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Revelife Christian Blog

Tuesday, 18 June 2013

Break Through These Three Barriers to Find More Barriers

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...

Monday, 17 June 2013

From Zero to Hero: Jesus, the Unexpected Champion

What does it mean to be a hero?

Here's a question. Name the video game where there's a character that seemingly comes out of nowhere and is given a quest. Along his journey he meets people that offer help by giving him advice, a chicken, and/or training. He fights the occasional adversary and then, at the very end, he goes and rescues a princess, kills a bad guy or reclaims a lost possession. You've won the game and there's an end credit scene where this hero has a grand parade complete with streamers and vast crowds jubilantly cheering his name. He's then given a great honor or the throne to the kingdom. Most of all, this hero is thanked and loved by the people he has now saved.

What video game is this? I'd start with Zelda: Ocarina of time, Super Mario, Kingdom Hearts, God of War, Final Fantasy, and Prince of Persia-- just to name a few.
It's interesting then that God paints a very different definition of a hero -- one that, if translated to a game, wouldn't be very marketable. Why? Because it is so against our humanistic definition of what a hero should be. More Here...
Does Your Life Have a "SPAM" Filter?

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...
When Everything Goes Wrong, It's Just Life

It is simple statistics. It has to happen -- those days, or weeks, or even months for some when everything that can go wrong does. It may not actually be everything; it just feels like it. It doesn't matter how busy your life is. In fact, life can be very simple, but still the house of cards can fall for a time and the whirlwind is experienced.

It is then that patience can be developed, which is in reality a form of simply becoming centered and slowing down and doing one damned thing at a time and learning to let go of the illusion of control. It is like all the lights at a very large intersection all turn green at the same time, and there is a lot of chaos all at once.

Patience for me can be very difficult. My mind tends to race, so it is then that I make it slow down and focus on that ‘one thing’ in front of me that I have to deal with. I tend to see the whole heap at once, which can be overwhelming. But if I learn to look at what is before me, it not only allows me to pick through what needs to be done, but also keeps my feet on the ground. One person at a time, one task, being patient for this instance -- learning that is all I can do, as well as asking for help when needed. More Here...

Sunday, 16 June 2013

Sunday Service at North Point Online: My Bad Church Experience (Part Three)

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.

Saturday, 15 June 2013

Calvinism and Arminianism: Five Views

By Will Green

For those of you who don't know what Arminianism and Calvinism are, that's good. This is a knotty theological debate and there's been many a Bible discussion I've been in where a Calvinist and Arminian have butted theological heads. To sum up the debate quickly, a Calvinist is like 'See those non-Christians? That's not God's incompetence, that was intentional' and an Arminian is like 'Why, oh why, does humanity resist the gospel?'

Here are 5 kinds of views about this difficult theological debate that I collected earlier.

'Compatibilist' Calvinism

'Free Will' Calvinism

‘Mysterious’ Arminianism

'Works-Response' Arminianism

'Semi-Pelagian' Arminianism

Here's a chart summarising each view, with more of an explanation below:

More Here...
Breakdance Messiah: Religious Imagery or Foolery?

A new 30' mural in Bristol, England was recently unveiled. The piece was painted by London street artist Cosmo Sarsen after winning a competition.

A spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Clifton praised the mural of the Breakdancing Jesus as artwork that will get people talking about religion and would appeal to youths and the multi-ethnic populous.

Clifton Youth Ministry coordinator David Wheat observed: “It helps to bring Christ out of our multi-ethnic Church and into the lives of religious and non-religious people, as Pope Francis urges us to do.”
More Here...

Friday, 14 June 2013

Submit Your Posts to Revelife!

Did you know that a lot of the content featured on Revelife is written by our readers? It's true; Revelife pretty much lives on the content that our readers submit, and we want to encourage you to keep writing and submitting your posts!

If there is a subject you're passionate about or a topic you're knowledgeable about, consider writing out your thoughts and sending them our way! Our editors will select and thoughtfully edit the best posts we find. We usually put a picture with each post, so if there's one you want, make sure you include that as well!

Don't forget; you can also tell us what you want to read by voting on the posts already submitted by other users.

If you're new to the site -- or just need a reminder -- check out the About Us tab to learn more about the Revelife community.

Thursday, 13 June 2013

Clinging on God's Faithfulness

Most of us just turn enthusiastic, excited and full of gratitude when we are flooded in receiving blessings. We enjoy the rewards of pleasures or we are on the altitude of fortune in life. But how about when we are not?

Let's say we are synchronizing with the adversities of life such as illnesses, disparities, rejections or anything that will make us feel down. Do you think do we still feel the same way? The majority answer to this question would be: Of course not! People may immediately get irritated and instantaneously think and ask themselves, “Why?” People are more dependent to this inquiry, aligning themselves and meditating on this word mainly when we are physically destabilized, emotionally frustrated, financially unbalanced and spiritually distracted -- in other words when we are in the midst of the battle.

Three years ago, I was diagnosed with the so-called hypoechoic solid focus in the superior pole in my throat. As human -- though I'm a Christian -- I still felt a bit dismayed and troubled when I heard that bad news from my doctor. There was a mixture of fear and worry which covered my wholeness at that time.
More Here...
Don't Play it Safe

I like to play it safe, but in the end it is useless. For life is not safe; it is very dangerous, anything can happen.

With our relationships with the Transcendent it is good to not be safe at all, but to trust, let go, dive in, swim and when you get tired, well let go and sink into what is beyond our comprehension. Christ Jesus is the revelation of the Father, yet in language we can understand, it points to an ever expanding horizon which we will never catch up to. Only our love will deepen, our thirst grow, and as God becomes ever more unknowable, we know more in love, in healing and in our ability to embrace life in its fullness.

We know we are pilgrims here, moving forward on a long and often painful road. Yet Christ Jesus goes before us, showing us the way -- so climb high, and then dive into the infinite ocean, allowing nothing to keep this from happening. Not our fear, our doubt, or the mockery of others, for the reward of faith and love is an ever deeper faith and love unending, world without end amen! More Here...