I wrote a few months ago about the difficult of creating something from nothing. Now that Semra & I are on campus telling students about Chi Alpha, there’s a not-so-subtle temptation to look up every how-to manual on starting a campus ministry and thumb through business and leadership books searching for answers. But there’s only one “leadership” book that has made a difference for us on campus: the Bible.
Courtesy of Bret Allen, the biggest thing I’m learning right now is that every building requires a firm foundation. The amount of quality, effort, and expense put into the foundation will become the limiting factor on the height and strength of the entire building. If the foundation is even 6 inches off, it has to be torn up and complete redone. It literally can make the difference between making huge profit or great financial loss.
The Bible has much to say about laying foundations. Here are six principles for setting a Biblical foundation in ministry, marriage, business, college, or life.
- Strategically Plan Ahead
Luke 14:28-29 – Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him.
1 Corinthians 3:10 – By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.
- Make Christ the Center
1 Corinthians 3:11 – For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:19-20 – Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
- Practice Obedience to God’s Word
Matthew 7:25 – Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
Luke 6:49 – But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.
- Strive for Holiness
Ephesians 2:21-22 – In [Christ] the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
1 Peter 2:4-5 – As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Acknowledge God as the True Builder
Psalm 127:1 – Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.
Hebrews 3:4 – For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.
- Rely Fully On God
1 John 5:14 – This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Romans 1:29-31
This excerpt comes from the well-known passage in Romans that deals head on with sin. It describes an entire world full of unashamed rebels who both scorn their creator and deny his existence. Their sin leads them headfirst toward death, destruction, and divine wrath. When we read it we think to ourselves: how horrible, how wicked!
I went to a coffee shop on campus this afternoon. Sitting at the table reading the Bible, I was finding it hard to concentrate because of some rather loud conversations from the next table. A group of freshman girls excitedly chattered about their heavy workloads and dorm life. One girl began narrating a recent incident in her dorm. She was with another female friend of hers in one of her male neighbor’s room when he found out they had never watched porn before. He immediately pulled up a video on his computer and began showing them illicit material. In shock the girl and her friend left the room. The other girls sitting around the table started laughing and enthusiastically began asked her more questions. When asked why he did it, she responded that it was because he was “nasty”.
Although it was obvious that she hadn’t wanted to see it, the way she told her story and her friends’ response clearly demonstrated something else: it was funny to them. It was a gross joke, but not particularly immoral.
I could tell by their generous use of profanity that these freshmen were probably not sincere followers of Christ. As I tried to block their words out, my heart sunk. There was something wrong in their behavior. Several words reverberated in my head: God, help them know what purity is.
Eventually they left the table, but I could feel in my stomach that something wasn’t settling right. It wasn’t enough to be able to identify they were out of step with God’s standards.
I turned to the Romans passage and reread it. Paul’s message isn’t pretty or politically correct, but I believe it’s true. But then I kept reading and something really caught me off guard. Just a few verses after his sin passage, Paul issues a stern warning:
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same thing.
Romans 2:1
Instead of allowing us to use our awareness of the world’s sins to condemn and cast judgment on others, Paul demands that we do something entirely different: we must stop sinning. Suddenly it’s not about them, those sinners, or others around us. To our surprise the curtains are pulled back, the lights turn back on, and now it is us who are on display. It’s our sin, our own hypocrisy, our calculated lies, our reckless arrogance, our ungodly motives, and our blatant self-righteousness being judged.
The truth is that you have been deceitful and I have too. God is not fooled for a second.
Maybe the world is full of sin but we ourselves are unable to cast the first stone, our whole body slowly being crushed under the weight of our transgression. It is through Christ alone that we can stand before God and have any claim to being called good. There is no other name by which we are saved, including our own name that we hold so preciously.
This passage teaches us that our primary task is not to inform sinners of their misdeeds but to rather to uproot our secret sin, quench our untamed lusts, surrender our desire for recognition, expose our inner vanity, and repent for our firm refusal to trust God on a heart level.
