Wayne Stiles's Blog, page 43
July 10, 2017
How to Put Your Faith in Front of Your Feelings
Why Your Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Bad Day Doesn’t Define Your Life
How do you deal with bad days? In the midst of those moments, it’s easy to feel like things will never get better. The emotion clouds our perspective.
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)
When our daughters were toddlers, my wife would read them Judith Viorst’s wonderful little book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Poor little Alexander had a bad day not because bad things happened. As it turns out, t...
July 5, 2017
How the Jordan River Reflects Your Spiritual Life
The grace of God we stepped into at the beginning will also lead us home.
Have you noticed how often hymn writers use the Jordan River as a metaphor for transitions in the spiritual life? That may be because the Bible does the same.
(Photo: Jordan River north of Sea of Galilee. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
The Jordan River usually flowed a hundred feet wide at the place across from Jericho where Israel crossed over into Canaan after the Exodus (Joshua 3:14–4:23). But beca...
July 3, 2017
Why We Should Default to Grace Rather than to Criticism
I heard them board the airplane before I saw them. A mother was pushing one toddler in front of her and dragging another behind. The only available seats were the three right in front of me.
(Picture: Meet Theo.)
I had never considered childproof locks on airline seatbelts. Now, I’m certain there’s a market for them. I would have bought one.
For more than two straight hours I watched the younger son—who reminded me of Bugs Bunny’s Tasmanian devil—jump, flail, thrash, flap, flop, hop, laugh—bu...
June 28, 2017
Bethel Reveals What You Need to Know to Connect with God
There has always been only one way.
There has always been only one way to God—even in the Old Testament. But how? That way is by grace through faith in the object of God’s choosing. Bethel gives us a peek at that way.
(Photo: Modern Beitin, ancient Bethel. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
In his flight from his murderous brother Esau, Jacob spent the night at Bethel, where years earlier his grandfather Abraham had heard God promise that he would receive all the land as far as...
June 26, 2017
Living Life in the Balance with God
The Promised Land was a good land for a reason.
To hear Moses describe the Promised Land, it sounded as if it offered vast natural resources—a land where food was plentiful and lacked for nothing (Deut. 8:9). Well, true and not true.
(Photo: Grapes left on vine after harvest in Israel. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
The land had streams, pools, springs, wheat, barley, grapevines, figs, pomegranates, olives, and honey. Sounds pretty nice. Sign me up.
But this good land exist...
June 25, 2017
True Life Church Worship Service [Event]
I’m excited to speak at True Life Church in Whitefish, Montana on the topic of: “Is Jesus Really the Only Way?”Keep reading this post. >>>
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Date: September 24, 2017 Time: 9:30 a.m. Event: True Life Church Worship Service Venue: True Life Church Location: Whitefish, MT Public: Public More Info: Click here for more information.
Practical Expository Messages from God’s Word [Event]
I’m excited to teach each Sunday in June and July at the Marathon Fellowship class on various practical expository messages from God’s Word.Keep reading this post. >>>
Better still, get my full posts the easy way when you SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG. When you do, I’ll also send you my FREE e-book!
Date: June 4, 2017—July 30, 2017 Time: 8:45-10:00 AM Event: Practical Expository Messages from God’s Word Sponsor: Stonebriar Community Church Venue: Marathon Adult Fellowship Lo...Blogging for Ministry Course [Event]
I’m excited to teach a new course on “Blogging for Ministry” this winter at Dallas Theological Seminary. This course will introduce the nuts and bolts of blogging as an effective ministry tool. The students will learn to set up a self-hosted WordPress blog, choose a niche audience, maintain a blogging schedule, apply creativity to repurposing content, write for search engine optimization (SEO), set up and grow an email list, learn tips and tools to maximize productivity, utilize Google...
June 21, 2017
Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre Shows Our Need for a Savior
How the site demonstrates the need for the place it hallows.
One of the biggest surprises to Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem occurs when they step inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The site of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection falls short of the expectations of many Christians accustomed to Western worship.
Gold drips from icons. Chanting fills the spaces. Incense rises between cold stone walls. Six sects of Christendom betray jealous rivalries over the goings-on within. Territorial...
June 19, 2017
You Have a Spiritual Freedom You May Not Realize
Juneteenth offers an essential reminder to our spiritual lives
Freedom from anything begins by knowing you are free. Juneteenth is short for June 19th—a state holiday in Texas. It commemorates the day in 1865 that good news arrived.
(Photo by Photodune)
Juneteenth teaches us something important about freedom: it’s useless unless you know it’s true and you live like it.
As a Christian, you have a spiritual freedom you may not even realize.
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