I completely abstained from any consumption of alcohol for the first 26 years of my Christian walk. I've been a believer for 28. There were a host of reasons for my deciding to abstain during that time (including, frankly, pride about my "holiness") but spelling them all out isn't the theme of this piece. Rather I want to express a sense of vindication I felt during Pastor...

As we finish our month of Fighting for Rest (and it sure has been a fight for some of us) I wanted to share some of the habits - holy habits - that different people in our church implement into our daily, weekly and monthly routines.Even though categories over-lap, I split them up since we have talked about them as separate habits throughout the preaching series. Take a lo...

I tend to be anxious about many things. I think that for most people, including many Christ-followers, this is true to at least some degree. In my case, unfortunately, this anxiety has manifested itself to such a level that it has had a pretty profound negative impact on my quality of life in past years. Through those years I've addressed what is known these days as "Anxie...

One of the most iconic movie characters of my lifetime is the great archaeology professor and treasure hunter Indiana Jones. Through his epic movie trilogy (I like to pretend that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull never happened) Dr. Jones, played wonderfully by Harrison Ford, became perhaps the greatest action hero of the 1980s. Through his many adventures Indiana Jones used h...

Anxiety is rife today and many Christians are not free from it. The condition can manifest itself in a range of ways, from a vague sense of things being not right all the way up to a full-blown panic attack. Anxiety largely has to do with fear. There are two types of fear, legitimate and imaginary. Half the battle in gaining victory over this kind of mental anguish lies in...

Psalm 91:1-7 9-11 "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord; He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His fait...

The following is an excerpt from one of Serrene's blogs. To read it in its entirety, or to check out other posts, click here: ImmovableRock.org --------- The one thing I've come to realize as a Christian is, even though Jesus' Holy Spirit lives in me, I'm not immune to rogue thoughts that take my mind off of God (Romans 7:21-23).Romans 12:2, tell us to renew our minds. T...

I suspect that the beginning of our new series on "Fighting for Rest" this past Sunday convicted a lot of hearts, based on the number of hands raised (including my own) for prayer at the end of the message. As in all messages some points make more of an impact on individual listeners than others. What especially spoke to me was the proposition that we must take our anxiet...