A true understanding of sin will result in sincere humility, daily dependence on God’s grace, and genuine compassion for those around us struggling with sin. It is only when we finally begin to grasp the gravity of own sin that we suddenly now have a real chance at sharing Christ’s love with our world. But first, we must learn and continue to learn ourselves.
This post owes a great deal of dependence on chapter three of Francis Schaeffer’s Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History. This is a retelling in my own words from memory along with thoughts of my own.
After the death of Moses, Joshua was left in charge of the Israelites. For forty years he had served as an assistant to Moses and now the entire future of a nation rested on his shoulders: quite a sobering responsibility. Joshua’s leadership would be the deciding factor in Israel’s success or failure. If he was faithful to God’s covenant, Israel would inherit the Promised Land and find rest. If not, they risked the same fate that they experienced forty years earlier during their first attempt: total defeat.
Graciously God readied his servant Joshua, continually encouraging his resolve and reminding him of his covenant promise. God had promised Abraham that his descendants would become a numerous nation and occupy Canaan’s fertile soil, and now was the time for that promise to be realized. This was it: God would be with Joshua just as he had been with Moses.
As Joshua prepared his army to cross the Jordan River into this new land pregnant with possibilities, God speaks in a curious way to his servant. He commands him in Joshua 1:7-8:
Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Now this Book of the Law was brand new. In fact, Joshua had worked side by side for decades with the man who had written it. Shouldn’t a holy book be hundreds of years old at least? What was in this book that made it worthy to be studied day and night, followed to the letter, and carefully memorized?
According to Christians, the books of the Bible are inspired, that is to say written both by a human author and a divine author, God himself. Scripture is not only inspiring, it is inspired to the point of being “God-breathed.” It is divine communication to the human race, revealing God’s cosmic superiority over all things, his perfect holiness and moral requirements, and his unfolding plan for the salvation of a fallen world.
In the case of Joshua, we find a connection between our world and the Biblical world. When Joshua was assisting Moses, God would speak to Moses face to face. Afterward, Moses face shone so brightly from being in the presence of God that he had to wear a veil to keep from blinding the Israelites. Often times, Joshua watched as Moses led the people according the divinely revealed commands of the voice of God. God spoke to Moses, then Moses spoke to the people.
Fast forward a bit: Joshua is about to enter the Promised Land and God has announced that he is with him. God has claimed to be with Joshua in the same way that he is with Moses, but things are not the same. Moses alone, distinct from all other leaders, was allowed to be in God’s presence. How was Joshua supposed to know what to do without this direct access to God’s voice? How was Joshua ever going to lead the people in the right direction without Moses’ special relationship to God?
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.
Even though Joshua knows that Moses wrote the Book of the Law, he knows there’s more to the story than meets the eye. Although Moses’ hand penned the words, God himself had expressed his divine will and truth through them. Through the collaboration of human and divine authorship emerged an authoritative and trustworthy Word. When Moses lead Israel, God revealed himself personally to the the leader. But now when Joshua leads Israel, God reveals himself personally through his Word. This Book of the Law was now to be recognized to truly be God’s words, revealed through his servant Moses. These words would bring blessings for obedience and punishment for disobedience, a completely trustworthy account containing the very will of God. Joshua the new leader, if he remembered and followed this Book, would know what to do.
We face a similar situation today. Just as Joshua had to courageously lead without the audible voice of God to guide him, so we too have to lead and make decisions without an absolute certainty of God’s specific directions. What we do have is the written Word of God, able to penetrate between spirit and soul. It communicates God’s truth to us, not just sufficiently but perfectly. Through the scripture we find Jesus Christ, Lord of creation, Redeemer of our souls, Author and Perfecter of our faith. While we cannot hear the voice of our God audibly, if we patiently cling to the Word he has given us and purposefully carry out its will and submit to its truth, we will hear God.
