to talk about relationship. This does not mean that they teach different things, but rather that they use words differently.
2) The context lends to the idea that Jesus would want to give His disciples practical, comforting words about how to stay with Him.
3) The command to abide means that Jesus thought that the disciples had to work to “remain in Him.” This does not make sense in salvation, but makes perfect sense in relationship. The whole of Scripture teaches that salvation is God’s work in us. We are not saved by our works, but by faith in God’s grace. However, we do strive and work to know the Lord more fully in our lives.
4) It removes the problem of interpreting the branches not “in Him.” We then see that Jesus is using the dried up branches to describe the relationship between Himself and non-abiding believers, not the state of their soul.
Though there are good reasons to follow both interpretations, I believe that understanding “in me” as referring to fellowship with Christ is the most accurate interpretation. It explains that Christ is urging the men He dearly loved (and also us!) to stay close to Him by abiding. He longs for relationship with us. This abiding relationship yields fruit, which glorifies the Father (John 15:8), witnesses to the world (John 15:8) and gives us joy (John 15:11).
For His glory and our joy,
nr
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Subculture
What a great week my wife and I had on our anniversary in Portland. One interesting statement was said to me: “Portland is a land of subcultures. Anything you want to find here, whether it is pirates, kickball leagues, hippies, clowns, ANYTHING…that subculture exists”. It was actually pretty funny to witness and intriguing to process.
My walk away was this: a lot of times I think we live in this fib that we have to move away and change everything to live missionally. This can be true and false. TRUE: many of us need to change everything if we were to really live this way. FALSE: we need to move away to accomplish it.
We have subcultures here! We have neighbors, teammates, coworkers, friends, and (listen up) enemies that need to be loved with the purest love of Jesus. To be honest, high school can be a highlight time for this because students are already immersed with these subculture opportunities. Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he pulled a child on his lap and said we need to learn from them.
Living missionally means living on the edge…changing how we do this life thing…and figuring out how to intersect the ordinary with the extraordinary, bringing the kingdom of heaven to the hearts, souls, and realities of needy people.
Amen?
~deep thoughts from a shallow guy~
mn
My walk away was this: a lot of times I think we live in this fib that we have to move away and change everything to live missionally. This can be true and false. TRUE: many of us need to change everything if we were to really live this way. FALSE: we need to move away to accomplish it.
We have subcultures here! We have neighbors, teammates, coworkers, friends, and (listen up) enemies that need to be loved with the purest love of Jesus. To be honest, high school can be a highlight time for this because students are already immersed with these subculture opportunities. Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he pulled a child on his lap and said we need to learn from them.
Living missionally means living on the edge…changing how we do this life thing…and figuring out how to intersect the ordinary with the extraordinary, bringing the kingdom of heaven to the hearts, souls, and realities of needy people.
Amen?
~deep thoughts from a shallow guy~
mn
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Saved to Join the Game
There is this theme that has been floating around here a lot lately. Newman came back from Rwanda and really starting challenging us to join in with what God is doing in saving the world. I’ve been continuing to chew on this idea, and it is rocking my world. You see, when Scripture talks about our participation it opens a deep well of theological significance. Embracing what God has called us to do teaches us a lot about who God is. Let me point out just a few passages…
First of all, there’s this little encounter that Jesus has with a Samaritan woman who is burned out, dried up and beaten down by her own sin and brokenness. The conversation that Jesus has with this woman is amazing, but there’s one part that has stuck with me. You see, Jesus starts telling the woman about the “living water” that He could offer (they were standing by a well, so the metaphor seems appropriate. There are actually a lot of other great reasons for choosing “living water,” but that’s another conversation). Jesus goes on to tell her that when anyone drinks this water it will become in him or her a “well springing up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Now, what’s the purpose of a well? It’s where people come to get water. So, when we receive from Christ, he transforms us into something He uses to give to others. From the very beginning, before this woman had believed, Jesus is saying, “If you believe in me, I’m going to use you to minister to others.”
Later, Jesus is sitting around having dinner with His disciples. It’s just before He goes to be crucified, and He knows it. So, He takes this time to pass on His final words to the disciples. He tells them, among other things, that there is something different about how they are to follow His commands. He explains that slaves obey their masters but don’t really know his plans or why they’re doing what they’re doing. He says that He doesn’t call the disciples slaves, but friends, because He’s let them in on His plans. You see, God has made known to us His plan to redeem the world and has invited us to join Him.
