“Every decision is a small step towards something.”
We’re in Part 3 of Starting Small and this week we’re looking not at the good habits we want to start (see last week), but rather at the bad habits we want to STOP.
Why is it so hard to stop ____? Why can’t I just get past _____? When will I ever find victory over ____?
In this week’s message, we’ll talk about how the solution doesn’t lie in learning to fight HARDER, but rather in learning to fight SMARTER.
Read MoreIs complaining really a sin? Isn’t that just part of life?
That’s our topic this week as we jump into our series NO BIG DEAL? In this series, we’re looking at the “minor” sins and asking the question, '“what’s the big deal?”
As you’ll see in this week’s message, God takes our complaining PERSONALLY and therefore we need to take it SERIOUSLY.
Read MoreIn today’s world, “little sins” like criticism, complaining, gossip, or lying aren’t just shrugged off, but are sometimes encouraged or even celebrated. But in fact, these sins are just as deadly as any other. They destroy relationships, inhibit our ability to pray, and weaken our witness to the world.
In other words, these "acceptable sins" separate us from the life that God wants for us just as much as any other sin.
In this series, we’ll examine 5 “little sins” and develop a plan to avoid their deadly sting.
Read MoreWe wrapped up our series on THE PROMISED LAND and this week's guest speaker wrapped us up with a bang!
Special thanks to my dear friend and sister (in Christ) Maryan Farag, who taught us that defeat is not only possible in the Promised Land/Life, but it's also expected. Thankfully though, defeat isn't the end of the line; it's only a pit stop along the way when we understand the principles Maryan shares with us today.
Now go get those promises!
Read More“For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do... Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” Romans 7:15, 20
Part 2 in our latest series, WanderLOST, and this week we're looking at the fundamental problem of all humanity: Due to sin, what we naturally want is in conflict with what we ultimately want.
What does that mean and how do we solve it? Check out the message above and see for yourself.
Read More
Recently, I was looking through the list of some of my most-viewed posts of all-time and much to my surprise, the post below appeared near the top of the list. Originally written back in 2012, it speaks to an issue we all need to be aware of: THE POWER OF LITTLE SINS.
They might be small, but they are deadly!
Read More
This is a guest post from Linamize, a first-year graduate student originally from Eritrea, who is now studying to be a physician’s assistant in California and who has guest posted before. In today's post, she shares an eye-opening "moment of truth" she experienced while reading a passage in Scripture recently. If you too are interested in guest posting, please visit my Guest Post guidelines for more info.
"And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?" (Isaiah 5:3-4)
When I opened my Bible this morning and read that, I felt as if the Lord was speaking directly to me (or about me).
Read More
We just recently concluded the season in the church known as “the Holy 50 days” – that is the 50 days going from the Resurrection of Christ (aka, Easter) to the descent of the Holy Spirit (aka, Pentecost).
While this season was meant to be a time where we rejoice because Christ is here with us in all of His glory, unfortunately for many of us, it is seen as a time of “recovering” from Lent and soon becomes a breeding ground for sin.
Why is that?
Read More"GOD WON'T HEAL WHAT YOU DON'T ADMIT."
It's Week 3 in Spiritual Sweat II and this week we're talking about HONESTY - not honesty of the mouth, but honesty of the heart. We need to be honest about our true spiritual condition because - as Jacob saw when he wrestled with God - that's the only way to see God and revive our hearts.
So get ready. This week's message was a bit of a tough one and it isn't for the spiritually faint of heart. But if you're looking for revival, it might be just what the doctor ordered.
Read More
Have you ever felt like you ran ahead of God and then made a “big” mistake?
Like a small child when learning to run in the momentary joys of running with the wind, inevitably trips and stumbles over his own feet and falls grazing his hands and knees. This pain inflicted causes him to cry out with many tears for his daddy to help him.
This is the very picture of us.
Read More
“If it looks good, feels good, tastes good, or smells good, STAY AWAY FROM IT! It’s probably sinful and from the devil.” ~ something Jesus never said
You may never have heard it said exactly that way before, but if you grew up in church, you’re probably familiar with that type of thinking. It’s the thinking that says you can either a) love God and hate everything in the world, or b) enjoy the world in sinful defiance of God… but you can’t do both!
“If it feels good, it’s sinful. If it makes you happy, it’s not God’s will for your life. God wants you to have self-control and not to fulfill your desires with earthly things. If you love Jesus, then He should be enough to fulfill you and anything more is idolatrous and sinful.”
Well apparently Gary Thomas, the author of several best-sellers such as Sacred Marriage and A Lifelong Love, disagrees with that idea (and I do too!).
Read More
“Believe me, the most important work of the fathers (priests & bishops), of every advisor and preacher, is the invitation to the sinful person to assess himself in the presence of God, in the light of His commandments, as did…the prodigal son, of whom it is rightly said: ‘he returned to himself.’” Pope Shenouda III
We’re on our third and final installment in the discussion of The Life of Repentance and Purity (got something fun planned next week) and this week we’re on Part 3: The Means of Repentance (How to Repent). I’m only going to mention one point from this section and I’ll let you explore the rest on your own
Read More
“We must be certain that just as God is merciful – and there is no limit to His mercy – He is also just, and there is no limit to His justice. Just as He is compassionate and forgives, He is also holy and hates sin.”