To the heart humbly open to receive the things of God, scripture provides a lamp to our feet. As we read the Bible, we hear from God and our faith is made more certain. But instead of merely receiving commands and instructions from the Lord, we receive something much better: a new and tranformed heart. This renewed organ leads us in God’s will, attentive to his Holy Spirit, sensitive to the very heart of God. Following Joshua’s example, we can place our trust in God’s revealed words and if we are obedient, experience the profound joy and purpose of following God’s will. And if that weren’t enough, God has given his children a new promise: that if we stay faithful to his covenant, we will inherit an eternal land, better than the fertile soils of Canaan: a heavenly land far greater than we can imagine.
“Command and teach these things.”
- 1st Timothy 4:11, the Apostle Paul writing to Timothy
My generation places an incredibly high value on acceptance and tolerance. We grew up learning about the emancipation of slaves, women’s suffrage, the civil rights movement, and desegregation. We inherently know that war is generally evil and that human rights are true and God-given. Everybody gets a place at the table and no one is to be excluded on the basis of gender, race, sexual preference, economic status, disability, or age.
Then along comes the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It teachs us that humans are sinful and fallen, in desperate need of a savior. We accept Jesus as Lord and are grateful for it. We are reconciled to God through faith in his son Jesus. His grace is richly poured out into our lives, his sacrifice on the cross pays for our sins, and we live again through his resurrection power.
But what about others?
They seem to be doing fine on their own. Jesus works for my life, but what right do I have to tell others what to do or believe? It seems unloving, even arrogant, not to accept people of other faiths and backgrounds. The temptation sets in to continue to accept people as they are, recognizing that no one person or faith has all the answers. After all, great men and women have arisen from non-Christian religions, like Ghandi. Doesn’t all love really just reflect God’s love anyway?
Contrary to our cultural preferences, the gospel does not teach that other religions can also lead to God. It is not tolerant in the ways that we may secretly want it to be. If we pay attention to what Jesus says, we are not left with much wiggle room:
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
- John 14:6
This is a stumbling block for many. Anyone who doesn’t struggle with this statement probably comes from a much different cultural background than ours. While this statement may be hard, I’d like to point out the Apostle Paul’s words to Timothy. He tells Timothy to “command and teach” the gospel. In the context of the letter, he means to instruct people to follow God’s commands and to trust only the life-changing grace of Jesus Christ. Essentially, he is telling Timothy to tell other people what to do.
But what if we are uncomfortable with that? What if we desire to be accepting and not judge others because we know that we ourselves are still working on things?
I think Paul’s next words bring great clarity to this problem:
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
Before we tell others what to do, we always set an example first. Christians are not supposed to be self-righteous moralists who tell everyone what to do. We are examples to our community, practitioners of Godly living, and faithful stewards of God’s commands. Our capacity to speak into the lives of others about our faith springs out of our own personal integrity. If following Jesus is true and right, the only way to God, then our lives will manifest the power and truth of this fact. If our love is genuinely centered on the love of Christ, it will outshine and surpass the love of those who claim to have God’s love apart from Christ.
Fortunately, we don’t have prove to the world that Jesus is the only true way. He did that himself through the Resurrection and will continue to do that through our lives when we follow after him wholeheartedly.
Our downstairs neighbors play music at 4 am while I toss and turn, desperately trying to fall asleep. Their late night/early morning conversations interrupt my sacred rest. The next morning I want to stomp on the floor in revenge. I want to stomp loudly and wake them up as punishment.
…But I stop myself.
My alarm rings at 8 am. I roll over and turn it off. A cloud of grogginess stifles my willpower. My eyes feel blurry and tired. I feel an overwhelming instinct to go back to sleep for another hour or two. No one will notice.
…God supernaturally drags me out of bed so I can be a better servant.
