By Tom Zuniga

I recently published a book. My first. You might have heard. It’s all about struggle and redemption, and I titled it Struggle Central: Quarter-Life Confessions of a Messed Up Christian.

But that’s almost not what it was called.

I spent many weeks brainstorming the perfect title. The “Struggle Central” portion emerged without much conscious effort thanks to last summer’s hearty camp experience hiding in bathroom stalls – my centralized Struggle Headquarters of four flimsy walls and a toilet.

The main title was easy; figuring out the subtitle, however, required more time and brainstorming. More Here...

There's an article I see every once in a while that addresses three barriers that need breaking through in order for the church to see growth. Not spiritual growth. Numbers growth. As in, more people. The author goes as far as contorting scripture to fit his points. The following are his three suggested barriers. If we read scripture correctly, trying to overcome these barriers will only end up creating new ones.

1) You must develop an unshakable conviction about growth (Colossians 2:19).
I would agree if the author was talking about spiritual growth. But again, numbers are the emphasis here. The reference given is taken completely out of context. Colossians 2:19 reads, "and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God."

The picture here is not of a body expanding in size. Paul was talking about a body that grows in maturity. If you read the passage in context, he was responding to a teaching in Colossae that was not rooted in Christ, influenced by evil spirits. Just reading that one chapter, the context is pretty clear. You don't even need doctrinal training to pick that up. It feels like the author BibleGateway'd the word "growth" and found a verse that fit. More Here...

Many people think those who were born in the 21st century are the most fortunate people.  Yes, there is some truth to that statement, but now we are going to look at how the young generation can recognize one of the most powerful dangers of the 21st century by installing life’s most important SPAM filter in their heart.

Let’s look at what SPAM is.  SPAM is an acronym meaning Sales Promotional Advertising Message.  This is a very popular term in email programs.  SPAM filters protect the inbox by blocking unnecessary, unhealthy and unworthy messages from coming into the box.  

SPAM doesn’t come from our friends or anyone we are working for.  It comes from bad guys or those who want to sell me what I don’t want.  If I start reading my SPAM messages, my time will be wasted, and my money and identity could be stolen. The consequences could be even more destructive.  So I really love my email’s SPAM filter.  It will recognize those messages and put them in a different message box for 30 days and then they will be automatically deleted.

It is the same in life. More Here...

It's Sunday, and for Christians across the globe, today is a day to go to church.  We go to church for a lot of reasons -- to sing songs, to listen to good teaching and to spend time with our community.  We here at Revelife hope that you will take some time today to visit your local church.

But we also know that, for any number of reasons, you might choose not to go to church.  Whatever the situation is, we don't want you to be without the church experience today.  That's why we feature the online services at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Today, North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, continues a series that, if you're one of those people not going to church today, might strike home for you.  The series is called My Bad Church Experience.  North Point's services are streamed online live at 9:00am and 11:00am with rebroadcasts at 2:00pm, 6:00pm and 10:00pm (all times Eastern).  Hope to see you there!

If you like the services at North Point, you should know that there are North Point Strategic Partner churches all around the globe.  To see if there is one in your area, click here.