Is Christianity REALLY a religion of moderation? With so many taking pride in how extreme they can live their faith, we may be losing sight of what Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes... to "not be overly righteous" nor "overly wicked". There is a string of "moderate" stances taken throughout the Bible, despite all the cherry-picked verses many like to place on a pedestal, devoid of important context. Christ refuses to take a political stance when challenged with the prospect of Roman taxes. Peter admonishes us to be peaceable and "honor the emperor". So how do we reconcile this with the rhetoric so often espoused by many for "radical Christianity"? Well, where was Christ "radical"? Look no further than his commandments in John 13: to love one another. Christ's love represents the one truly radical area of his life which tells us exactly where we should focus on living to the extreme.

No matter how much we wish it wasn't so, life is full of both high's and low's. In the midst of our lows, it's natural to start questioning things and for our faith to grow weary. We can take solace in knowing that Christ, myself, experienced many of the same feelings we do and yet he was fully aware of the glory he would experience. It's important to recognize the diversity of life experiences because that is the world as those without Christ see it. When we try living as fully insulated Christians, acting like everything is awesome and nothing bad ever happens, we can alienate those just beginning their life with Christ. We can accidentally cause them to ask "what's wrong with me that I'm not always happy?" For their sake and our own, we have to be realistic about the human experience and see that our hope and faith is founded on something bigger than our circumstances.

Is there any harm in using playful little phrases to help describe our life philosophies? "So what" if they don't perfectly match what's in the Bible, right? This is a popular way to look at Christianity, but if you believe the Bible is the recorded Word of God, then it deserves a little more respect. It isn't that the Bible is some idol we worship; but it does contain immense truth and wisdom that can bless us beyond our understanding. When we simplify our understanding of the world to popular or cultural slogans, especially when we trick ourselves into thinking those slogans are a replacement for scriptural knowledge, we miss out on so much God has to offer.

What is our actual purpose for existing in this world? Books have been published and talks given, but the real answer could be a bit more mind-blowing. This isn't just an abstract, theological discussion. Once we seize the totality of our ultimate purpose, it helps to set the stage for all sorts of situations, from how we celebrate in the midst of victory and how wee endure through life's hardships. There is great power in embracing our ultimate purpose... of demonstrating God's glory.

Some people have nightmares about having to talk about their faith while others have given themselves full license to say whatever they want to whoever they want in the name of God. There is such a thing as "diplomacy" when it comes to how we approach others. This isn't only practical... it's also Biblical! We are called to share our faith with the world around us, but also to consider those whom we are speaking to. We should be sensitive to where they are coming from so that we can hear how best to connect their life's journey with the truth we all know through Christ.

Generations are often defined along common experiences which change how a particular group of people see the world. The church has also gone through a lot of "generational shifts" which have seen religious practices evolve and reform. In the midst of a religion which changes so frequently (historically speaking), how can we have faith in the "unchanging God"? We must understand that what may seem like a seismic shift in practice or doctrine to us is often based on what mankind has wrapped around God. We place theologies and institutions around God so tightly that often people forget that the purpose of the religion is to point towards the God... a God who doesn't change simply because the world does. Understanding the unchanging nature of God, even amidst the frequently changing nature of society, helps us understand why it is so important to firmly establish our sense of "self" in our calling rather than in the institutions of man.

Sometimes it's useful to put our normally planned studies aside and just realize exactly who God is.

Holding a grudge is as intuitive as breathing or drinking. If someone hurts us, we are inclined to remember that hurt as a type of defense mechanism. Some research has suggested that grudges are about trying to reframe a past conflict in our head so we can reinvent that we were the innocent victim and the other party was the aggressor. Regardless of the psychology behind it, grudges are something talked about at length in the Bible (albeit with a variety of language). It's connected to the "golden rule" in Leviticus and spoke about multiple times in the epistles. What is fascinating is that the one more most deserving to hold a grudge... Jesus Christ... did the exact opposite. Even when his best friends turned their backs on him time after time, Jesus remained wholly compassionate and forgiving.

If you're listening to our messages, you are probably already on-board with rejecting religious conformity in the traditional sense. However, it's important to remember that conformity can come in many flavors. Christians live in a two-front war between those who abuse religion to push their own human practices and the world who wants to redefine truth altogether. It can be easy... even seductive... to just pick a team. However, we must be willing to stand boldly between the two lines, fighting stalwartly for truth in the face of a world trying to redefine truth, but welding uncompromising compassion and love in the face of "religion" which often overlooks the humanity of those they are called to serve.

Did you know that only about 9% of all people follow-through with their New Year's resolutions? Sadly, the failure to commit to something isn't exclusive to resolutions; many believers do the same thing to their spirit life. We are great at setting goals of daily prayer and meditation, regular Bible study, and increased church attendance, but we fall into the same old traps which keep us from growing. How can we make sure we are living a life of "fertile ground" upon which we can grow bold faiths? It may be a lot more boring than many Christians make it out to be...