I check my e-mail. A stranger commented on my blog calling me a misogynist. I double-check the meaning in the dictionary: it means woman-hater. A part of me wants to defend myself and explain to him over e-mail that I love my wife dearly and am one of the most egalitarian people I know.
…Then I let it go and save my energy for people I actually know.
I take a look at all the work I have to do. It turns out to be a full load, but all I feel like doing is catching up on my favorite television show. Everything within me tells me to take it easy today and put my work aside.
…So I fight the urge and refuse to watch until everything is done.
Sometimes following Christ is not theological or metaphorical at all. Sometimes it’s just the hard work of crucifying our laziness, denying our anger, and burying our selfishness. I want desperately to live for entertainment, but through a grace not my own I live for God.
“All too often, our online identity is very different from our offline identity. Our Facebook status projects what we want others to think of us, not who we truly are. Our blog posts are shrouded in airs of intellectualism or edginess. We all face the temptation to project a false image of ourselves because we find the real image inadequate. If we are honest, the real image is nowhere near as attractive as we want it to be. We want to be more beautiful, more successful, more creative, more virtuous, more popular, and more intelligent than we actually are.”
— Jonathan Dodd in Fight Clubs
This passage made me think real hard for a few minutes.
Am I projecting a false image of myself every time I go online? Are Facebook, Twitter, and blogging new methods of making myself look better?
The answer to those questions is not simple. It’s more complex than a simple yes or no. We all manicure our image to some degree and maybe are tempted to use words on paper that never reach the tongue. But I don’t want to evade the question by going off on tangents.
Honestly examining this passage and my heart several times gave me this answer: Yes, I do double-check my spelling and tailor my statuses and writing for someone. Every form of communication requires an audience. But is that online image of me an improved facade?
I would say no.
Writing forces us to think and act in ways that we rarely need to do in person. No one is recording everything you say and able to listen to it over and over again. By writing words you commit your thoughts to reproducible, easily recallable statements. It automatically means you think harder and longer about what you write than what you might say in person.
My blog posts and statuses are more thought out and experientially different than most of my words and actions “offline”. While I can’t say I never have a partial motive of looking good or coming off as intelligent, that’s not my online identity any more than it is in everyday life. If there are airs of intellectualism or hints of making myself better, they are not intentional and my real friends will be able to tell anyway. The reason I exist online is to encourage people in Christ, share my life with them, perhaps make them think, hopefully bring laughter occasionally, and be myself. It’s no different than in person. It’s still me, only different.
I have never thought of writing for reputation and honor. What I have in my heart must come out; that is the reason why I compose. – Ludwig van Beethoven
There are many huge words used in academic study, many of which are hard to remember. Because of this problem, I have decided to make easier for anyone in higher education to get around.
Let’s begin with some grand theological terms.
- Theology? I think the word you’re really searching for is Godology.
- Christology? Let’s go with Jesusology.
- Ecclesiology? This simply means Churchology.
- Pnuematology? You must mean Spiritology.
- Eschatology? Easy, it’s just Endtimesology.
- Anthropology? Come on, it’s really Humanology.
- Harmartiology? In layman terms, Sinology.
- Soteriology? More or less, we’re talking about Salvationology.
Okay, those are all the hard theological ones, but how about these regular ones:
- Apiology – Beeology
- Cartology – Mapology
- Cetology – Whaleology
- Conchology – Shellology
- Cosmotology –Universeology
- Etymology – Wordology
- Graphology – Handwritingology
- Hippology – Horseology
- Mycology – Fungusology
- Myrmecology – Antology
- Nephology – Cloudology
- Neurology – Brainology
- Ornithology – Birdology
- Ophiology – Snakeology
- Otology – Earology
- Pathology – Diseaseology
- Pedology – Kidology
- Petrology – Rockology
- Pharmacology – Drugology
- Pharyngology – Throatology
- Pomology – Fruitology
- Pyrology – Fireology
- Seismology – Quakeology
- Speleology – Caveology
- Vulcanology – Volcanology
Hope these were helpful to your studies!
