Thoughts

June 16th 2017

BING!

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

“Every time a bad thought pops into my head, I take it captive to Jesus and then it’s gone — BING!”

Those are the words of a wonderful elderly gentleman who attended a Sunday School class I used to teach. He was mostly quiet but each week you could count on him BING!-ing in at least once with the above words of wisdom. They’ve been BING!-ing around in my head ever since.

Christians

June 15th 2017

Christians Are …

What exactly is a “Christian” anyway?

That term gets tossed around rather loosely in the world today (and sometimes not all that nicely). I thought it might be useful to see how God defines it.

Here’s just a partial list straight outta the Bible. Pray through each precious word.

Repentance

June 14th 2017

U-turn

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” (Matthew 3:2, 4:17)

John the Baptist started his ministry with those words. So did Jesus. In my book, that means we should probably pay attention.

What exactly does “repent” mean? Basically, it’s turning away from our sins and back toward God.

Here’s how it works in my life …

God gives me pretty clear directions on where He’d like me to go. But sometimes when His way gets a bit narrow or rough I toss His directions aside and take a detour.

Tongue

June 13th 2017

Tongue Trouble

Q: Pound for pound, what’s the most powerful muscle in the human body?

A: The tongue.

I once lost a Trivial Pursuit game because of that question. I even did a little Google research afterward to make sure I hadn’t been cheated out of a win. (I found it on Wikipedia so it must be true.)

But I was surprised by something else my search revealed. Up popped a slew of Bible-y warnings about the power of that seemingly innocuous pink flap of flesh.

June 12th 2017

Spiritual Gifts

We conclude our deeeeep dive into the Holy Spirit here on GUWG with a look at SPIRITUAL GIFTS.

What exactly are spiritual gifts? Great question. The Bible warns us not to be “ignorant” about this topic (1 Corinthians 12:1). In short, they are God-given abilities designed to build up the church today.

June 11th 2017

SPIRIT WEEK Part 2: Self-control

In SPIRIT WEEK Part 2 here on GUWG, where we’re finishing up our look at each fruit of the Spirit.

Our final featured fruit: SELF-CONTROL.

Right before the Bible lists the fruit of the Spirit, it spells out in graphic detail the “fruit” of our uncontrolled sinful selves: drunkenness, sexual immorality, idolatry, hatred, rage and various other forms of discord, dissension and debauchery.

June 10th 2017

SPIRIT WEEK Part 2: Gentleness

In Part 2 of SPIRIT WEEK here on GUWG, where we’re taking a look at each fruit of the Spirit.

Today’s featured fruit: GENTLENESS.

In my natural state, I’m about as un-gentle as they come. Without God at the helm, I tend to crash and bang through life at warp speed, leaving a wake of debris, destruction and devastation behind me.