I’m continuing my discussion of A LIFE OF REPENTANCE AND PURITY by the late Pope Shenouda III and today I’m talking about Part 2, Chapter 4: If You Knew the Punishment for Sin, You Will Be Afraid
Read More
“True repentance is a human longing for the origin from which we were taken.” ~ Pope Shenouda III
As I mentioned last week, the STSA church family is reading a great book together for Lent: The Life of Repentance and Purity, by the late Pope Shenouda III. This book was originally written back in the 1980's but was republished by SVS Press just last week and the new edition is FABULOUS!
The content of Pope Shenouda’s books have always been great, but the translation has been the problem. But this edition is written beautifully and is super easy to read. I sat down for 30 minutes one night and read almost 1/5 of the book. HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT
Read More"The Christian life may not be MISTAKE-free, but it can be GUILT-free."
The finale in the Fighting Failure series brought us face to face with the greatest enemy of them all...DESPAIR! And specifically, we talked about the despair that comes from guilt and shame - feeling like I've gone too far and messed up too badly.
If you struggle with guilt and have a hard time forgiving yourself after you've repented, YOU MUST LISTEN TO THIS MESSAGE and see for yourself what God has to say about your guilt and your sin.
"Why try? You're never gonna succeed? You might as well give up and stop fighting."
Recognize that voice? That's the voice that we hear during the second round of our fight with failure as we encounter the enemy of DISINTEREST (or apathy). That's when we've failed so many times and we don't think we'll ever succeed. So instead of fighting what we perceive as a losing battle, we throw in the towel and say "it's not that bad...I don't need to fight...I could try if I wanted but I don't really care..."
Dealing with that disinterest was the topic of Round 3 in the Fighting Failure series. In the message, we look at King David - a giant slayer and a man after God's heart - who messed up in a royal manner (pun intended). But once again, we see that it isn't David's failure that defines him - but rather it's his response to failure instead.
“There are two ways, one of life and one of death;
but a great difference between the two ways.”
Didache 1:1
ETHICS VS OBEDIENCE. One is how we look at right vs wrong; the other is how God does. One is relative and ever changing; the other is fixed. One focuses solely on actions and behavior; the other focuses on a mindset. One talks about sin as a line you can't cross; the other looks at sin as a slope you shouldn't mess with.
Most importantly, one leads to life; the other leads to death.
Which one are you using as you walk through life???
Check out Part 1 in our newest series at The Well called GOD'S ETHICS: REALIGNING YOUR MORAL COMPASS to help you see the difference and answer this extremely important question for yourself.
I had this dream several years ago. At this point, I can’t even remember when it was. But it was so vivid that it stayed in my memory till this present moment. I thought I’ll share it with others so that we can all learn from it.
I saw in my dream a big cage where an atrocious monster was inside of it. His face was very ugly and he looked agitated. Outside his cage was another ugly creature but dressed in white. The second creature was surrounded by a fence that prevented him from going outside of it. Then I saw a person who came close to the creature who is dressed in white, and when the person came too close, the creature grabbed his arm violently and gave it to the monster.
The monster grabbed the person’s arm and shredded it with his hands and left his arm bleeding and broken in pieces. It was a very ugly picture that made me wake up from the dream.
Then I wondered what the dream meant and what does it represent. This is the interpretation that came to my mind.
Read More
Being sick is the worst! I should know because my immune system is like that of a toddler, and being in arctic Minnesota doesn’t really help. It’s so frustrating and annoying to always be tired. It affects everything you do! Always nauseous, and short of breath – at school, at work, even just hanging out with friends.
So what is the solution? You go to the doctor, get prescribed a medication and get on that ASAP so you can quickly heal and get back to what you’ve been missing out on.
But we don’t always do that, do we? We know we should, but we instead think we can do it on our own. We can defeat the sickness without the meds. Or maybe we start taking the medicine, but then discontinue its use after a few days because we have deemed ourselves to be all better now.
In arrogance/ignorance, we think to ourselves, “The doctor doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I don’t need to take this medicine for two weeks. It’s been two days and I feel just fine.”
Can you relate?
Read More
Those who know me know that I am HUGE football fan and an even HUGER fan of the Washington Redskins. It’s now been three days since their painful loss to the Seahawks in the playoffs so I feel like I am finally ready to come out of hiding and talk about football once again (but not the Redskins yet – the healing process takes time).
I will however talk about another football game I saw this past weekend – one that didn’t involve my beloved Redskins. In this particular game, I saw one of the greatest catches I have seen in a long time. It was one of those “jump out of your seat” kind of plays. The quarterback dropped back, avoided the defenders and then threw a long pass to a receiver who leaped to make a beautiful catch. The play was incredibly graceful and extraordinarily athletic.
But there was a problem – it didn’t count. It didn’t count because he went out of bounds. In the process of hauling in that pass, the receiver stepped out of bounds and thereby nullified the play. In football, you often see players twisting and turning in amazing ways to stay in bounds.
Because no matter how impressive the play is – if you’re out of bounds, it just doesn’t count.
Read More