Raw materials are not easily transformed into a valuable product. Unless they’re put together exactly right, your laptop or iPhone or microwave is a pile of scrap metal and plastic. It takes a rare and creative person to mold nothing special into something wonderful.
- How do you walk across a college campus and take busy independent students and help them become a vibrant community of Christ followers?
- How do you take a boring menial job and turn it into an opportunity to demonstrate God’s love and compassion?
- How do you bring an unrealized but desperately needed dream into an actual living reality?
You have to make something from nothing. That’s not easy.
In fact this task is so overwhelming, so difficult, so impossible that no ordinary person can do it. It takes a very unique person who can follow through on the mission at hand to the very end. It takes a type of human who can transcend the physical limitations of what is possible, rise above their circumstances, and achieve the goal.
It takes someone so creative and so determined that no problem is too large and no impasse insurmountable. No commoner can perform this task. The only person who can turn nothing into something is Jesus.
We are not creative enough, but he created the universe.
We are not determined enough, but he gave up everything even his own life.
We stumble at the impossible, but he rose from the dead.
Jesus will transform lives, create a called community, and build his church. But here’s the real kicker: he’s going to use you and me to do it.
…from a newly married husband who needs lots of advice
- If you insist on getting what you want, you will usually get it, but at the cost of intimacy.
- Your wife needs to be surprised early and often. She needs weekly romantic gestures just as much as oxygen.
- There is no meeting halfway. There’s only two people both going all the way.
- Just because you have a policy that if one person makes dinner, the other person should wash the dishes, sometimes you need to forget the policy and just do both.
- Secrets are a time bomb. They will come out eventually. Although it’s hard, the sooner you tell your wife the better.
- Just because you feel like your wife is criticizing you doesn’t mean she is. She might simply be expressing her feelings in the only way she knows how.
- Although luckily I don’t know from experience, never ever call her the “b” word.
- It takes great skill and patience to diffuse an explosive argument. Be skillful and patient.
- When you said your vows, you gave up your right to sit your butt on the couch and say, “I’ll do it later.”
- You and your wife are a team. Your opponents are the challenges of life, disciplining your spending habits, and anything or anyone that threatens your family. Don’t forget that you are on the same team.
- Most of the time, your wife would prefer you to take initiative on things instead of asking her what needs to be done.
- It’s okay to spend time apart, however that isn’t a license to storm off. Make sure you very lovingly say, “Honey, I think I just need some time alone.”
- Make sure you set aside money each month that is specifically for having fun. Those who play together stay together.
- Find, meet, and make friends with other married couples.
- Even if you believe in an egalitarian marriage, there is no way to explain away the scriptures that instruct a man to care and provide for his wife and family. You must do whatever it takes to make sure there is enough food in the fridge each month. Memorize 1 Timothy 5:8 and let it strike you to the core.
- Cultivate a warm environment of mutual respect and love in your home. You can do this by praying often for your marriage, together and individually.
- Don’t give up on yourself. Nobody learned how to be a husband overnight.
- Have great compassion and forgiveness for your wife. You will need it from her very soon.
- Finally, make it your daily goal to comfort, encourage, and serve her. Jesus will help you.
Anytime an idea gets really popular, it immediately gets watered down. Facebook began as a hip college student-only social network and gradually morphed into the place where Aunt Bessie keeps tabs on your relationship status. Popularity dilutes the original essence. As Evangelical Christianity entered mainstream American society, the gospel message has suffered this same effect. As a result, many followers of Christ have risen up to to preserve the essence of what it means to follow Christ, branding modern Evangelicalism as self-interested, complacent, and downright boring. In my opinion, there are three major types of Christians who are reshaping American Christianity. All three read God’s word, pray, share their faith, and believe in historic Christian doctrine. All three have many Godly principles to teach us and all three tend to miss an important element of what it means to follow Christ.