Finally, in a letter to the believers in Corinth, Paul wrote that God “reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (1 Cor. 5:18). You definitely need to read the whole thing, but the key is this. God saves and redeems us, and then He invites us to be a part of His plan to save and redeem others. How tragic is it that we so often view ministry as mere “church work!” As if it is some chain of obligation that we wear! The God of the universe has shown that in His grace He extends His hand to invite us into the most exciting story ever told! As Newman has described it, the game is set. The winner has already been determined. We have just been invited to join the team and be a part of it so we get a ring at the end. So, you wanna play?
For His glory and our joy,
nr
First of all, there’s this little encounter that Jesus has with a Samaritan woman who is burned out, dried up and beaten down by her own sin and brokenness. The conversation that Jesus has with this woman is amazing, but there’s one part that has stuck with me. You see, Jesus starts telling the woman about the “living water” that He could offer (they were standing by a well, so the metaphor seems appropriate. There are actually a lot of other great reasons for choosing “living water,” but that’s another conversation). Jesus goes on to tell her that when anyone drinks this water it will become in him or her a “well springing up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Now, what’s the purpose of a well? It’s where people come to get water. So, when we receive from Christ, he transforms us into something He uses to give to others. From the very beginning, before this woman had believed, Jesus is saying, “If you believe in me, I’m going to use you to minister to others.”
Later, Jesus is sitting around having dinner with His disciples. It’s just before He goes to be crucified, and He knows it. So, He takes this time to pass on His final words to the disciples. He tells them, among other things, that there is something different about how they are to follow His commands. He explains that slaves obey their masters but don’t really know his plans or why they’re doing what they’re doing. He says that He doesn’t call the disciples slaves, but friends, because He’s let them in on His plans. You see, God has made known to us His plan to redeem the world and has invited us to join Him.
Finally, in a letter to the believers in Corinth, Paul wrote that God “reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (1 Cor. 5:18). You definitely need to read the whole thing, but the key is this. God saves and redeems us, and then He invites us to be a part of His plan to save and redeem others. How tragic is it that we so often view ministry as mere “church work!” As if it is some chain of obligation that we wear! The God of the universe has shown that in His grace He extends His hand to invite us into the most exciting story ever told! As Newman has described it, the game is set. The winner has already been determined. We have just been invited to join the team and be a part of it so we get a ring at the end. So, you wanna play?
For His glory and our joy,
nr
Monday, October 5, 2009
If You Don't Feel As Close To God...Who Moved?
By Paula Pinto
An anonymous author posted a quote on the Internet that said, " If you don't feel as close to God as you use to, who moved?" The words of the quote penetrated within me and perhaps you can understand why. There have been moments when I did not feel the presence of God. There were times when the struggles of life, the setbacks, the disappointments or even my own decision to give more priority to the busyness of "life," took precedence over my relationship with the Lord. Instead of my attention being focused on the things that are vital to our relationship with the Him such as praying and reading my word, I chose to do my own thing.
Other times I found it difficult to understand why, as God's people, we are not "always" consumed by His presence, and was challenged to accept that in life sometimes bad things happen to good people. Perhaps, to an extent, my anger about that distanced my relationship with the Lord. And then in the midst of that I stood there saying, "But God where are you?" Instead of the situations pushing me closer to God, I pulled away. I stopped praying as much, reading as often, and my worship started to seize.
There have also been times when maybe I was in prayer and didn't feel this overwhelming feeling, so I questioned as to why, if I am doing this, don't I feel anything. Why if I am making this effort to spend time with him, don't I feel like He's there to spend time with me, and so I refrained from doing it as often....bad move.
You see, in our Christian walk we can hold many positions. Some are called to be ministers, others to be teachers, there are some called to be evangelists, others to lead ministries, but the most IMPORTANT position that one must find himself in on a day to day basis is knelt down before the Lord in prayer and worship. That is what will always be the direct line of contact between God and ourselves. It is when we put that secondary and all of the other things before it that we fell the "drought" from his ever flowing goodness, mercy, peace, joy and ability to continue on in our Christian walk.
Does that mean that when we make a choice to do this on a daily basis that we will not feel "numb" at times or hard to feel the closeness of God? No. Having done all that, there are still times when our nature will battle against our spiritual being. But when we apply these principles to our life, we are not so easily defeated.
We know, as the word instructs us, that we ought not go by feelings. Let's face it, we can feel great one minute and moments later something could happen that changes our mood. Sometimes something doesn't even have to take place for our mood to change. As Christians, we cannot go by feelings, because feelings change, but when we are continually feeding oneself with the things of God, we know that our feelings at the present moment do not determine whether or not God is there or has left us abandoned. When we can adapt to the realization that it is not Him that moves away from us, but we that move away from Him, we can better get ourselves back on track by seeking him more frequently and rejecting those things which so easily try to beset us.
