IF IN DOUBT, READ THE MANUAL

Fairly often I get into religious conversations with people and end up asking them what their faith background is. Most recently, I was talking to a guy at work and he told me that he was a Christians and then he went on to describe some of his theological beliefs. I was a little surprised because I would not have guessed he was a Christian. 

Lots of people are like this...when asked, they claim Christianity, but their behavior and speech don't reflect it; they aren't working the way God intends them to...in other words, they aren't properly functioning Christians. 

JUST DO WHAT I TELL YOU!

I have three amazing kids aged 2.5, 5 and almost 7. My wife does a great job with the little critters, but the house is constantly in some level of dissaray because everywhere they go they leave a trail of clothes, blankets, legos, army men, shoes, toy guns and snacks. If you could pull the roof off our house I imagine that it would look much like an ant hill with them constantly moving their things from one location to another without any distinguishable sense of order, rhyme or reason. 

WHEN ITS RIGHT TO CREATE TENSION IN THE WORKPLACE

I was sitting in my office working on my computer when one of my co-workers came over and started discussing some work projects with me. As the conversation went on, I began to suspect that he was being deceptive about some of the details he mentioned. When I asked him about it, the conversation quickly turned into a confrontation. The argument got heated and then ended with neither of us conceding fault.

I usually feel bad when I get verbally upset or frustrated with people and am quit often at fault in some way. As usual, after our conflict, I started feeling really bad about how upset I got and the fact that I so stubbornly stood up to what he was trying to do.

But then I felt like God told me "don't feel bad about standing up for the truth." I had never had this thought before but it occurred to me that I had in fact stood up to his deceptive half truths simply because he was not being truthful.

AMERICAN WOMAN JAILED FOR HER FAITH-WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Last week I was listening to one of the podcasts I subscribe to (The Briefing by Albert Mohler) and heard about Kim Davis, a County Clerk in Kentucky, who was recently jailed because she would not issue marriage licenses to homosexuals. Because of her faith and in obedience to God, she was unwilling to issue any licenses with her signature on them. And for that, a federal judge sent her to jail.

Whether you agree with this woman or not, it is significant that we are culturally in a place where an American can be sent sent to prison for matters relating to faith.

WHY MAKING TIME FOR GOD IS THE BEST USE OF YOUR TIME

My freshman year of college, I learned an extremely painful but valuable life lesson about time management and priorities. I had a very full class schedule, was overwhelmed and was failing in calculous and chemistry. I was sure I would fail out of college if I didn't spend literally every waking moment studying. I ignored everything else in my life, including God.

Up until that point, I had made it a priority to spend time praying and reading the Bible daily in an effort to grow in my relationship with God. However, with all the stress of school, I was spending less and less time dedicated to my faith.