The Weight of Anxiety

by Craig McAndrews | Apr 25, 2022

The topic of mental health is a hot one in today’s world. As a result, institutions are focused on offering support to those who need it. Individuals are admired for talking openly about it, and organizations are popping up in many places to address it. Often, at the center of the mental health challenge is anxiety. Our society is increasingly more anxious about what is happening around us. Whether it is the uncertainty of the future or the overwhelming pressure of the present, people seem captured by a sense of anxiousness.

As a college professor, I see this with students. When I started teaching several years ago, the common reason for someone missing class or having an issue with an assignment was a physical illness. Today, it’s more often a mental illness issue. It’s always a challenge discerning what’s real and what’s a smokescreen because a student doesn’t do the things required of them; however, one thing is true; anxiety is weighing people down.

Remembering

by Ed Allen | Apr 11, 2022

Psalms 77:11-15

11 I shall remember the deeds of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.

12 I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds.

13 Your way, O God, is holy; What god is great like our God?

14 You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples.

15 You have by Your power redeemed Your people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. NASU

(Observation) In verses 11 through 15, the Psalmist turns from lament over his present circumstances in the previous 10 verses, to remembering “Your wonders of old.” As the psalmist remembers, he turns from questioning God to praising Him.

God’s Unknown Paths

by Trevor McDowell | Mar 29, 2022

“Your way was in the sea and Your paths in the mighty waters, and Your footprints may not be known.” Psalm 77:19

The way God works is a mystery most of the time. Jesus promises that He will build His church (Matthew 16:18).

He does not need us, but He gives us the opportunity to participate with Him in what He is doing in the lives of people.

My mom was a tough nut to crack. When my father came to the Lord she was not interested, and neither was I. Then ten years later I came to faith and a few years after that my two brothers came to know the Lord as well. My mom continued in her unbelief for many years until she was stricken with lung cancer.

Prior to her cancer, our family had shared the gospel with my mom through the years with no response. When she was informed she had cancer, my brothers and I planned on taking her to lunch to share the Gospel with her again, hoping she would be more open to it.

Striving for Obscurity

by Chris Martin | Mar 7, 2022

One of the early teachings that I was exposed to as a young man who was beginning to take his faith seriously was the benefit, and the need, for the man of God to “strive for obscurity.” After hearing this a few times, I felt compelled to dig into what I was being challenged to do. What does “obscurity” mean? How do I Strive for it? When can I know that I am successful or have failed in this endeavor?

First, I needed to get my arms around what it means to be “obscure.” A summary research of definitions yielded the following: “the state of being unknown, inconspicuous, unimportant,” another definition reads “relatively unknown,” and yet another reads “the state in which somebody/something is not well known or has been forgotten.” These definitions certainly were a help to me in my understanding; however, this was not something that I was certain I wanted to pursue, let alone “strive” to be.

Remembering Romans 2:6

by Lee Yih | Feb 21, 2022

Romans 2:6, “Who will render to every man according to his deeds”, is one of the most important, yet mostly ignored verses in the Book of Romans. I remember an encounter with this verse in a Bible Study in Boston where I was an invited guest. Things were getting uncomfortable as we moved through this chapter, reading about the judgment of God falling upon hypocritical believers, and how we store up wrath for ourselves when we are stubborn and unrepentant before God. Then reading verse 6, it summarizes what has been said and introduces further principles of judgment – detailing glory, honor, and immortality for doing good, and wrath, indignation, and tribulation for doing evil. Suddenly the host broke the tension by saying, “Don’t worry, grace is coming!” referring to Romans 3:21ff.

I have heard people refer to Romans chapter 2 as a “Flyover” chapter because leaders hurry through the material to get to the “good stuff.” As a result, important concepts about no partiality with God (vs. 11), Paul introducing justification by works (vs 13), God seeing and judging our deepest secrets (vs. 16), and how believers’ actions blaspheme the reputation of God among non-believers–all get short-changed. It’s as if nothing matters for our Christian walk once we fully realize that we have been saved by grace. The rest of the chapter says that circumcision, and by implication, baptism, is worthless if we don’t practice the Law and that is something that further encourages us to say, “Don’t worry, grace is coming!”