If, at this moment, you are feeling that you are alone, that God has turned His face on you, be encouraged my brother or sister that He is still there, and feelings of abandonment from Christ are lies. Truthfully, it may be either one of two things and that is that we have strayed away from investing in those precious moments with Him or going by our feelings. Nevertheless, both reasons should remind us to take the opportunity to kneel down before him, where He is certain to meet us and let everything else be secondary.
Paula Pinto is the Managing Editor and a writer for a New York newspaper. She is a member of the Christian based writing community Faith Writers, and writes a column called Christian Food For Thought, published monthly on Christian News Today.
Ms. Pinto can be contacted at pintopaula7@yahoo.com
An anonymous author posted a quote on the Internet that said, " If you don't feel as close to God as you use to, who moved?" The words of the quote penetrated within me and perhaps you can understand why. There have been moments when I did not feel the presence of God. There were times when the struggles of life, the setbacks, the disappointments or even my own decision to give more priority to the busyness of "life," took precedence over my relationship with the Lord. Instead of my attention being focused on the things that are vital to our relationship with the Him such as praying and reading my word, I chose to do my own thing.
Other times I found it difficult to understand why, as God's people, we are not "always" consumed by His presence, and was challenged to accept that in life sometimes bad things happen to good people. Perhaps, to an extent, my anger about that distanced my relationship with the Lord. And then in the midst of that I stood there saying, "But God where are you?" Instead of the situations pushing me closer to God, I pulled away. I stopped praying as much, reading as often, and my worship started to seize.
There have also been times when maybe I was in prayer and didn't feel this overwhelming feeling, so I questioned as to why, if I am doing this, don't I feel anything. Why if I am making this effort to spend time with him, don't I feel like He's there to spend time with me, and so I refrained from doing it as often....bad move.
You see, in our Christian walk we can hold many positions. Some are called to be ministers, others to be teachers, there are some called to be evangelists, others to lead ministries, but the most IMPORTANT position that one must find himself in on a day to day basis is knelt down before the Lord in prayer and worship. That is what will always be the direct line of contact between God and ourselves. It is when we put that secondary and all of the other things before it that we fell the "drought" from his ever flowing goodness, mercy, peace, joy and ability to continue on in our Christian walk.
Does that mean that when we make a choice to do this on a daily basis that we will not feel "numb" at times or hard to feel the closeness of God? No. Having done all that, there are still times when our nature will battle against our spiritual being. But when we apply these principles to our life, we are not so easily defeated.
We know, as the word instructs us, that we ought not go by feelings. Let's face it, we can feel great one minute and moments later something could happen that changes our mood. Sometimes something doesn't even have to take place for our mood to change. As Christians, we cannot go by feelings, because feelings change, but when we are continually feeding oneself with the things of God, we know that our feelings at the present moment do not determine whether or not God is there or has left us abandoned. When we can adapt to the realization that it is not Him that moves away from us, but we that move away from Him, we can better get ourselves back on track by seeking him more frequently and rejecting those things which so easily try to beset us.
If, at this moment, you are feeling that you are alone, that God has turned His face on you, be encouraged my brother or sister that He is still there, and feelings of abandonment from Christ are lies. Truthfully, it may be either one of two things and that is that we have strayed away from investing in those precious moments with Him or going by our feelings. Nevertheless, both reasons should remind us to take the opportunity to kneel down before him, where He is certain to meet us and let everything else be secondary.
Paula Pinto is the Managing Editor and a writer for a New York newspaper. She is a member of the Christian based writing community Faith Writers, and writes a column called Christian Food For Thought, published monthly on Christian News Today.
Ms. Pinto can be contacted at pintopaula7@yahoo.com
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sharing within the Body
Have you ever been close enough to someone that their joy was also your joy? Where their pain was your pain? I remember sitting at a friend’s wedding recently. He literally jumped for joy when his bride walked through the doors. I remembered how I felt when I saw my wife walk down the aisle, and I felt his joy. I was not directly affected by them getting married, but their joy became mine as I watched. I’ve also experienced the opposite. I had another friend recently receive some devastating news. This news would not directly touch me, but my heart broke with his. I felt nauseous thinking about how bad my friend must be hurting. In a small way, his pain became mine. In both situations, I felt closer to these friends by sharing their joy and their pain.
I’ve been studying through the letters to the Corinthians recently, and it has been massively challenging and convicting for me. I’d love to share one little passage that has shaken me up a bit lately. It comes out of 1 Corinthians 12.