The Revivalist
From the perspective of the Revivalist, all is not right with the world. Jesus worked miracles, healed the sick, and cast out demons. Accordingly, his followers should do exactly the same. Emphasizing the power of the Holy Spirit and the use of spiritual gifts in the church, the Revivalist earnestly desires to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. As the name suggests, the Revivalist often looks to past revivals in history for inspiration and prays as if God really will answer. The Revivalist believes Jesus is coming soon and that God is currently pouring out his Spirit through visions, prophecy, and physical healing He believes that miracles are essential to the Christian life.
- Primary Strength
In an age where faith is hard to come by, the Revivalist believes that God actually desires to speak to and move on behalf of his people. This type of everyday childlike faith is greatly needed in addition to sound Christian doctrine. A key scripture for the Revivalist is 1 Corinthians 2:4: My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.
- Primary Weakness
In his excitement to do God’s will, the Revivalist occasionally goes off course. He has a tendency to engage in unsound theological innovation, excessive emotionalism, and public abuse of spiritual gifts.
- Some Notable Revivalists: Bill Johnson, T.D. Jakes, Mike Bickle
The Good Samaritan
The Good Samaritan also sees something horribly wrong with the world: injustice. She cannot reconcile the materialistic complacency of the Church with Christ’s injunction to love our neighbor. In her view, God opposes the perpetuation of poverty, hunger, and disease and commands us to act compassionately toward the marginalized of society. To the Good Samaritan, the most important thing a Christian can do is model Christ’s love to the world. From her perspective, Christians should devote their time and resources to humanitarians issues like building wells and orphanages, stopping sex trafficking, and delivering food and medical care to the needy.
- Primary Strength
By focusing her attention on the poor and needy, the Good Samaritan rightly expressed God’s heart to a broken world. She avoids the trap of being only a hearer of the word and manifests Christ to her neighbors through acts of compassion. A key scripture for the Good Samaritan is James 1:27: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
- Primary Weakness
With all her attention on the needy, the Good Samaritan sometimes loses sight of the truth of God’s word. Instead of preaching Christ crucified, the Good Samaritan has a tendency to downplay the supremacy of Christ and model salvation through good deeds.
- Some Notable Good Samaritans: Mother Teresa, Shaine Clairborne, Dino Rizzo
The Theologian
When the Theologian takes a look at the world, he finds a pluralistic post-modern society that pursues its own version of truth. In response, he diligently studies God’s word and grounds himself in the reality of Christ’s death and resurrection. Instead of thoughtlessly accepting cultural norms, he tests them with scriptural teaching. The Theologian seeks to increase his understanding of God and to love Him with all his mind. Seeing that those outside the faith need an explanation for why they should believe, he takes the time to give good reasons for his beliefs. He holds in high regard Biblical scholarship, critical thinking, and higher education.
- Primary Strength
Since the Theologian pursues the truth of God’s word, he is not easily led astray by false doctrine. He properly honors God with his mind and seeks Biblical wisdom. By allowing his mind to conform to Christ rather than worldly ideas, the Theologian builds on a firm foundation.
- Primary Weakness
Since the Theologian spends so much energy pursuing truth, he often has trouble applying his knowledge to real life. He occasionally turns self-righteous, judgmental and downright unpleasant, exalting the value of information over personal transformation.
- Some Notable Theologians: C.S. Lewis, John Piper, Mark Driscoll
Recapturing the Essence
There is much to learn from each the Revivalist, the Good Samaritan, and the Theologian. Each carries an essential piece of God’s heart and each is prone to overemphasive their particular piece. Following Christ means recapturing and rethinking our faith whenever we get off course. Whatever type of Christian you most associate with is probably your strength. Since we belong to Christ, our job is to constantly check our primary weakness and to keep growing in the other two areas. If we are to be truly faithful to Him, we need to move out of our area of comfort and follow him.
Even if it means taking a risk, looking stupid, and making mistakes.