“… so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” – 1 Cor. 12:25-26 (NASB)
Paul has been teaching about the value of every member of the body, which is the church. It’s a simple idea, but my question is, how big is our idea of the church? Saturday night students? Fellowship Saturday night? Or even all believers in Northwest Arkansas? What would the implications of this passage be if we saw the church the way Scripture teaches that God does? When God views the church, He sees all people everywhere who will follow Him. According to Scripture, if we embrace our role in the church, when another part of the church suffers, we all suffer. When they are honored, we rejoice!
I’m scared that we are so concerned with what’s going on here in our little corner of the world that we miss out on being a part of something so much bigger. It’s a simple challenge. What if we started learning about what’s going on in the rest of the world. Where is the church exploding and doing great? Where is the church being persecuted and suffering? How can we make their honor our joy and their suffering our suffering? I think the first step is that we learn about what’s happening and we pray for the church. Who knows what God will do from there? Below are a couple of websites you can check out to see what’s going on in the church across the globe.
For His glory and our joy,
Nr
www.voiceofthemartyrs.com
www.win1040.com
www.compassdirect.org
I’ve been studying through the letters to the Corinthians recently, and it has been massively challenging and convicting for me. I’d love to share one little passage that has shaken me up a bit lately. It comes out of 1 Corinthians 12.
“… so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” – 1 Cor. 12:25-26 (NASB)
Paul has been teaching about the value of every member of the body, which is the church. It’s a simple idea, but my question is, how big is our idea of the church? Saturday night students? Fellowship Saturday night? Or even all believers in Northwest Arkansas? What would the implications of this passage be if we saw the church the way Scripture teaches that God does? When God views the church, He sees all people everywhere who will follow Him. According to Scripture, if we embrace our role in the church, when another part of the church suffers, we all suffer. When they are honored, we rejoice!
I’m scared that we are so concerned with what’s going on here in our little corner of the world that we miss out on being a part of something so much bigger. It’s a simple challenge. What if we started learning about what’s going on in the rest of the world. Where is the church exploding and doing great? Where is the church being persecuted and suffering? How can we make their honor our joy and their suffering our suffering? I think the first step is that we learn about what’s happening and we pray for the church. Who knows what God will do from there? Below are a couple of websites you can check out to see what’s going on in the church across the globe.
For His glory and our joy,
Nr
www.voiceofthemartyrs.com
www.win1040.com
www.compassdirect.org
Monday, September 21, 2009
On Drawing Near
As we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. It’s the promise we are claiming during our 50-day journey. And as I have begun thinking, it is the promise in which He will make Himself known. As He makes Himself known to us however, it is His desire that it would overflow into the lives of others.
The overflow would speak of God’s desire for us to live with purpose and mission. I think sometimes in my life there is a disconnect. A disconnect that is described also in James 4:8 “purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
I often like to pretend that there is somehow a secular part of our days or weeks and then the part that is sacred with God. But God cannot be fit into our lives; He must be that which fills our life.
This would mean that how I treat people, all people; my spouse, my children, my family, closet friends, or a complete stranger would come from the same bond of love which is Christ. We must all understand that we are called to be a vessel that overflows with the love of God, Christ Himself. So the next time you are at a restaurant, at the movies, a coffee shop or grocery store, realize that the smallest encounter can be used for the greater purposes of God.
As we draw near, He will draw near to us, which means we have to also be willing and open to allowing Him to change our hearts, minds, attitudes and lives. As He does that, you will begin to see, taste and experience a purity of heart. A purity of heart will lead us towards a love for God and for others.
Now the question to ask ourselves, “is the love that is overflowing from your life as you draw near to God, double-minded?” Be willing to become single-minded for the purpose of God and the love of others.
~Bold thoughts from a loud woman
ew
The overflow would speak of God’s desire for us to live with purpose and mission. I think sometimes in my life there is a disconnect. A disconnect that is described also in James 4:8 “purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
I often like to pretend that there is somehow a secular part of our days or weeks and then the part that is sacred with God. But God cannot be fit into our lives; He must be that which fills our life.
This would mean that how I treat people, all people; my spouse, my children, my family, closet friends, or a complete stranger would come from the same bond of love which is Christ. We must all understand that we are called to be a vessel that overflows with the love of God, Christ Himself. So the next time you are at a restaurant, at the movies, a coffee shop or grocery store, realize that the smallest encounter can be used for the greater purposes of God.
As we draw near, He will draw near to us, which means we have to also be willing and open to allowing Him to change our hearts, minds, attitudes and lives. As He does that, you will begin to see, taste and experience a purity of heart. A purity of heart will lead us towards a love for God and for others.
Now the question to ask ourselves, “is the love that is overflowing from your life as you draw near to God, double-minded?” Be willing to become single-minded for the purpose of God and the love of others.
~Bold thoughts from a loud woman
ew
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